Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Ring Of Honor impresses in its San Antonio debut but raises concern

I went on record after Ring Of Honor's debut Saturday in San Antonio and said the show was the best wrestling event i've ever attended. It was even better than Wrestlemania 25, the same event that produced the epic Undertaker-Shawn Michaels classic, which may go down as the greatest match in WWE history.

ROH didn't disappoint the fans in its debut, churning out top notch wrestling matches from beginning to end, bell to bell. From the tag team match featuring four Texas talents with Rudy Russo and AJ Summers versus Carson and Ricky Starks to the main event of Jay Briscoe successfully retaining his ROH World Title in a great match against Davey Richards, every wrestler brought their A-game.

It's just a shame that fans didn't give the wrestlers enough due, and instead, trolled them with  "Test Of Strength" and other random chats. I get that the experience of a pro wrestling show is all about having fun, but it is also about appreciating the performers who bust their tails to put on excellent matches for your enjoyment.

When fans start putting themselves over at the expense of Richards, Eddie Edwards, Jay Lethal etc, it disrespects their hardwork in the ring.

But, I can look on the other side of the coin and see that the reason fans chant don't wrestlers' names is maybe because of lack of character development. Character development hasn't been ROH's forte over the past couple of years.

Who is Richards as a wrestler? Edwards? Lethal? ACH, eventhough I recommend Triple H to YouTube him and sign him to a contract after watching his best stuff, who is he as a personality?

It is difficult for ROH to develop its characters when it has one hour of television to work with, but it has been on syndicated television under the Sinclair umbrella for almost two years. Their booking has gotten better since Jim Cornette was relieved of his booking duties, but it still struggles to establish personalities who fans can get behind.

The company has to address this issue and let the talents' personalities branch out so fans can get behind them. Or else, the wrestlers will be busting their behinds only for the fans to make a mockery of their talents by trying to get themselves over.