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Re: Looking for some "format" opinions

Snabbit888Posted on 02/16/06 at 00:05:33

Not many are posting right now, so don't worry about posting too much.  Go nuts. :)
Critic of the DawnPosted on 02/16/06 at 06:09:50

From the brief look I had at your ROH circuit, I have the following thoughts:

1) You're obviously not familiar with ROH.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but aside from a few faction names and a few of the bigger stars, you're obviously taking shots in the dark a lot of the time.  A lot of things seem strange to me as a fan of ROH.  

For example, Generation Next is a stable that was created after TNA basically yanked about half of ROH's main event scene away.  It consisted of four talented young wrestlers who were relatively new to the promotion (Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong and Jack Evans).  Their stated goal was to force ROH's existing main eventers to move aside and take the top spots by force.  Xavier seems like a strange fit in that group because he's competed off and on in ROH since its founding in 2002, he was actually ROH's 2nd World Champion, and because he actually is affiliated with Prince Nana's Embassy.

Oh, and the "useless" wrestlers you mentioned in the other thread (Shane Hagadorn et al) are actually the ROH Wrestling School students trained by CM Punk and Austin Aries.  They're very green because they've been wrestling for ~1 year, and are mostly limited to wrestling in the pre-show.

2) In terms of presentation and feel, you seem to have a much more "sports entertainment" feel to your booking than ROH does.  While ROH certainly does have storylines (and some damn good ones, I might add), there's a lot less interference in the main event level then I've noticed in your booking.  Similarly, I see a lot more gimmick matches in what you're putting on than in ROH.

ROH gimmicks you may wish to consider using at some point are:

Round Robin Challenge: 3 Singles Wrestlers or Tag Teams face each other one time each over the course of a single card.

Survival of the Fittest: Six qualifying matches, and then a pinfall-only battle royal featuring the winners, again all in one show.

Trios Tournament: A tournament of six-man tag team matches featuring all of your top factions, with each member of the winning team getting to book a match of their choice.

Sixty Minute Time Limit Draws in World Title matches.

Streetfights/Hardcore Matches are called Fights Without Honor.

RoH's annual "big four" shows:
Nth Anniversery Show in February.  2006 will be the 4th Anniversery Show.
Death Before Dishonor in June.  2006 will be DBD4.
Glory By Honor in September.  2006 will be GBH5.
Final Battle YEAR in December.  For example, Final Battle 2006.

3) Men and women wrestling each other feels VERY strange to me.  So does the seemingly random name changes to include the names of your favorite fantasy wrestlers.  But that's a matter of personal preference.

4) The economics of TEW are obviously designed with fun first and realism second.  First of all, making money with a weekly PPV schedule is impossible.  If ROH tried what you're doing, it would be bankrupt within a couple months.  ROH actually has a very conservative business model based on touring and slowly expanding its territory while relying on DVD sales to make most of their money.  It's likely that they're as cautious as they are because of Gabe Sapolsky (the head booker) being a student of Paul Heyman's, and wanting to avoid his financial mistakes.

In summary:  Your ROH feels nothing like the real ROH.  But there's nothing wrong with that.

(Re-cloaks)

Eric "Critic of the Dawn"
ZedjaPosted on 02/16/06 at 08:17:06

1. Wednesday Night Wrestling. But it's only because it's longer.

2. Actually it's easier to keep track since it shows the correct order. Which can be messed up if you make a new post for every new card and someone replies. Also since it's TEW and not TNM I think it's best to keep it to one thread.

3. Non-issue. Gives us something to read.

4. Can't say since I've never seen RoH.

5. I couldn't care less. As long as it's entertaining.
Critic of the DawnPosted on 02/18/06 at 05:03:39

Aww... you fired Prince Nana?  His ring skills suck because he's primarily a manager, and in my opinion the most entertaining manager in professional wrestling at the moment, bar none.  His gimmick (the despotic prince of a small African nation who taxes his people into poverty and spends the country's developmental aid to further his wrestling ambitions) is great, and Jimmy Rave makes a great Crown Jewel of the Embassy.  It's such a great gimmick that it's sad to see it go.  Rave and Nana are so over that they're literally pelted with toilet paper and shower poufs every time they enter the ring.

The Second City Saints were (since they're essentially disbanded at this point) a group of talented wrestlers hailing out of Chicago.  Specifically, there was CM Punk (the leader and brooding straight edge megaheel), Colt Cabana (his longtime friend/rival/tag team partner, and one of the goofiest guys in wrestling), and their trainer and mentor Ace Steel.  For most of the group's existence, they were heels who basically served to further CM Punk's agenda while simultaneously irritating him by being much more cheerful and fun-loving than he was.

You're not THAT far off with the Rottweilers.  Essentially, they're an urban gang of thugs in a professional wrestling company.  Homicide is the undisputed leader of the group, although Low Ki was (since he just permanantly left ROH for about the third time) nearly his equal in terms of power inside the group, and at least his equal in terms of how dangerous he was portrayed as being.  Ricky Reyes and Rocky Romero filled the stable's tag team spot, and Julius Smokes served as another excellent manager - for Smokes, think of every unpleasant urban African American stereotype, mix them all up into a slightly pudgy man with a huge, gold-tooth-filled evil grin, and you're pretty much on the money.

If you've got a little time to kill, I suggest you head over to http://www.rohvideos.com/

They've got a video roster, a few promos, some storyline segments, and a few squash matches which should give you a feel for ROH's roster.  

Eric "Critic of the Dawn"