Post by Heresy on Jul 21, 2007 20:48:20 GMT -5
... and that light is called ROH; or more specifically in my case, Respect is Earned.
My interest has dabbled in the indy scene for the last couple years. Restricted to the poor visuals and 4X4 inch window of youtube.com as my only outlet to the indys, I was never fully able to sink my teeth into the matches or connect with the competitors. To some small extent, however, I got to know guys like Kobashi, KENTA, Quackenbush, Castagnoli, El Generico, Super Dragon, Teddy Hart, the Briscoes etc.
That brings me to Respect is Earned, which I bought earlier this afternoon with high expectations. High expectations of seeing some of the guys I watched and knew with limited knowledge put on wrestling clinics on an actual 2 hour visually stimulating, coherent show. They say you shouldn't get your hopes up... ROH met my hopes, and then went above and beyond...
Never before have I witnessed a wrestling show, WWE or TNA, and felt the desire to watch it over again. Never before have I seen a mutual caring and respect between ROH booking, the wrestlers they contract, and the audience they entertain. I know I am more of an ROH mark than an ROH smark at this point, but I thought Castagnoli/Sydal vs. the Briscoes stole the show. However, a "MOTN" ranking doesn't mean much for this card. All of the matches ranged from 'good' to '
ing amazing.'
There wasn't a bad wrestler or wrestling match on the card. Marufuji's finish made me mark out like a schoolgirl... amazing kick at the end, not sure what they called it. The things Castagnoli can do for his size make my jaw drop... his european uppercuts are godly. WWE is intellectually- disabled for letting this guy slip through there fingers, but in retrospect I'm glad they did. Nigel McGuiness looks amazing in the main event babyface roll. Heard of him for the longest time and hadn't had a chance to see him on screen 'til now, and I must say I love the guys workrate. Tank Toland reminds me of a comical version of Robert Roode. That segment with the squat contest was gold. The Briscoes, Danielson, Kenta, Romero, Morishima, Steen/Generico... every ROH wrestler performed with their own unique, clean, crisp style that kept my eyes glued to the screen. The little things of a match that make it seem realistic... selling, psychology, and rule enforcement... were present in droves throughout the entire show.
In WWE and TNA, the gimmicks make the wrestler. In ROH, it seems like the wrestler makes the gimmick, and in my opinion, that is the best kind of gimmick a wrestler can have. Anyone who says the indys are void of characters and gimmicks are talking out of there ass. In fact, I see no reason why the ROH roster and product in general couldn't appeal to the mainstream.
With all my thoughts laid out, I have a question... is this a typical show or was it better or worse? Either way, as a fan of pro wrestling for the last 12 years, watching WWE and TNA has become a chore for the most part. Nothing has captured my attention quite like ROH. I'll be ordering the September PPV and some DVDs from their website. I'm also planning to go to my first show next month in Boston. ROH's cutting edge style is a breath of fresh air to mainstream pro wrestling, and has succeeded in making me a die-hard fan.
My interest has dabbled in the indy scene for the last couple years. Restricted to the poor visuals and 4X4 inch window of youtube.com as my only outlet to the indys, I was never fully able to sink my teeth into the matches or connect with the competitors. To some small extent, however, I got to know guys like Kobashi, KENTA, Quackenbush, Castagnoli, El Generico, Super Dragon, Teddy Hart, the Briscoes etc.
That brings me to Respect is Earned, which I bought earlier this afternoon with high expectations. High expectations of seeing some of the guys I watched and knew with limited knowledge put on wrestling clinics on an actual 2 hour visually stimulating, coherent show. They say you shouldn't get your hopes up... ROH met my hopes, and then went above and beyond...
Never before have I witnessed a wrestling show, WWE or TNA, and felt the desire to watch it over again. Never before have I seen a mutual caring and respect between ROH booking, the wrestlers they contract, and the audience they entertain. I know I am more of an ROH mark than an ROH smark at this point, but I thought Castagnoli/Sydal vs. the Briscoes stole the show. However, a "MOTN" ranking doesn't mean much for this card. All of the matches ranged from 'good' to '
ing amazing.' There wasn't a bad wrestler or wrestling match on the card. Marufuji's finish made me mark out like a schoolgirl... amazing kick at the end, not sure what they called it. The things Castagnoli can do for his size make my jaw drop... his european uppercuts are godly. WWE is intellectually- disabled for letting this guy slip through there fingers, but in retrospect I'm glad they did. Nigel McGuiness looks amazing in the main event babyface roll. Heard of him for the longest time and hadn't had a chance to see him on screen 'til now, and I must say I love the guys workrate. Tank Toland reminds me of a comical version of Robert Roode. That segment with the squat contest was gold. The Briscoes, Danielson, Kenta, Romero, Morishima, Steen/Generico... every ROH wrestler performed with their own unique, clean, crisp style that kept my eyes glued to the screen. The little things of a match that make it seem realistic... selling, psychology, and rule enforcement... were present in droves throughout the entire show.
In WWE and TNA, the gimmicks make the wrestler. In ROH, it seems like the wrestler makes the gimmick, and in my opinion, that is the best kind of gimmick a wrestler can have. Anyone who says the indys are void of characters and gimmicks are talking out of there ass. In fact, I see no reason why the ROH roster and product in general couldn't appeal to the mainstream.
With all my thoughts laid out, I have a question... is this a typical show or was it better or worse? Either way, as a fan of pro wrestling for the last 12 years, watching WWE and TNA has become a chore for the most part. Nothing has captured my attention quite like ROH. I'll be ordering the September PPV and some DVDs from their website. I'm also planning to go to my first show next month in Boston. ROH's cutting edge style is a breath of fresh air to mainstream pro wrestling, and has succeeded in making me a die-hard fan.
