ROH "Field of Honor" Card Starting To Take Shape

Ring of Honor is starting to roll out the card for Field of Honor and the Main Event will be Michael Elgin the new ROH Champion in a four way match for his title. He will take on former Champion Adam Cole, current IWGP Champion A.J Styles and Jay Briscoe.

We always talk about ROH being different from WWE and it really is but to have a four way match right after WWE did with Battleground is a bit disappointing. If I do have any knock against ROH it is having multi-man matches for the title as often as they do. Why not just split it up have the Cole vs. Elgin re-match as the headliner and have Styles vs. Briscoe for the number one contender spot. This seems simple enough to me. It also does no favours to Nigel McGuinness who as the storyline match maker or booker look like he can’t make up his mind.

This all said I get why ROH is doing what they are with having a chance to really stick it to TNA as they use to run this event annually. If you have noticed TNA just recently did a baseball stadium show Kentucky and drew a gasp worthy 67 people. Safe to say Ring of Honor wants to show of their ability to draw. It is also important for the company as this will be the first show without Kevin Steen who wrapped up with the company this past weekend.

Another match announced for the card sees Matt Taven in what I would think will be his last shot at the ROH Television Title taking on Jay Lethal in what has been a long on going feud that started with Taven as the heel and now both guys have switched roles. This seems like the old school cage match blow off to the feud.

Others signed to appear our:

ReDragon
Michael Bennett and Maria
Daniels and Kazarian
Rocky Romero (NJPW)
War Machine
The Decade
Tommoaso Ciampa
Cedric Alexander
Silas Young
ACH
Takaaki Wantanabe (NJPW)
Moose


Not to say things can not change, but a name notable that is missing is Matt Hardy. He has worked with ROH since going over to do tapings with TNA at a recent show but is noticeably absent here. What that means time will tell.

Like we always try to do here on Condo on the Moon will look to line up some guests prior to this show to appear on our Podcast in coming weeks. Event takes place in Brooklyn New York at MCU Park on August 15th 2014.

 

Condo on the Moon is on Twitter and Facebook and check out our weekly podcasts Every Friday! 

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ROH vs TNA Could Be "Best For Business"

Most people point to the time period of the Monday Night Wars as the most exciting time in wrestling. You had a viable challenger to the standard WWF/F in WCW. Ted Turner had money to burn on WCW and he did just that. He purchased pretty much every star that Vince McMahon created and still it ended up in failure. As much as we like to roll our eyes at the WWE at times it has been and will be the standard for wrestling likely for our lifetime. Anyone that can honestly think WWE will have a serious competitor at this stage is fooling themselves. Their competition is now more with the UFC and entertainment in general these days.

What the WWF/E was able to do better than WCW was create stars something they still can do today. Do they have more misses than hits? Probably, but that is par for the course with all business’ trying to cater to an ever changing society. Think of how your own life has changed in the last ten years. In this age of technology we are all growing at different rates. So if you think the WWE Network will not eventually be a success you are most likely wrong. Vince McMahon sometimes gets painted as a crazy old man these days and that might be true in some senses. It is not like you or I get to hangout with Vince and he has become far less visible in the last few years. Make no mistake though he has spent by some reports 110 million dollars on the network. It is going to succeed it just might take time for people to get into 2014 technology wise.

WWE thrived with competition and they used the clear advantage they had by being allowed to create a much more edgy program that their competition WCW was not able to do under the Turner corporate banner and even more so once the Time Warner merger happened. In fact despite the huge ratings that WCW did draw it was the red headed stepchild for Time Warner. Maybe like TNA is for Spike-TV? Not exactly as Spike is not exactly knocking it out of the park even with the MMA promotion they own Bellator.

Actually all of the build up was to get to the real point I am getting at which is the race for being the alternative to the WWE. It is not as sexy as Ted Turner offering top talents huge money to jump to WCW and Eric Bishoff bragging about kicking Vince’s butt. However a new wrestling war is starting and it should be good assuming TNA is able to stay in business and stay on Spike-TV.

