RADICAN'S TAKE RADICAN'S BLOG: Callihan a star in the making?, ROH & CHIKARA work together and whether or not there's a long-term benefit, longtime ROH management member let go
Jan 21, 2012 - 2:37:04 PM
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With independent wrestling news picking up, a couple of interesting things happened this week. One might shape the future of one company and another might not.
Sami Callihan
For the first time, DGUSA booker Gabe Sapolsky has given someone a sustained push under the DGUSA/EVOLVE banner. Sami Callihan was given the ball at the end of the “EVOLVE 10” iPPV and so far he’s taken it and is headed towards the end zone.
Callihan’s show-closing segment at “Evolve 10” last weekend has gotten a lot of response, both positive and negative, from those that follow independent wrestling. Buzz like this surrounding an EVOLVE or DGUSA has been virtually unheard of recently, but by having Callihan heel on the fans as he beat down ECW icon Sabu and simply having the show go to black, Sapolsky has gotten people talking about Callihan and the “EVOLVE 10” iPPV, which has resulted in the most exposure the company has gotten since they debuted.
Callihan released two video promos this week to keep the momentum going and it’s clear that by being given the opportunity to talk and run with the ball, he is improving his delivery each and every time he cuts a promo.
The key here will be the follow up at DGUSA’s “Open the Golden Gate” iPPV on Jan. 27 from California. Once again, the company should have a big audience in attendance since they’re running in conjunction with the Wrestle Reunion convention. If the company can continue to generate buzz, their iPPV and live attendance numbers should increase.
It’s been obvious all along that the EVOLVE/DGUSA company needs to build stars to increase the audience for both companies. Callihan is a great choice to start with.
CHIKARA & ROH work together, but who benefits?
Last night, Jigsaw & Hallowicked teamed together at ROH’s live event in Philadelphia and won a Proving Ground match against ROH World Tag Team Champions the Briscoes thanks to a distraction from several members of CHIKARA, who came down to ringside and provided the distraction that allowed Jigsaw & Hallowicked to get the win.
It looks as if this angle is going to be used to build towards the Briscoes defending the ROH World Tag Team Titles on April 28 in Chicago where CHIKARA and ROH are set to run a doubleheader at the Frontier Fieldhouse.
The question looming over this angle is whether or not it is something beneficial for both companies. Sure, the cross-over is nice for CHIKARA, a company that has slowly and steadily built their audience and expanded out of their Philadelphia home base in recent years.
Doing the angle makes sense in that it should drive up interest from fans of both companies to see what happens when Hallowicked & Jigsaw get their tag title shot at the Briscoes in Chicago. On the other hand, there’s not much of a long-term benefit unless the angle results in CHIKARA and ROH continuing to work together in some manner going forward after the April 28 event in Chicago.
ROH seems to be stuck in a weird place where they’re trying to appeal to their hardcore fan base and television audience at the same time, but not doing a great job of pleasing either audience. It’s unlikely the CHIKARA angle will get crossover coverage on ROH television. If that’s the case, this is just a short-term angle to drive business up for a single house show on April 28 in Chicago from ROH’s perspective.
In the end, it’s nice to see CHIKARA actually working with another company to create an angle that’s fresh and exciting, but in the long-term, it doesn’t look like this is going to be an angle that generates a lot of momentum going forward for either promotion.
Longtime member of ROH management released
Sid Eick was released by ROH last night after a house show in Philadelphia. Eick has been a polarizing figure amongst those working in the company and also those that have worked with him and left. There’s been a lot of speculation that most of the old guard from ROH would eventually depart from the company after Sinclair purchased ROH back in May. Eick is the first domino to fall in that regard.
Eick handled the business end of ROH for a number of years and made enemies with a number of people that worked in the company. Austin Aries, who Eick had reportedly labeled as a cancer to the ROH locker room, tweeted the following to former ROH owner Cary Silkin and former ROH bookers Gabe Sapolsky and Adam Pearce this morning, “@ScrapDaddyAP @BookItGabe @rohcary Just heard some #GREAT news. About damn time someone got smart. #SeeYaPal #CutTheCancerOut.”
Some reports have indicated that several ROH wrestlers were upset when it was announced that Eick was departing from the company backstage at the Philadelphia house show last night, but according to one source, several of the wrestlers that were mentioned as being upset backstage were working and privately disliked Eick.
It will be interesting to see what happens with the old ROH management regime going forward as Ross Abrams and Cary Silkin are the only members of the old management regime left that are still with the company.
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