Report: TNA Taking More Notice of ROH

[The Dragon Saga]

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, TNA are taking much more interest in Ring of Honor this year due to ROH’s growth and recent success, plus their subtle jabs at the promotion both on and off their shows. So far this year ROH has re-signed former TNA talents AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian, Styles returning to ROH at the Nashville Fairgrounds formerly known as the TNA Asylum in their early days. In their latest promo promoting ROH’s first PPV Best in the World, Kazarian and Daniels take a couple shots at TNA, the most noticeable being Kazarian referring to TNA’s Meangerie stable as, “a terrible circus”. ROH also made news recently by being given TNA’s annual Basebrawl event instead of TNA, with MCU Field officials feeling ROH will generate more buzz due to their success this year.

TNA has responded by contacting several ROH stars ahead of their PPV on June 22, Best in the World which also takes place in Nashville at the former TNA Asylum. However, all the talents they have contacted are contracted to ROH and are unable to sign anyway. TNA also sent out a street team during ROH’s War of the Worlds show last month to promote their TV tapings in the Manhattan Center, as ROH had sold-out the Hammerstein Ballroom, the flyers passed out went largely unnoticed with most being thrown to the floor. ROH fans began the show by chanting, “f#ck TNA” during a segment with AJ Styles where Styles smiled in response.

It’s also worth mentioning that two weeks ago on Impact Wrestling during a segment involving MVP and The Wolves (most known for their run in ROH as The American Wolves), MVP threatened to send The Wolves, “back to working high school gyms”, if they didn’t do what he told them. While this may not have been a direct shot at ROH and instead referencing their independent work, it’s simply worth mentioning.

Read more: http://www.pwmania.com/tna-taking-m...ting-roh-talent-in-recent-weeks#ixzz34OooDktQ

I was going to post this in the ROH spam thread but I felt it's more TNA orientated news considering it deals with TNA's perspective than ROH's. I think competition between these two would be good, it's definitely there anyway, ROH has out drawn TNA attendance wise this year and there has been some obvious shots fired, but nothing too major. I doubt anyone on ROH's roster would leave ROH for TNA right now, but hey, to be totally honest anyone from ROH's roster (sans Cheeseburger) would probably be a good pick up for TNA.

 

[Adam X]

It's a shame Feinstein and a few other issues lead to the working relationship these two had dissolving.

I'd love to see ReDragon or the Briscoes or even Elgin or Ciampa on Impact and it would get them bigger exposure...well slightly bigger maybe since ROH is not in every market and often not till overnights.

Either way a little competition in wrestling is always good even if it's between the #2-3 companies in America at the moment.

 

[Fabulous Freebirds]

Please don't take this the wrong way but: Nobody cares about TNA. Nobody cares about ROH. TNA and ROH will never / have never accomplished what WCW and ECW have accomplished.

So, in all honesty, this ROH vs TNA "feud" - I can't even type that with a straight face - is nothing more than two minor companies fighting for a meaningless second and third place spot. The rest of the world really does not care about either company at this point.

Notice that even with 3 companies functioning right now (WWE, TNA, ROH) wrestling is still pretty boring and has not created a boom like it did during the Monday Night Wars between WWF vs WCW with ECW mixed in?

So, that should tell you what everyone knows: ROH and TNA are both pretty worthless in appeal. I, myself as a wrestling fan, just can't excited for either at this point.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Meh. Nobody cares about TNA. Nobody cares about ROH. TNA and ROH will never accomplish what WCW and ECW have accomplished.

Have accomplished would apply that they're still alive, but they're not, they're dead. Defunct. Bye-bye. Six feet under. So that would be the big difference in ROH/TNA and ECW/WCW - two are alive, existing, working, proving work, both are on PPV, both have bigger PPV deals than ECW did, one has been on TV longer then Turner's incarnation of WCW, and on and on.