Ring of Honor as we have been focusing on here in Condo on the Moon is heading to live pay-per-view thanks in part to the void left by the WWE turning their attention to promoting their events on the WWE Network. TNA actually had a decent show for their latest pay-per-view offering despite interest level heading into being at an all-time low.

Ring of Honor in contrast has been riding a huge high in 2014 as you have heard from guests on our podcast like Matt Taven and ROH Champion Adam Cole. They made a successful return to I-PPV with their shows featuring their new partnership with New Japan Pro Wrestling with Global Wars and War of the Worlds. They have replaced TNA for an annual summer event at a minor league baseball stadium in New York City. This has been a strong market for ROH.

The two companies are heading into each others backyards quite literally. The ROH PPV is taking place literally in the birthplace of TNA at the Nashville fairgrounds. It is also the city that TNA has its headquarters. While TNA is heading to New York City and going into the same venue that ROH hold’s it’s version of Wrestlemania that is “Final Battle” held in December. They are in the same building but in a smaller part of it. TNA will be in the place where the WWE first taped Monday Night Raw.

Adding to the intrigue of all this is a former WWE star Matt Hardy who has worked with ROH over the past few years and is scheduled to appear on PPV this Sunday. However, it was announced on Twitter that he in fact will be in competition at the TNA tapings in New York City. He will re-unite with his brother Jeff who of late has been playing his alter ego of Willow in TNA.

This comes after TNA had approached ROH talent’s that under contract to them. Some of the names that have been out there include Jay Lethal who spent time in TNA and ReDragon the current ROH Tag-Team Champions. Hardy was apparently not under contract. This is not the first time TNA has done this to ROH as they stole Kenny King when he was one half of the ROH Tag Team Champions. King is still in TNA and also is or was, a Chippendale’s dancer when he is not in the ring. Does he make more in tips from that than in TNA only he knows for sure?

This is what we have been missing in wrestling is a good old fashion war between rival promotions. It might not be as sexy or involve the big dollars that were being thrown around in the Monday Night Wars but it is a fight. We have picked a side in this fight and obviously it is ROH.

The reasons why are pretty simple it comes down to the product. While TNA seems determined to be WWE light that is so far from what ROH is trying to be it isn’t funny. In addition to this fact, who is the company that is producing the talent that goes on to WWE that would be Ring of Honor. If anyone wants to make the argument that TNA can produce anyone that is going to be in the WWE that hasn’t been their already they are crazy. A.J Styles was the biggest star TNA produced themselves, well not exactly he did start in ROH but people associate him with TNA. He has stated himself that no offer came his way from WWE. He instead has come back home to ROH and is working for New Japan Pro Wrestling and is the first North American since Brock Lesnar to hold the IWGP Championship.

Similar Bad Influence who will be taking on the aforementioned ReDragon on the PPV Sunday. Daniels is returning to his home of Ring of Honor along with Frankie Kazarian who made up the “Bad Influence” in TNA. They did not get an offer from WWE either we can safely assume. The talent that ROH has put in the WWE is a long and growing list. The latest is rumored to Kevin Steen who may be fighting his last match for Ring of Honor on this Sunday at the pay-per-view.

If you like competition and miss the fun of the Monday Night Wars this may be as close as we get to seeing it. So enjoy the competition and hopefully it makes both companies worked harder and creates an even better product for the fans of wrestling. That was what made the WWE it’s best being pushed to produce by a rival. This is not exactly an even fight, but close enough to be interesting in terms of the resources and money these competitors are willing to spend. So let the games begin.

It also is good for wrestlers as competition can lead to better deals and at least having options which is problem for people in WWE. The amount of money is certainly not to the same level anywhere else is not going to happen in the modern wrestling landscape.

