Wrestlemania weekend may be the better part of eight months away at this point in time, but that hasn’t stopped speculation amongst fans over the kind of unsigned talent that could potentially show up over that April weekend when WWE descends upon New Jersey.
With Ring Of Honor holding their G1 SuperCard show on April 6th at the legendary Madison Square Garden, that places the company in direct opposition to WWE’s NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn event at the Barclays Center.
This move from ROH has already been paying dividends as the eyes of the wrestling world have turned towards it, leading to the show selling out, with fans anticipating the mix of ROH/NJPW action.
#HonorClub pre-sale IS LIVE!
Ticket link: https://t.co/WrkQAUnxywMake sure your unique code didn't go to spam! Any issues…email help@rohwrestling.com with subject "MSG Code"
General on-sale THIS FRIDAY at 10am ET#G1Supercard @TheGarden #ItsHappening @njpwglobal pic.twitter.com/55lWR7OhUw
— ROH Wrestling (@ringofhonor) August 8, 2018
There are a few wrestlers, however, that may not be present to take part in ROH’s historic event at the Garden.
Aggressive Negotiations
Contracts for The Young Bucks, Cody Rhodes, and the Best Bout Machine; Kenny Omega, all expire months before the G1 SuperCard show takes place, and speculation is rife with whispers and rumours revolving around a potential jump to WWE, with the behemoth wrestling company in a position to offer them deals that other companies like ROH and NJPW may not be able to match.
General Manager for Ring Of Honor, Greg Gilleland, had this to say on ROH’s plans to keep the Bullet Club members within the ranks of ROH:
“They’re our top guys, right? Of course, we’re going to do everything that we can to keep them. And we have fair offers and fair plans to retain them.” He goes on to say, “We always operate with solid backup plans. And we have to always think about what if this, and what if that. If they go to the WWE, and they very much deserve that opportunity, we’ll continue to offer the best wrestling that we can. There’s other talent out there.”
Greg is candid over ROH having lost top talent in the past, referencing Kevin Owens, Bryan Danielson, and CM Punk as all top tier ROH stars that have jumped from ROH to the WWE, and is fully confident in ROH’s ability to thrive despite this.
“They all went to the WWE, and the brand has continued to grow and prosper. […] We pride ourselves on the ROH experience, and it goes back to the question of losing top guys. Do I wanna lose the Young Bucks and Cody? No. Of course not. Why would I wanna lose them?”
He ends his discussion on the Bullet Club members, declaring, “Am I gonna make an aggressive attempt to retain them and sign longer-term agreements? Of course, we are. But, at the end of the day, the ROH brand is about the ROH experience, and that’s how we continue to grow.”