Have either TNA or ROH accomplished what WCW did? No. But neither were in existence in the biggest boom period in wrestling history when 8,000,000 people were watching wrestling on a Monday night. Have either accomplished what ECW have? TNA definitely, ROH quite possibly. More former ROH World Champions have held WWE's top titles then former ECW World Champions did. ROH has existed longer then both ECW (by years) and as of this summer, WCW. Both TNA and ROH are wealthier then ECW. And on and on.

Arrogance is bliss, but trying to be a prick makes you a prick. Being a prick on a wrestling forum isn't cool.

 

[Fabulous Freebirds]

Have accomplished would apply that they're still alive, but they're not, they're dead. Defunct. Bye-bye. Six feet under. So that would be the big difference in ROH/TNA and ECW/WCW - two are alive, existing, working, proving work, both are on PPV, both have bigger PPV deals than ECW did, one has been on TV longer then Turner's incarnation of WCW, and on and on.

Have either TNA or ROH accomplished what WCW did? No. But neither were in existence in the biggest boom period in wrestling history when 8,000,000 people were watching wrestling on a Monday night. Have either accomplished what ECW have? TNA definitely, ROH quite possibly. More former ROH World Champions have held WWE's top titles then former ECW World Champions did. ROH has existed longer then both ECW (by years) and as of this summer, WCW. Both TNA and ROH are wealthier then ECW. And on and on.

Arrogance is bliss, but trying to be a prick makes you a prick. Being a prick on a wrestling forum isn't cool.

First of all, I changed a portion of my original sentence from "Meh" to "Please don't take this the wrong way" because I did not like how that came off. I was not trying to be condescending.

But let's face facts. TNA and ROH are not achieving the same level of success that ECW and WCW have had. Yes, both WCW and ECW are out of business but they still have a place in the hearts and minds of wrestling fans. TNA and ROH does not. And more than likely will not.

In your OP you said a little competition between ROH and TNA could be very good.

I am sorry but TNA and ROH competing with each other is like two last place baseball teams competing NOT to finish last in their division. I just don't see the interest.


P.S.

Yes, guys from ROH have gone on to bigger and better things in the WWE. But that does not help ROH in the long run. Constantly losing talent and running out of good replacements.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Please don't take this the wrong way but: Nobody cares about TNA. Nobody cares about ROH. TNA and ROH will never / have never accomplished what WCW and ECW have accomplished.

So, in all honesty, this ROH vs TNA "feud" - I can't even type that with a straight face - is nothing more than two minor companies fighting for a meaningless second and third place spot. The rest of the world really does not care about either company at this point.

Notice that even with 3 companies functioning right now (WWE, TNA, ROH) wrestling is still pretty boring and has not created a boom like it did during the Monday Night Wars between WWF vs WCW with ECW mixed in?

So, that should tell you what everyone knows: ROH and TNA are both pretty worthless in appeal. I, myself as a wrestling fan, just can't excited for either at this point.

"Please don't take this the wrong way..." as a lead in is just another way of saying "with all due respect" — a phrase used to mock/feign respect before you say something "the wrong way" or disrespectfully.

If "nobody cares" about TNA or ROH, why do more than a million fans tune in to watch the show every single week (in TNA's case)? Why do they have international television deals, and why are they a nationally syndicated broadcast in the U.S. on SpikeTV? Your baseline is obviously WWE, which I would tell you is an absurd one to have if you are basing all levels of success on whether "the competition" is able to meet it. By that logic, should all sports use the NFL as a baseline? If so, the NHL, MLB, NBA and every major league U.S. soccer league may as well shut their doors tomorrow, because "nobody cares" about them either. They don't hit the same records the NFL does in viewership and sponsorships and sales, so why even bother, right?

 

[The Dragon Saga]

I didn't read the dude with the Andre avatars next post but I see IDR replied so I trust he probably said whatever I was going to say. Anyhow, this report has broken into a bit of a back and forth between Dave Metlzer and Mike Johnson from PWInsider now. Kind of funny.

