RING OF HONOR Announces sale to Sinclair Broadcast Group & New TV Deal

[Fenris]

Never mind the future of ROH. Today's announcement has potentially saved the future of professional wrestling.

All we know is September so we don't know what day it will air yet but what is a fairly safe bet is that TNA and ROH will be in direct competition as wrestling brands with each wrestling out of the north and south respectively.

Almost certainly with ROH having a new budget and national TV exposure guys who previously were stuck in TNA will now have the option of defecting and although I'm sure there'll be at least a few, guys like; let's say, Samoa Joe, will most likely find his way back to ROH.

This is a Massive day for professional wrestling, I can't say it enough, Massive!

Come September we'll have two Professional Wrestling companies at WAR again just like the good old days. Except this time there'll be a circus operating away from where the action is at.

LOL hahahahaha where to start. Saved pro wrestling? It's a war now? ROH is competing with TNA? Sorry, no dice. ROH has just entered their death throws, they're NOT competition for anyone and now they're not going to be. I see you're from the U.K. and thus not really hip to American metro areas so let me break it down for you.

Big markets ROH will be available in-
Las Vegas, NV
St. Louis, MO
Minneapolis, MN
Milwaukee, WI
Columbus, OH
Tampa, FL
Nashville, TN

The rest-
San Antonio, TX
Oklahoma City, OK
Paducah, KY
Des Moines, IA
Cedar Rapids, IA
Madison, WI
Flint, MI
Dayton, OH
Cincinnati, OH
Springfield, IL
Peoria, IL
Birmingham, AL
Mobile, AL
Asheville, NC
Charleston, SC
Tallahassee, FL
Greensboro, NC
Raleigh, NC
Norfolk, VA
Richmond, VA
Charleston, WV
Pittsburgh, PA
Buffalo, NY
Rochester, NY
Syracuse, NY
Portland, ME

Yes I am aware the Carolinas are big wrestling states. Only one issue, unless ROH can steal Flair from TNA noones going to give a shit in the Carolinas. So basically for large wrestling markets ROH is available in the Carolinas, Tampa, Nashville and Minneapolis. On Saturday nights. At almost midnight. On regular TV. Not too good unless they plan on leaving Yankee country and becoming 'Rasslin(Speaking of, aren't they still based in Philly? Too funny, they're not even aired in their hometown market!). Even then, again, NC is Flair country, Nashville is TNA country and Tampa is Hogan country. That's about like setting up shop in NYC and declaring war on the WWE, yeah, good luck with that.

The Sinclair Group seems to be a smaller Network company that concentrates on buying network franchises on basic TV in rural areas. This isn't some huge conglomerate and they now own ROH 100%. Keep that in mind, because they're probably not going to franchise ROH TV rights to competing networks or MyNetwork affiliates they hope to buy out. In other words Ring of Honor is a sitting duck. Silkin got out at the right time it looks to me like.

 

[Chicago1989]

Well, I am excited about this because it was the news I was waiting to hear from ROH. Finally, Ring Of Honor will have a better TV deal than HDNet and the exposure it deserves. In this day and age, you need to have a TV deal to stay relevant. I just couldn't see ROH without a deal before the end of this year. Their work is very underrated and needs to be noticed.

I can't wait to see what the show will be like and I also can't wait to attend ROH's next iPPV in NYC. Should be fun and informative about this news at the show.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Great News for ROH but the DO have to change if they are going to become bigger.

From a HARDCORE wrestling fan's perspective ROH is probably all around the best promotion out there. It's a little more old school, has more sensical booking and often produce great matches, but anyone who thinks THAT style will sell to the average fan better think again.

If they are going to become bigger and better they need to seriously up the entertainment factor if they are going to bring in more CASUAL fans. Wrestling's top 2 periods were in the 80's with Hogan and the late 90's with Austin and The Rock and both times it brought in more fans because of the overall entertainment value, in the late 90's there was less wrestling then there is now (I remember seeing many 2 hour RAW's with less than 20 minutes of wrestling). The Hardcores will always be there as long as they don't sell out TOO much but they need to have a complete overhaul in image or else they won't go to far.

TV is a great way to expose the product to fans who haven't seen it, but with the way the current promotion is presented, it will never become big because it lacks the entertainment aspect. Don't completely go the entertainment aspect, show off their wrestling skills for sure because they excel in that area, but bring in some entertainment or else they won't grow much.

 

[IkeTurner]

Obviously this deal could go either way for ROH. Being a HUGE fan of their product, im hoping that it works out for the best. First of all, this isnt going to make them compete with TNA, nor would i think that is even what ROH has in mind........at least not anytime in the near future. ROH just wants to expand into more markets, maybe not the biggest markets but just simply to reach more people. No one knows what channels this will come on at the moment and when/if this show will be syndicated to other channels, but obviously with the statements that have been made, that is the plan. Id think with a TV company owning the product, they will promote the hell out of it. Id think it would be easy for a TV company to get its own promotion on television. This can only be a good thing for ROH, when you think about its current alternative, which is no television. With youtube and such, the main stream of revenue that ROH depended on was drying up....dvd sales. I think this was a move that had to be made.

While i dont think ROH has any ideas over overtaking TNA as the 2nd company in the US, keep in mind that its not THAT far of a stretch. I wouldnt say TNA is blowing the ratings out of the water and they simply arent selling ppv's at all. The last TNA ppv, which was distributed through all major TV companys, drew 8,000 or so buys. The last weekend for that ROH ran ippvs drew between 4,500-4,800 buys. Thats not a huge gap when you consider just how many more people are exposed to TNA and have access to order the ppv. I think if ROH could just get its product out there for everyone to see, they would easily be the #2 promotion in the US. BUT, thats the hard part and is prolly the case for a lot of indy companies in the US.

