Kevin Kelly Mocks TNA's Ratings: Irony at it's Finest

[Iversen]

ROHbots are hilarious. They really believe that ROH is the best promotion, has the best talent and would actually be successful on a national scale. But shattered they are REAL wrestlers. Real wrestling fans love ROH. No, Kurt Angle was a real wrestler. Real wrestling fans look at prowrestling and say what the hell is going on? ROH is guys that really took gymnastics in elementary school and wrestled in middle school and stopped growing before high school started and consequently are afraid of public speaking. Real prowrestling fans like to be entertained with all around variety. ROH can be alright in smaller doses but as long as they book for a niche product audience that is all they will ever be.

I don't believe ROH is the be all and end all and I only really watch it every now and then but I have a feeling you've barely ever watched it?

Sure it's not soap opera wrestling but ROH have some of the best actual pure wrestlers in the buisness and they keep producing them. Just look at the guys currently plying their trade in TNA and WWE. Punk, Bryan, Joe, Styles etc. they've all been in ROH at some point.

I agree with you that it's a niche product to a certain extent because it's a lot less storyline based but a lot of their roster are fantastic.

 

[shattered dreams]

Wrestling fans want one very simple thing. Well, it's simple in concept, not quite in delivery. Wrestling fans just want....... Wait for it..........

WRESTLING!!!

Why is this so difficult to understand?

Because ROH isn't WRESTLING!?!??!????!??!

That sums up AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, Motor City Machine Guns, Desmond Wolfe, Homicide, Generation Me, Douglas Williams, Jay Lethal pretty well don't you think?

There is nothing wrong with having some guys that depend on their ring work more than other areas. There is something wrong with having almost only guys like that, especially when psychology in the matches is often a foreign concept. AJ Styles developed his speaking ability and became a solid story teller, Joe is athletic but he certainly kept growing (unfortunately it was in the way most of the ROH fanbase grows *sideways), Nigel McGuiness maybe, Homicide and Lethal are not in TNA (yes this describes Lethal now btw) and the list goes on. Anyway, there is nothing wrong with the style in moderation, especially when it isn't pointless stretched out to meet a requisite time of WRESTLING!!!!!

Yes, talented individuals have worked in ROH but the problem is that ROH does not really cultivate their mainstream abilities. They choose to sell WRESTLING to a niche audience instead of attempt to tap into these guys mainstream potential abilities. Notice the idea is look who used to work in ROH not who works in ROH now. It will always be that way.

i'm sorry. i can't take anyone who has MATTITUDE in their signature seriously.

I can't take anyone that cannot read seriously.

I don't believe ROH is the be all and end all and I only really watch it every now and then but I have a feeling you've barely ever watched it?

Sure it's not soap opera wrestling but ROH have some of the best actual pure wrestlers in the buisness and they keep producing them. Just look at the guys currently plying their trade in TNA and WWE. Punk, Bryan, Joe, Styles etc. they've all been in ROH at some point.

I agree with you that it's a niche product to a certain extent because it's a lot less storyline based but a lot of their roster are fantastic.

Correct, I have watched only sparingly because it just doesn't hold my attention. They do not have the best pure wrestlers. They do have people with potential but it certainly isn't everyone. Even more frustrating they do not do much to build that potential outside of their formula. I have nothing against ROH. If it was easier to follow I might watch occasionally. My only issue is with people that think doing everything ROH style is the "correct" way to do things and how places like TNA would be more successful if they were REAL wrestling. Beliefs that I literally find laughable.

 

[Caitiff]

Because ROH isn't WRESTLING!?!??!????!??!

Have you recently suffered brain trauma? I sincerely want to know, before I put actual effort into tearing into going after you on that one.

That said, "Wrestling" is not mainstream. "Sports Entertainment" is mainstream. WWE and TNA are not "Wrestling." They are "Sports Entertainment, and present themselves, even on camera, as though their product is fake. Ring of Honor, at least on camera and at shows, presents their product as though it were an actual sport, in the world presented at an RoH show. They are a throwback to the NWA and WWF days of the 1980s, and, as such aren't "Sports Entertainment." They're "Wrestling."

I recall one of the comments being used to describe Ring of Honor being that it was "the Wrestling styles of the 1980's, performed by people who were born in the 1980's."

TNA has forgotten that, in the oft-repeated words of Godon Solie, "The name on the marque is Wrestling." Vince McMahon, and, by extention, WWE, has not only forgotten that, but, when confronted with that fact in their own name, decided to change their name, to remove any reference to "Wrestling" from their product.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

Have you recently suffered brain trauma? I sincerely want to know, before I put actual effort into tearing into going after you on that one.

That said, "Wrestling" is not mainstream. "Sports Entertainment" is mainstream. WWE and TNA are not "Wrestling." They are "Sports Entertainment, and present themselves, even on camera, as though their product is fake. Ring of Honor, at least on camera and at shows, presents their product as though it were an actual sport, in the world presented at an RoH show. They are a throwback to the NWA and WWF days of the 1980s, and, as such aren't "Sports Entertainment." They're "Wrestling."