A news story began making the rounds yesterday about TNA raiding ROH talents. I am told the story began in The Wrestling Observer, but I have not seen the original story, so I can't comment on it.
After a ton of emails asking us what was going on, I reached out to sources in both TNA and ROH. I was told that Jay Lethal was contacted and asked about working the Destination X-themed Impact episode, at the same time TNA was reached out to former champions. Lethal told them he was under contract and turned it down.

At the same time, someone (I suspect Davey Richards due to his relationship with Kyle O'Reilly, who he trained) reached out to ROH Tag Team champions ReDragon, who are also under deals, and inquired about their interest in working. Obviously, they cannot. I was told by several different people in TNA that was not a call made on behalf of the company but a call that was made "independently". I don't know this to be sure, but knowing how much Richards prides himself on having awesome matches, I can see him trying to put together something where two great workers could come in to wrestle himself and Eddie Edwards. I was told that no TNA executives ever had a discussion with ReDragon.

I am told that TNA has had conversations with other talents who aren't under current ROH deals from time to time (and they also get contacted by said talents, as goes the nature of the business) but beyond the aforementioned, that was it.

A TNA source, when asked about the story, said, "All conversations with talents start with, 'Are you under contract?' If the answer is Yes, we don't go any further, ever.'"

http://pwinsider.com/article/86248/tna-raiding-roh-what-happened-and-what-didnt-happen.html?p=1

Dave Meltzer responded within less then an hour with this on his message board thingy.

I got a text telling me to hop online real quick and check out a small piece Mike Johnson wrote in response to an extract from yesterdays newsletter about the story on TNA trying to lure ROH stars from the promotion in response to some tension brewing between the two. In it he says he didn't read the piece but I know he has access to this so maybe he'll read this. I never said TNA are trying to "raid" ROH. In their current financial situation I doubt TNA could raid any decent sized independent of its roster, forget a company not all too smaller then it despite a bigger TV deal and international exposure. What I said was that TNA contacted ROH wrestlers and everyone they contacted were under contract so they couldn't speak to them. ROH spent the first half of this year renewing the majority of its rosters contracts. From what I understand there are less than five guys on its roster who aren't signed to deals, two being AJ Styles and Chris Hero, some people tell me Roderick Strong does have a contract despite working for Gabe Sapolsky's promotions which ROH allow him to do as a thank you for many years of hard work. I never mentioned Bobby Fish or Kyle O'Reilly because I had no details on Richards contacting them although it's totally possible as Richards trained O'Reilly and both Davey and Eddie from what people tell me aren't happy with how their TNA run has gone so far. Davey even promoted an ROH event this past weekend on his Twitter account- we're not too far removed from him being fired by the promotion.

This is not a passive aggressive response to Mike but just something I needed to clarify. TNA did not try to raid ROH. They contacted some of their wrestlers, those wrestlers were all under contract. Some is not a raid.

 

[Fabulous Freebirds]

I didn't read the dude with the Andre avatars next post but I see IDR replied so I trust he probably said whatever I was going to say. Anyhow, this report has broken into a bit of a back and forth between Dave Metlzer and Mike Johnson from PWInsider now. Kind of funny.



Dave Meltzer responded within less then an hour with this on his message board thingy.

So this was much ado about nothing other than faulty reporting by both Mike Johnson and Dave Meltzer? In turn, made TNA look bad by making people think they were raiding ROH when they were not and revealing Davey Richards as the real crook behind this.

 

[Fabulous Freebirds]

"Please don't take this the wrong way..." as a lead in is just another way of saying "with all due respect" — a phrase used to mock/feign respect before you say something "the wrong way" or disrespectfully.

If "nobody cares" about TNA or ROH, why do more than a million fans tune in to watch the show every single week (in TNA's case)? Why do they have international television deals, and why are they a nationally syndicated broadcast in the U.S. on SpikeTV? Your baseline is obviously WWE, which I would tell you is an absurd one to have if you are basing all levels of success on whether "the competition" is able to meet it. By that logic, should all sports use the NFL as a baseline? If so, the NHL, MLB, NBA and every major league U.S. soccer league may as well shut their doors tomorrow, because "nobody cares" about them either. They don't hit the same records the NFL does in viewership and sponsorships and sales, so why even bother, right?

