Should the ROHers make the jump?

[Lee]

Just looking at ROH since it was founded in 2002, there have been a number of wrestlers who have made the step up. I will put them in various brackets:

World champions

Abyss, AJ, Punk, Samoa Joe

Mid Card

Homicide, Daniels, Sabin, Doug Williams, Low Ki (still yet to see where he goes with WWE), Desmond Wolfe

Erm

Bryan Danielson (fired), Evan Bourne (Jobber status until recently), Colt Cabana (highly underutilised).

These are just some examples of wrestlers who have come through ROH who have made it to WWE or TNA. Looking through the list it seems that TNA seems the place that utilises the indy style a lot more. Really only Punk has made it the big time in WWE, whilst Danielson should have, he was fired. The jury is still out on Bourne and Cabana really wasn't used at all.

So do you think ROH stars should:
A) Stay in ROH
B) Jump ship to WWE
C) Jump to TNA

 

[The Bearded One]

It really all depends on who the wrestler is. Not every wrestler on the roster would be right for the WWE and TNA. Some would fit well with one and not the other and vice versa. So I'm just going to go through the main guys and see what I can do.

Tyler Black- Tyler Black is a very talented young wrestler. He has a very bright future ahead of him, but I would say for right now the best option would be for him to stay in Ring of Honor. This will give him the time to develop into the complete package before signing with one of the big companies. If he decides to ever jump ship, I think WWE would be the best fit for him. He reminds me so much of CM Punk, and we all know how successful he has been.

Austin Aries- He was already a "Starr" in TNA. See what I did there? I'm all clever and shit. Anywho, he's already given TNA a chance, and it failed miserably, but that was what, 3 years ago? Times have changed there so maybe he could return. I don't think WWE would give him a look, he is on the smaller side and is 32 years old, kind of old for somebody they would have to build up. So I think again ROH is the best option for the Greatest Man(ager) Who Ever Lived.

Roderick Strong-Roderick Strong is in a weird place right now. He is coming off a loss to Tyler Black for the World Title, and now it seems that he is sort of lost in the shuffle. The fans love him, but he can never seem to take it to the next level. I think staying in ROH would be the best thing he could do, but going to TNA wouldn't be a bad option. He would be able to have some awesome matches with a lot of other talented wrestlers.

Kevin Steen-I really like Kevin Steen. He plays the psycho guy so well and his feud with Generico has been great. But he doesn't have the right look for WWE. The E seems to like body builder types, and Steen does not fit that mold. TNA would give him a better chance to succeed, but ROH is still his best option.

American Wolves-I put Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards together because I feel that they would have similar fates. They are both tearing up ROH and Richards is the new darling of the fans. If they decide to jump ship, going to TNA as a tag team would be the best choice. They could have great matches with the MCMG, Beer Money and Generation Me. They could also go on to have a more successful singles career there because TNA doesn't mind pushing smaller guys, even though WWE has begun doing it as well.

Kings of Wrestling-I grouped Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli together as well for the same reason I did the Wolves. Both of these guys just scream WWE to me. They are both big guys with incredible in-ring skills and good mic skills. I can't believe McMahon hasn't gotten these guys yet.

I now I left some guys off that I probably could have mentioned, but I only chose the guys who I could think of off the top of my head. It seems for the most part they would be better off staying in ROH for the time being. The smaller guys seem to fit into TNA while the bigger guys would fit better in the WWE.

 

[Jeff]

You really can't compare the level they reach in the WWE with the level they reach in TNA. I love AJ and Samoa Joe (Abyss is alright, needs a gimmick change). But if they were to switch to WWE right now, AJ would be battling with Kofi and R-Truth and Samoa Joe would be most likely a Jobber. Or they would be together in the incredibly popular WWE Tag Division.

The reason why TNA utilizes the independent style more is because they pretty much are independent with just recently taking that leap into a mainstream spotlight.

But I will admit you are right that ROH does have A LOT of talent. I think if a ROH superstar had to choose from going to WWE, TNA or staying in ROH for me its a no brainer. Jump to WWE. Here are my reasons why.

1) Although ROH is on the rise it will still be years before it reaches TNA status, let alone WWE status if it even makes it to that level (which most likely it will not). Why stay at a company that can't make you the big bucks you want.