 

[Chicago1989]

Great News for ROH but the DO have to change if they are going to become bigger.

From a HARDCORE wrestling fan's perspective ROH is probably all around the best promotion out there. It's a little more old school, has more sensical booking and often produce great matches, but anyone who thinks THAT style will sell to the average fan better think again.

If they are going to become bigger and better they need to seriously up the entertainment factor if they are going to bring in more CASUAL fans. Wrestling's top 2 periods were in the 80's with Hogan and the late 90's with Austin and The Rock and both times it brought in more fans because of the overall entertainment value, in the late 90's there was less wrestling then there is now (I remember seeing many 2 hour RAW's with less than 20 minutes of wrestling). The Hardcores will always be there as long as they don't sell out TOO much but they need to have a complete overhaul in image or else they won't go to far.

TV is a great way to expose the product to fans who haven't seen it, but with the way the current promotion is presented, it will never become big because it lacks the entertainment aspect. Don't completely go the entertainment aspect, show off their wrestling skills for sure because they excel in that area, but bring in some entertainment or else they won't grow much.

I get where you're coming from, DAT, about entertainment in wrestling, but don't you think that at this point, "Sports-Entertainment" is a thing of the past?

Now, reality TV is what's big. Drama, realism, powerful, logical TV is what is keeping people interested. MMA is the most obvious and most successful example; Take what made them successful and implement it in wrestling: Young, hungry, and competitive athletes going intense in combat with unique personalities and confrontations.

Wrestling needs a change; A change for the better. Enough of this "Who slept with who?", "Shove this up your monkey ass!" garbage

 

[T2KFreeker]

I'm a little late to this ballgame. In the end, I am happy to see that RoH will be returning to Television. Not sure who's there and who isn't anymore, but hopefully this is a good thing. Sadly, I see a huge raid coming from WWE in the talent department coming. It's just a matter of time. I'll gladly watch it though when it does come back on.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

I get where you're coming from, DAT, about entertainment in wrestling, but don't you think that at this point, "Sports-Entertainment" is a thing of the past?

Now, reality TV is what's big. Drama, realism, powerful, logical TV is what is keeping people interested. MMA is the most obvious and most successful example; Take what made them successful and implement it in wrestling: Young, hungry, and competitive athletes going intense in combat with unique personalities and confrontations.

Wrestling needs a change; A change for the better. Enough of this "Who slept with who?", "Shove this up your monkey ass!" garbage

Not at all, I have talked with hundreds of casual fans over the years who no longer watch wrestling and there is one constant between all of them. That constant is they love the over the top characters that can entertain them on a continuous basis. Understand when I say entertainment I don't mean for the entertainment aspect to eclipse the wrestling because one thing to remember is WRESTLING is always the driving force. No matter what feuds, story lines and characters there are it always builds to the match.

You also got to see that Drama, realism and logic is still entertainment, ROH really isn't entertainment they try to treat wrestling like a real sport and thats just a bad idea for the simple fact of the UFC. No one will ever watch a fake sport over a real sport, thats where the entertainment comes into play. Wrestling became predetermined because people did not want to see a real wrestling match because it wasn't entertaining, thats where the idea of heels, faces and storylines stemmed from.

I do agree with the realism and logical booking as much as you do but the over the top characters is what the casual fans remember, not the intense match. I ask all my casual wrestling fans and they never talk about matches and feuds, they talk about the great characters and the entertainment these guys brought to them. Guys like the Undertaker, Razor Ramon and Macho Man Randy Savage were much more than great wrestlers, they were great characters that demanded your attention in one way or another. There was something about these guys that made them different, unique, and something the people remembered.

 

[Chicago1989]

Not at all, I have talked with hundreds of casual fans over the years who no longer watch wrestling and there is one constant between all of them. That constant is they love the over the top characters that can entertain them on a continuous basis. Understand when I say entertainment I don't mean for the entertainment aspect to eclipse the wrestling because one thing to remember is WRESTLING is always the driving force. No matter what feuds, story lines and characters there are it always builds to the match.

You also got to see that Drama, realism and logic is still entertainment, ROH really isn't entertainment they try to treat wrestling like a real sport and thats just a bad idea for the simple fact of the UFC. No one will ever watch a fake sport over a real sport, thats where the entertainment comes into play. Wrestling became predetermined because people did not want to see a real wrestling match because it wasn't entertaining, thats where the idea of heels, faces and storylines stemmed from.

I do agree with the realism and logical booking as much as you do but the over the top characters is what the casual fans remember, not the intense match. I ask all my casual wrestling fans and they never talk about matches and feuds, they talk about the great characters and the entertainment these guys brought to them. Guys like the Undertaker, Razor Ramon and Macho Man Randy Savage were much more than great wrestlers, they were great characters that demanded your attention in one way or another. There was something about these guys that made them different, unique, and something the people remembered.

I agree on having some entertainment in wrestling and I respect your opinion on it. I just think that it shouldn't be too "over the top" and contrived, you know?

You can have gimmicks and interesting storylines, but I just hate it when bookers make no sense and logic of it and insult people's intelligence.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

I agree on having some entertainment in wrestling and I respect your opinion on it. I just think that it shouldn't be too "over the top" and contrived, you know?

You can have gimmicks and interesting storylines, but I just hate it when bookers make no sense and logic of it and insult people's intelligence.

I totally agree with you on that. I think that it should gear more towards the entertainment aspect but it never works if the storylines and booking have no logic.

I think it would be best for a mix of both entertainment AND wrestling (can't forget that because its what ROH does best after all) with some logical booking to keep the boat moving forward. Bring in some over the top, but do it in a way that makes sense. The beautiful thing about sports entertainment is you can go down over the top roads, but still write it in a way that makes sense and keeps people intrigued.