I myself do not analyze ratings because it's not my thing but only having a million viewers after being on Spike TV for close to 9 years is not very impressive at all at this point. Plus doing research on Wrestlezone, last week's episode of Impact Wrestling did below 1 million viewers. So, the enthusiasm is not there for TNA as of right now.

ROH is on syndication in the worst timeslots in America.

My baseline is WWE because they are what any what any wrestling company tries to aim for in terms of success.

That's just how I feel. Sorry for the back to back posts.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

I myself do not analyze ratings because it's not my thing but only having a million viewers after being on Spike TV for close to 9 years is not very impressive at all at this point. Plus doing research on Wrestlezone, last week's episode of Impact Wrestling did below 1 million viewers. So, the enthusiasm is not there for TNA as of right now.

ROH is on syndication in the worst timeslots in America.

My baseline is WWE because they are what any what any wrestling company tries to aim for in terms of success.

That's just how I feel. Sorry for the back to back posts.

You're not understanding. WWE as a baseline for what to aspire to be is perfectly acceptable. WWE as a baseline for what is or is not success is not.

Everyone should aspire to be the best, or be next to the best, or be on par with the best. But if the best is the cut off for abject failure, as in those who are not the best are abject failures, then what is the point in playing the game? No one will ever beat WWE, so why even exist in that world? Oh, I dunno... to provide an alternative? To provide a place for other talents to work? To do your own thing that isn't WWE? You are aware there are fans that don't actually like or even watch WWE, right? They're often the same ones crying for TNA to be the alternative so they have a product to fall in love with.

I argue about this with hockey fans every year who subscribe to the theory that there are 29 losers every year. Bullshit. Tell that to the fans in Chicago who pulled an overnight 20+ rating for Game 7 of the Western Conference Final. Tell that to the "loser" in the Final whose owner often leaves the playoffs with an extra $60M+ in revenue. MSG alone averages around $20M per game in added revenue.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

So this was much ado about nothing other than faulty reporting by both Mike Johnson and Dave Meltzer? In turn, made TNA look bad by making people think they were raiding ROH when they were not and revealing Davey Richards as the real crook behind this.

Sounds about right.

Par for the course too. Meltzer reporting something that isn't taken in the way it's intended. Richards being in the middle of the trouble (although in this case, reaching out to guys to work with isn't that uncommon). Dragon Saga being a dick while saying it's not cool to be a dick.

Par for the course.

End of the day though, TNA will be best served not worrying about ROH, WWE, or any one else... and just simply worry about themselves.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

No one will ever beat WWE, so why even exist in that world? Oh, I dunno... to provide an alternative? To provide a place for other talents to work? To do your own thing that isn't WWE?

That would be awesome. A company in the position that TNA is in that was a true alternative to the WWE. A viably, strong company that created some level of competition, and one where any worker could easily go, make a good living, and freshen up their acts so that they didn't get stale, thus prolonging the peaks of their careers.

Too bad TNA has rarely ever been that company. They've always been too concerned with mimicking the WWE and being WWE-lite.

TNA's always been a company that I look at and shake my head... because of what could have been... and what we got instead.

 

[TDFG]

It's interesting considering that a lot of ROH talent has been employed by TNA before that i.e. Lethal, Styles, Bad Influence.

I'm not sure of TNA's finances, but they need to evaluate they're own roster and staff before they think of hiring other talent. Evan Bourne would inject fresh blood into the X Division, maybe Drew McIntryre if given the right gimmick could work. I'd like to see them sign a tag-team or two.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

In one of his latest updates John Pollock from The Fight Network who a lot of people will know does podcasts with Court Bauer who was formerly a head writer for WWE and now works for ROH in their front office, posted the following on the latest news round. It's implying that someone from either ROH or TNA are planning to jump ship to the opposite promotion. IDK who he could be talking about from ROH to TNA, dark, dark horse being Kevin Steen but that wouldn't make sense, but I could hamper a guess and say Samoa Joe from TNA back to ROH.

