My Thoughts on ROH's Creative Shake-Up
For me, the biggest – and most shocking – wrestling story coming out of last weekend was Gabe Sapolsky being fired as booker of Ring of Honor. Sapolski had long been heralded by many wrestling insiders as the very best wrestling booker in the country, and it’s surprising that ROH President Cary Silkin would decide to go in a different direction.
I’m not exactly sure what ROH’s financial situation has been of late, but I can imagine that the overall drop in business for pro wrestling (Monday Night Raw is now settling into the high 2’s for its ratings) has got to affect ROH. The impact may be even more significant for ROH, which – with no weekly TV– relies solely on fans reaching into their pockets to see the company’s product live in person, on DVD or on pay per view. In this economy, good luck with that.
So, not knowing much about the back story to Sapolsky’s firing, it’s conceivable Silkin may be looking for a major shake-up to reverse the company’s fortunes. I can’t help but question that logic, since it would seem to me that ROH’s booking was the least of the company’s problems. Whether Sapolsky was doing a terrific job, or a lousy one, it doesn’t really matter if nobody’s watching. It’s the proverbial tree falling in the woods.
Although I wasn’t watching ROH much in the days of the CM Punk-Rick Steamboat rivalry, the war with CZW, and some of the other creative high points of the company, I’ve thought some of the storylines the company has offered in the last year have been among the strongest I’ve seen since I started really following ROH about two years ago. The feud between the Age of the Fall and Austin Aries has produced some incredibly dramatic angles. The rise of Larry Sweeney’s Sweet N’ Sour Inc has been fun to watch. And the evolution of ROH Champion McGuinness into one of the most hated heels in wrestling has been dynamite to witness. What’s more, the storyline with Danielson being forced to beat on pay per view everyone that McGuinness has beat on pay per view before getting a title shot has been brilliant, and will no doubt culminate in another spectacular match between the two longtime rivals.
It’s not surprising that Sapolsky would have such a gift for booking, considering he honed his craft in the glory days of ECW under Paul Heyman. Hopefully he’ll land on his feet. I would think he would be an especially good fit in TNA, where his creative input is desperately needed and where a lot of his former ROH colleagues (Samoa Joe, Homicide, Alex Shelly, Jimmy Rave, etc.) could put in a good word for him. More than signing away and aging WWE cast-offs, TNA’s best bet to close the gap between it and WWE may be hiring Sapolsky, and putting WWE’s lackluster booking to shame.
As for ROH's future, after achieving some milestones between 2007 and 2008 with the pay per view deal, expanding into new markets including Japan, Canada and Mexico, and playing the Hammerstein ballroom, it’s somewhat apparent that ROH’s progress has stalled. The brass ring for ROH has long been a TV deal, and although there were indications several months ago that such a deal might be close, it never realized.
What’s more, although ROH’s athletic quotient has long been its bread and butter, it’s been a while since we’ve heard the kind of buzz over ROH’s talent pool as we did in past years for the likes of Bryan Danielson, Nigel McGuinness, the Briscoes, Takeshi Morishima and Jack Evans. The closest thing the company has had to a breakout star in recent months has been Tyler Black, who is, indeed, awesome to watch, but, by himself, is not enough to get people talking about ROH like they were a few years back.
I’m intrigued about the direction in which Sapolsky's replacement, “Scrap Iron” Adam Pearce will take the company. He’s made a name for himself for being a throwback to wrestling’s gritty 1970’s era, and God knows there was no shortage of good booking back then, especially in the NWA territories. I wish him luck in what could be a thankless job.
But again, I hope Silkin sees the big picture and realizes that ROH’s booking is not what’s holding the company back. I’ve long said that ROH’s number one priority – before expanding to new markets, discovering new talent, and getting a TV deal – should be improving its production quality. I’ve got to think that every time a prospective TV distributor samples the ROH product, the first thing they notice is the low-rate production – just as many wrestling fans do. I regularly see independent wrestling promotions far smaller than ROH with a far more major league looking product. Nobody is expecting the kind of sleek, million dollar production we get from WWE or even TNA, but ECW circa 1996 looked better on TV than ROH does, with its high school football lighting, handheld camcorder video, public access television editing, and wedding DJ sound system.
