My Random Thoughts on The AEW-ROH Deal

 

Wednesday night Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone opened Dynamite, with  bombshell news that Tony had bought Ring of Honor. Since then the industry and internet has been ablazed with speculation on what happens next with ROH.

There are already plans to host Supercard of Honor Wrestlemania weekend, which was supposed to kick off the new era of ROH. Since we are so close to Mania weekend, I'm sure the event will go on as planned. What happens after that is anyone's guess. Instead of writing paragraphs that may not make much sense, I figured what the hell I'll just write some random thoughts that have popped in my brain since the announcement.

1. I don't care if you are a AEW fanboy or WWE mark, or how you feel about each one as a person. If you didn't see the correlation between Tony and Vince respective announcements 20 plus years apart...well my friend you're in denial.

2. May have just been me, but while this was definitely news. The way Tony hyped it up I thought it was truly something groundbreaking and innovative for the industry. Have no idea what that could have been though.

3. Could just be me, but man it comes across that Tony is a huge mark for himself.

4. Does this now mean All Out becomes All In, or does the September event stay All Out?

5. If rumors of a streaming deal on the horizon are true. Owning All In footage will do wonders for a documentary on the birth of AEW.

6. While we're on it, not sure what was filmed if anything besides BTE stuff.  I would love a AEW documentary covering All In to the AEW pep rally up to the first Dynamite episode in October 2019 and everything in between.

7. I'm excited for the opportunity for the ROH brand to rebuild, Sinclair never really invested in them or knew how to market pro wrestling.

8. I'm also bummed ROH will no longer be headquartered in Baltimore, on occasions I have randomly seen ROH performers out and about. 

9. Please make sure there is an actual plan in place of how to properly use ROH, before just throwing a product out there.

10. If the plan is in fact to use ROH as a development brand. Let's hope it keeps its own vibe seperate from AEW.

11. Even as a developmental, let's hope some recent ROH roster members are bought back, to provide that veteran prescence and familiarity also entice fans to watch the product.

12. Rebuild the ROH brand, create new stars associated with the brand,  then do cross overs between AEW and ROH. Just please, no invasion angles.

13. Make sure Women of Honor is included in any plans.

14. Keep ROH staples like pure rules and code of honor intact.

15. Maybe TBS and AEW will hear my calls and bring Saturday night must see wrestling back, with ROH on a Saturday evening timeslot.

16. Will the newly created ROH hall of fame still be honored?

17. Are the ROH partnership deals with AAA, New Japan etc. still in place?

18. The more I hear it and more I think about it, ROH as Cody's "baby" to run may just be the Ace in the hole to bring ROH back to something casual fans love. 

19. Let's hope ownership of MLW and Impact realize they better up the ante a little. Both are great products that have found their individual lanes, they just need some spark to get over the hump.

20. What a wild time to be a pro wrestling fan.

I'm taking a wait and see approach on this ROH acquisition. I'm not overly optimistic on it, but I don't hate it either. If done right it will be amazing for pro wrestling, if done wrong and as a ego boost more than anything, it will be disastrous. Let's see what side of the fence this situation ends up being on.