I recall one of the comments being used to describe Ring of Honor being that it was "the Wrestling styles of the 1980's, performed by people who were born in the 1980's."

TNA has forgotten that, in the oft-repeated words of Godon Solie, "The name on the marque is Wrestling." Vince McMahon, and, by extention, WWE, has not only forgotten that, but, when confronted with that fact in their own name, decided to change their name, to remove any reference to "Wrestling" from their product.

Okay, bozo, let me illuminate you. ROH is not "wrestling", TNA is not "wrestling", WWE is not "wrestling", this is wrestling:

[youtube]SOaimBU_3sU[/youtube]

What TNA, WWE and ROH are is PRO wrestling. That is the term for it. No matter how they handle their product, no matter what they do, they are a pro wrestling company. "Sports Entertainment" is not a term in this business. It never was. What "sports entertainment" is, is a fictional brand of pro wrestling that Vince McMahon pulled out of his ass and called his product in order to further escape from the clutches of the term "pro wrestling", because apparently it comes from the devil.

That's it. Pro wrestling is always going to be pro wrestling whether McMahon likes it or not. You call TNA and WWE "sports entertainment" and ROH "wrestling" in order to add some identity to that dry, emotionless company that you love so much. It has no identity, that's why it doesn't have a TV deal. All the mainstream companies and ROH are pro wrestling. It's just that all companies have different approaches. ROH is no more a pro wrestling company than TNA is, and TNA is no more a pro wrestling company than WWE is. It's more theatric, in some, it's more wrestling-y in others, but it's still pro wrestling. The matches are still "fake", they have gimmicks, they have storylines. Pro freakin' wrestling.

Going back to what was going on in the 1980's is the dumbest thing anyone could do. Basing your product on only one aspect of pro wrestling is once again, the dumbest thing to do. If ROH is okay with pleasing less than 5.000 people - fine. That's a noble thing to do, not to care about the Mainstream companies. It's great. But when ROHbots come out and say it's something "more" than TNA or WWE, that's when it gets funny.

 

[Caitiff]

That's just it, though. But condensing the nonsense, and giving the fans of professional wrestling (Notice that the word "Wrestling" is in that description, by the way.) a show, during which there aren't any matches cut short to make room for comedy promos that the fans shit on, they ARE different than the mainstream. Vince McMahon is ashamed of "professional wrestling." He's ashamed of his career. That's why the term "Sports Entertainment" was coined, and why the word "Wrestling" is no longer in his company's name.

Professional Wrestling in the 1980's showed that the product was just plain better then than it is now. Ring of Honor isn't the best possible wrestling. It could be a better show. But, it's an actual professional wrestling show. And, that makes it better than "Sports Entertainment," if for no other reason than "by default."

 

[He's Phenomenal]

Yea it is pretty ironic (or moronic) considering ROH doesn't even have a TV show! If IMPACT! only got 10 viewers a week, it would be 10 more viewers than ROH.

I don't see how someone who works for a two bit indy company can criticise a global wrestling company. People have mentioned Kevin Kelly works in the industry so his comments are valid. BS. I could run a wrestling company out of my back garden (therefore being in the business) but if I started taking shots at the big boys like TNA and WWE, I would just look like a jealous mug. And that's exactly how Kevin Kelly comes across.

I watched ROH for about a month and it quickly became boring. Established guy beats a jobber, two established guys go to a no contest. Thats all it is. Looks like HDnet just took a little longer to realise its boring.

 

[Good Golly It's Ollie]

It's fashionable to mock TNA, it doesn't surprise me to hear that anyone is doing so. I'd be shocked if someone outside the company publicly had anything nice to say about TNA. Most people have even stopped adding the "I really want them to succeed, though..." portion. We have hit the level where the company isn't doing very well, and everyone is positioning themselves for a big "I told you so" if the company goes under.

I'm forced to agree with you, cynical though this viewpoint is. TNA is the new Cena in terms of the Internet fanbase - hating is cool. While I agree that TNA is not as interesting or unique as it was even say, two or three years ago, it's still way more prolific than ROH. I don't think Kevin Kelly was sour at all, he doesn't sound that way to me, but ROH is marketed at a smaller demographic than TNA is, and it doesn't have as large a pool of resources in terms of its management.

Personally I don't watch very much ROH but what I have seen I've greatly enjoyed, fantastic athleticism. It's how I first knew about Danielson at any rate. Then again, I'm just one nobody on the interwebz, my view doesn't mean squat.

And ultimately neither TNA or ROH are widely known enough to be controlling the direction of the wrestling business. WWE is. There's always a bigger fish.

 

[AntiChristDeicide]

You know ROH is today what ECW was in the 90's (i.e a company that can't have a tv deal to save its life). Kevin Kelly may have the right to say what he said, but for a guy that is working in a company that most of us don't know who the wrestlers are he seems like a douche. Look execpt for Haass and Benjamin, i don't know who are on ROH's roster and thats not normal. On TNA you know who the wrestlers are on their roster even if you missed 1 month.