Your weekly PPV Musings has been put on hiatus because I don’t feel like talking about PPVs anymore. So in its place, I’ll fill the void with some other stuff… such as today’s piece on why I don’t care about Ring Of Honor.
I’m going to clarify that I’m not talking about Ring Of Honor as a whole; my exposure to the promotion during its active years has been minimal, but the few shows that I would watch – be it the Best Of shows that would air on the Fight Network or the rare PPV show – I had enjoyed tremendously. It was never a product that I followed closely, but every so often, I would check out whenever I can.
Ring Of Honor had been around for two decades and when word broke that the promotion would be undergoing a restructuring hiatus, I was somewhat concerned yet unsurprised. The past couple years have been a trying period with the whole pandemic and some companies have struggled to stay afloat while others vanished into the ether. Ring Of Honor plodded along as best as it could, but realized it needed to change. Some assumed that the company would be going out of business. Given that all contracts were null and void – allowing talent to go anywhere else – the possibility was more than likely.
And then one day, on an episode of AEW Dynamite, president and CEO Tony Khan announces that he had acquired Ring Of Honor. Everyone rejoiced. ROH was saved and it was under the ownership of someone who was a fan of the sport and would carry on the legacy of Ring Of Honor. Then the first PPV of the new era, Supercard of Honor, took place and it was a good show. People were hyped and excited.
And then ROH titles and stars started appearing on AEW television. Okay, fine. We need to keep the brand alive until we can get a TV deal. And we can still do the occasional PPV event; Death By Dishonor was the other show they did… didn’t watch it, but I’ve heard good things.
And then ROH titles and stars continued to appear on AEW television… while the guys signed to AEW who were really hot signings that people were excited about seeing was nowhere to be found.
Where the fuck is Miro?
It seems like as time went on, more time was devoted to ROH talent and storylines rather than spotlighting AEW stars on the AEW show that the AEW audience was watching. And the more often I would see ROH on my screen, the more I started to not care about ROH. Because at the end of the day, I watch AEW programming for AEW matches, stars, and stories. That’s the brand I’m interested in, not this half-baked ROH zombie that you’re keeping on life support until you find a TV deal.
Where the fuck is Miro?
So this past weekend, AEW held its final Ring Of Honor PPV of the year. I did not watch it. I’ve heard good things about the show, but I wasn’t interested. (I did see the post-PPV press conference and man, was that a fucking embarrassmentTo be honest with you, I haven’t watched a single AEW PPV since Double Or Nothing. And the funny thing about that is that I not only didn’t watch the shows, but I don’t even know that they’re on until the day of or long after the fact. It’s no secret that AEW is in a bit of a creative lull and there’s a lot of things that needs to be fixed.
This ROH thing is one of them.
Looks like there’s good news on that front; Tony Khan announced that there’s going to be a weekly ROH show… on the ROH Honor Club subscription service and nowhere else. Not exactly sure how that’s a positive in that you have to pay for your weekly fix of ROH, but hey, as long as it gets ROH off my AEW television and we can start bringing back some of that neglected AEW talent, I’ll all for it.
I know I’ve been down on this ROH thing. I’m not the only one, as many people have voiced similar concerns over the overabundance of ROH on AEW. Maybe someday, I’ll be a fan of ROH when it’s its own thing and not something that’s part of the AEW show. I don’t know.
That’s all I’ve got.
Later.
P.S. – Where the fuck is Miro?
dtm666 