Regardless of the quality of its booking or its in-ring product, ROH needs to step up its presentation if it wants to be taken seriously. Unfortunately, that may be easier said than done.
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Comments (9)
I think this was very shocking although I got burnt out from the booking in 07 when most of the top stars left. I mean the talent that is there is good but when Joe, Punk, Cabana, Gibson, Sydal...it left me with an empty feeling inside (and I had been following since 04 although I have all from 02) and I haven't been able to watch very much ROH since.
I will have a wait and see on Adam Pierce because I will not be like all the other fans and bash someone whom hasn't even booked one show yet. Adam is in a tough spot too because the fans will hate him no matter what he will do.
I just hope ROH gets tv soon and some better production.
The company peaked with the 2006 CZW feud, and went straight downhill form there.
Everything that was great about ROH slowly eroded away. The code of honor was great, they got rid of it. The PURE WRESTLING rules and titles were a great gimmick, and now they are gone. Most of the unique talent has been signed away, and new generic guys have taken their place. So they constantly fly in credible guys from NOAH in japan to try and cover this up. But I'd rather just watch NOAH, it's much better.
I've been complaining about their production for years. It's either too low or it's blowing out your speakers. There is never a comfortable volume to listen to ROH at. They can't even interview their champion for the video wire without his voice being half drowned out by what sounds like a fan in the room and someone doing the vacuum down the hall. They need to look up the concept of "AUDIO NORMALIZEATION", it would do wonders for them.
So in 2008, ROH is a promotion that is running 2 month old stale PPVs that look and sound like crap. Not only that, but these PPVs shows are stripped down and nowhere near as good as they are on the DVDs, given you yet another reason not to buy them.
Yet much smaller promotions blow them out of the water when it comes to production. They have professional quality video and sound with nice on screen graphics.
This makes me VERY sad. And the guy above me is SOOOOOO wrong. ROH has some of the best talent in America. I don't care if the Production is Lacking. Give me WRESTLING, I want WRESTLING. Not Entertainment. I don't care about million dollar Titantrons and Metallica do the music for the newest PPV. I just want wrestling. And gage was only 2nd best to Paul E.. I Just want wrestling.
Thank you! I couldn't have put it better myself. They really put no attention into their production value and I think it cheapens the product soooo much. When I attend their shows in person, it feels like a major event but when watching that same show on tape, the effect is completely gone replaced by a feeling of "Man this looks so third rate".
Being from a production background, there are certain things that really irk me, like the fact that they use 3 different brands of cameras for their video, resulting in 3 completely different looking shots on tape and other inconsistencies that could easily be fixed.
You hit the nail on the head. Gabe would be a perfect fit for TNA. TNA's product improves, then wrestling as a whole improves because you know once TNA finally steps up, then Vince is going to step up much like he did in the late 90's.
However, the issue is, Jarrett seems to have loyalty to Vince Russo for some odd reason. He would have to fire Russo b/c he and Gabe could not work together. If Joe, Angle, AJ, and the others are smart, they will get in Jarrett and Dixie Carter's ear immediately.
Anyone else think this may be a big work?
this is not a work.
I enjoy ROH, their product is pretty solid. They bring in some great talent, but their production quality is pretty bad. If they are trying to grow as a company they have to step up production. I will give you guys an example of a smaller company with better production, for those interested got to www.aceprowrestling.com watch some of their web shows. What kills me is how does a smaller company like this put together better quality in "High Definition" my I add than a company like ROH? Again ROH delivers awesome shows but if they want the world to see what they got they have to be able to beat out other smaller indy companys that put out better quality webshows & dvd's. Check it out for yourself and compare the quality
I enjoy ROH, their product is pretty solid. They bring in some great talent, but their production quality is pretty bad. If they are trying to grow as a company they have to step up production. I will give you guys an example of a smaller company with better production, for those interested got to www.aceprowrestling.com watch some of their web shows. What kills me is how does a smaller company like this put together better quality in "High Definition" my I add than a company like ROH? Again ROH delivers awesome shows but if they want the world to see what they got they have to be able to beat out other smaller indy companys that put out better quality webshows & dvd's. Check it out for yourself and compare the quality