2) Now if you jump ship to TNA, I think that very well could be the death of you in WWE. Like I said above, although AJ Styles is this HUGE talent in TNA and he should be. He is an amazing talent and isn't too bad on the microphone either. If he jumped to WWE, they would NEVER allow him to be in the main event stage just to prove a point that TNA's biggest star is still a NOBODY in the WWE. It was like when WWE bought WCW and many of the WCW stars came to the WWE. Look at DDP, Big name in the WCW. 3 time World Heavyweight Champion in WCW and then when he goes to WWE the biggest thing he ever got was the European Title. For that one reason I wouldn't go to TNA. It would ruin your chances in the WWE forever. The only talent that could go to TNA without ruining your chances in the WWE later on is former WWE talent because in the WWE's mind, that is still there talent that they created. That is why I say if a ROH had the choice that he or she should go to...

3) WWE. Even if you stay a midcard wrestler for a few years, you have a better chance of making it to main event status because the WWE will feel that he or she is their home grown talent because most likely they will spend a few months in Florida. Plus if it never takes off you can fall back on TNA or ROH. Lastly I am sure even if you are a mid carder in the WWE you are making more money then being Main Event talent in TNA or ROH.

 

[TellMeWhy]

2) Now if you jump ship to TNA, I think that very well could be the death of you in WWE. Like I said above, although AJ Styles is this HUGE talent in TNA and he should be. He is an amazing talent and isn't too bad on the microphone either. If he jumped to WWE, they would NEVER allow him to be in the main event stage just to prove a point that TNA's biggest star is still a NOBODY in the WWE. It was like when WWE bought WCW and many of the WCW stars came to the WWE. Look at DDP, Big name in the WCW. 3 time World Heavyweight Champion in WCW and then when he goes to WWE the biggest thing he ever got was the European Title. For that one reason I wouldn't go to TNA. It would ruin your chances in the WWE forever. The only talent that could go to TNA without ruining your chances in the WWE later on is former WWE talent because in the WWE's mind, that is still there talent that they created. That is why I say if a ROH had the choice that he or she should go to...

Daniel Bryan is proof that what you said isn't true at all. Daniel has never stepped foot in a TNA ring but he has arguably received the worst treatment out of all talent that has ever jumped ship in WWE history.

Also Vance Archer who was Lance Hoyt in TNA seems to be fairing pretty well in WWE despite being from TNA. Not to mention, Kaval. Call me crazy but I think WWE would rather take a guy that TNA missed the boat out on and make them a star to spit it back in their face. I don't think working for TNA automatically buries your chance in WWE at all.

If anything, ROH guys get the raw end of the stick. Look how many ROH guys have failed in WWE or haven't done anything significant? Besides CM Punk, no one from ROH to WWE has done well and hell Punk even had a TNA run. Compare that to TNA guys from ROH: Lethal, Joe, AJ, Daniels, Wolfe, Homocide, Gunz. All of these guys have done something significant in TNA. ROH is still on the come up and I'm sure WWE recognizes that if ROH was to get to the level of TNA, they'd attack them just like how TNA does. I don't think it makes a difference. So long as you start out in any of the known companies (TNA & ROH) you have exposure and you can be buried regardless. So I don't think ROH workers are as safe as you make them sound just because they may have never step foot in TNA.

ROH talent is just more suited for TNA imo. Look at Desmond Wolfe aka Nigel. Without a doubt, he has done much better in TNA than Bryan Danielson has in WWE since they both left ROH together last year.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

I would say right now off the top of my head, Tyler Black is the single most ready star ROH has in the making – he could vault to success in either company, though I think TNA would get him there quicker as they did with Wolfe (who debuted against Kurt Angle outright) whereas with the WWE, guys like Punk – arguably ROH's biggest star at the time – had to cut their teeth on the WWE's D-show before finally reaching that brass ring. I don't think Black would face the same obstacles in TNA. Not by a mile.

Aside from the obvious choice of Black, the Briscoe Brothers IMO are also primed for the jump, as is Austin Aeries (again). The Briscoes would probably seed well with the revamped WWE tag team division since TNA's is quite crowded at the moment, but Aeries IMO would probably need to return to TNA if he wants to win anything of substance, considering his size limitations. Yes, I know, Evan Bourne you say. Problem is, Bourne was an absolute nobody for nearly two years before John Cena magically "discovered" his talents, and he still hasn't won a fucking thing, so the point is moot.