Condo on the Moon is on Twitter and Facebook and check out our weekly podcasts Every Friday! You can find us now at Condoonthemoon.com

ROH's Time Is Now

It has already been a big year for ROH but where it will be truly defined will start tomorrow in Toronto. The first show of two in co-promotion with New Japan Wrestling which were announced a couple of months ago. It also marks ROH’s return to I-PPV which was not kind to this company in the past. During a surge of interest in the company they had massive issues with I-PPV that caused them all kinds of problems. Wrestling fans and loyal ROH fans alike were pissed at the constant issues they had. It forced ROH to abandon the whole concept until now. They are broadcasting this time around through U-Stream and that is something that has been fairly reliable for their partners from New Japan.

I admit when the announcement of the partnership with New Japan Pro Wrestling I really didn’t understand what that meant. I consider myself a wrestling fan but it has always been based in North America. Since the announcement I have come to learn how important this company is to the hardcore wrestling fans. It is the number one company in Japan and has a load of talent some of the best of which are going to be featured on these cards in Toronto and New York. Both of which are complete sell outs.

ROH has always been fairly smart in terms of booking venues that make sense for their promotion. When you are not smart you get pictures of how empty buildings are like we have seen with TNA over the last year or so.

Consider these I-PPV’s as test runs for the main event which happens on June 22nd, 2014 as Best In The World will debut ROH on traditional PPV right in the backyard of TNA in Nashville, Tennessee. While being on Spike despite the poor ratings TNA does have some form of advantage the perception of the two companies could not be further apart. News breaking that TNA Star Kurt Angle is going to be out 4-6 months with ACL tear is just the latest TNA problem. ROH meanwhile has the most talented roster in North America outside of the WWE. The depth that ROH has in comparison to TNA is obvious which includes former TNA Poster Boy A.J Styles. He will not be part of the PPV in June in all likely hood though as he has a match booked for New Japan Pro Wrestling the day prior. 

While the WWE has tried to declare that PPV business is a dying dinosaur as the driving force for them launching the WWE Network they might be right. It isn’t dead yet though but if you look at UFC drawing only around 300 thousand buys for two of their top draws in Ronda Rousey and Jon Jones in recent PPV events. ROH is filling a wrestling void left by the WWE who have been dropped by a number of big cable providers in the U.S. They also plan to offer the option of watching still on I-PPV as well. This is a potential revenue boost for the company if everything goes according to plan.

Some of that extra revenue is already spent if ROH follows through on its promise to upgrade its look for this PPV event. One of the major knocks on ROH has been their poorly produced T.V. While ROH in the ring can hang with anyone on the planet, they look like a cable access independent wrestling show in some respects. Personally it doesn’t bother me, but for people that are use to watching WWE and TNA the difference is easy to see. It doesn’t take having a background in broadcasting to notice the differences.

Court Bauer has stated that ROH is working hard and making their look better in preparation for the Best In The World PPV. Rome wasn’t built in a day but it seems clear ROH is making a concerted effort to improve on their weaknesses.  They have a roster of talent worth of the effort and being presented in a better way.

If ROH is going to challenge TNA as the second company in North America that battle begins this weekend and will ultimately build to their PPV debut. TNA has still not renewed their T.V deal with Spike TV and if they do not this will be a very short war for who will be number two. We all have craved a competitor for WWE but that is at this point an unrealistic pipe dream. Competition for being the number one alternative to them could still be interesting.

ROH in addition to all of this has been smart in being booked in their own way and instead of being thought of as copying the WWE like TNA. They have been smart to market the fact they have produced a lot of the talent you see today in the WWE. Much like how WWE tries to market its NXT brand that has been the vain of ROH’s marketing. The difference is at least at this point ROH can claim more stars they have had than NXT has produced.

If ROH continues to take this measured approach on growth wrestling fans could finally have an alternative that they can count on. The other thing ROH has attempted to do is keep their price point low. Not as low as the 9.99 a month for the WWE Network but lower than TNA. The ROH product is appealing and different enough from WWE to be worth it for hardcore wrestling fans to check out.

How successful they can ultimately be depends on how many casual fans they can draw. I am not a casual wrestling fan but until recently I would consider myself a casual ROH fan. I am heading down to see my first ever ROH show live. If I am not alone in being that casual observer of ROH that is becoming a fan of their product, that is very good news for the people at ROH.