Eric Gall of Bridgeport, CT (8.9) Best Match: Danielson vs. McGuiness, Briscoes vs. Steen & Generico. Worst Match: the still evolving production values. For just $15, you can watch the Best Wrestler in the World, the best tag team in the world, AND more? That sounds like a deal to me. Not only are ROH's PPVs a deal, ROH is the REAL deal. Whether you are a fair weather fan who used to watch "when it was good," a die hard looking for a ray of light these days, or someone who wonders why anyone would watch wrestling in the first place, this show would show you what's right about wrestling. The fact that ROH has to pick and choose which entrance music to allow and has rudimentary graphics is actually a plus. With all of the excellence in the ring, can you imagine how good these PPVs will be once Gabe and co. get comfortable with the TV production values side of the business? I feel it won't be as long as some might think. I suppose the only real negative of these PPVs are that,while great, they don't capture just how many true mark-out moments are unfolding before you when you are seeing it live. Maybe with better equipment and such, that will come. But for an upstart company's second PPV, I'll gladly take that. This $15 PPV was better than all of WWE's $40-50 PPVs this year put together.
Cory Johnson, Baltimore, Maryland: (5.0). If we are holding WWE and TNA to a subjective view then it's only fair and fitting that we hold ROH to the same criteria. I saw the first ROH show I've ever seen. Verdict....NOT IMPRESSED. Overall the show was solid but unspectacular. Nothing really happened that we haven't seen before. A montage of spotfests one right after the other. Spots after spots after spots and at the end, it just looked like it was just one long choreagraphed stage production. None of the characters were compelling enough to get me to really get me to watch on a regular basis which I don't. I will have to say that while WWE and TNA glitz their shows up, ROH appeared to work in the opposite and polar direction which seemed to me that they went out of their way to "glitz it down". Nothing special to appeal to the casual fan which is what ROH has to attract to get out o f their "niche" market. If WWE and TNA both tried this "serious wrestling" then they would go out of business before the year was out. To Cary Silkins and Gabe...stay with your first business plan. Sell your DVD's and run shows that you can draw 300 to 500 people and use guys that we know aren't on steroids. ROH isn't going to grow your audience much more than the ROH core that you have now. If you're thinking about a network TV show..forget it. ROH would be hard pressed to draw a .2 rating. As bad as WWE is at times and TNA has shown some flashes...they both still are eons above and beyondwhat ROH could ever hope to be. What wrestling doesn't need right now is a constant diet of ROH spot monkeys flying around.
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