TNA has announced that Matt Hardy will be appearing on June 25th at the Impact tapings in New York for a reunion with Jeff Hardy (possibly a sign that the Willow character is being dropped). Hardy doesn't have a contract with Ring of Honor and is still scheduled for the pay-per-view in Nashville this Sunday teaming with Michael Bennett against The Briscoe Brothers. There is a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes right now with both TNA and Ring of Honor and it goes way beyond the stories last week of TNA contacting ROH talent. I can say there is one significant name that is unhappy with his current situation and it should become a lot more clear by the end of the week.

 

[Whap Me Jungles]

By now Joe wouldn't be that huge a loss. He's a Grand Slam champ, and that's surely a sign you've done it all. Maybe that match against Lashley was a sendoff.

I'm hoping Michael Elgin is the unhappy one, but that's the TNA mark in me talking.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Joe would make sense. He did an interview a while back talking about how he was ready to "take the ball and run with it" if TNA were to give him that opportunity again, all of this in the wake of AJ Styles leaving. He was even reported to be the guy rallying the troops and carrying the TNA company flag during the tapings in England when MVP debuted, and was giving speeches and the like on the tour buses.

Considering he then disappeared, again, in subsequent weeks for more than a month, dropping off the face of the planet essentially, it could be one of those situations where he feels he's being passed over again.

Like WMJ just said though, losing Joe at this point, at least on paper, won't hurt all that much. Fact is, he hasn't been "the" guy in TNA for a long while now, and it doesn't seem likely he'll get back there either, so he's sorta treading water. A return to ROH might make the most sense for him. Would be a career refresher.

 

[Papa Pillman]

Purely speculation, but the whole- "it should become a lot more clear by the end of the week" line makes me think that Pollock is referring to an ROH talent. With ROH having their PPV return this Sunday, that assessment says to me that some likely result from the booking may make it clear who could be on their way out. I guess to play devil's advocate he could also mean that a prominent TNA name is unhappy and therefore unlikely to show up at the Pennsylvania tapings this week, perhaps outing his displeasure when weighed against this report.

Either way, I hope there is some fire to this smoke. As someone who closely follows both companies I feel each side has multiple guys that could be valuable to the other if he jumped ship and I'd love to see the results of such a shake-up if it is indeed an upper card type of talent.

In an ideal world, if the Northeast tapings are a success for TNA and they can get the new Spike deal sorted, I'd love to see TNA base most of their television and more of their live events in that region and perhaps see the two companies come to some kind of working agreement not unlike the ROH/NJPW deal or the TNA/Wrestle-1 deal. They could possibly trade out for some talent exchanges and/or co-promote some of the same talents like they used to back in the day. It could be a nice deal for both sides. That is likely far fetched though as ROH seems to be doing just fine on their own and are taking next steps and have no clear need to tag along with TNA. ROH is doing an increasingly better job of offering a true alternative in the industry that a lot of people could get behind, TNA appears to be still not completely clear on what its trying to offer(though they put up a very nice effort at Slammiversary and have a chance to carry that into the tapings over the next couple weeks that will span this Summer's Impacts and hopefully give a clue on their desired direction).

 

[It's Damn Real!]

The real issue with that kind of working agreement is that it, while it makes sense on paper, and could in fact function properly to make both companies money, the ROH fan base despise TNA, much in the same way a lot of the WWE fan base does. Warranted or not, I just can't imagine that kind of ongoing thing remaining in the good graces of ROH's fans. This is the same group that tend to open shows or greet TNA talents with a "FUCK TNA" chant at live events, as AJ Styles can most recently attest to.