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Jimmy Rave and ROH - Splitsville

suicidalbynaturePosted on 08/03/07 at 07:39:24

From 411 by way of PWInsider:

In a parting that is being described as, "not an amicable deal" Jimmy Rave, who was under contract to Ring of Honor has parted way with both Ring of Honor and Full Impact Pro Wrestling, the sister promotion of ROH. More details are expected to come from this in the coming days.
Interesting that one of their contracted stars left. I can't imagine WWE having much interest in Rave and because of the fact that he has never appeared in the 'E there is no chance that TNA will sign him. Interesting move, Jimmy.
CrplsPosted on 08/03/07 at 08:07:20

He's fallen back to being dreadful without Nana, anyway.

ROH needs its Prince back. :(
suicidalbynaturePosted on 08/03/07 at 08:18:18

I liked Jimmy when he was using the Heel Hook and was actually being built up to mean something. Then I saw him get demolished by Samoa Joe in Philly. My buddy, who hates wrestling but loves ROH (figure that out), turned to me and said rather bluntly "That dude sucks." He opened my eyes that night.

I also was a big fan of Roderick Strong until that night. Me and my friend had seats right on the aisle and as he walked by I made a comment about how short he was (I thought he was bigger but I towered over him and I'm only 6'1") and Roddy turned around and called me gay. That son of a bitch!
CrplsPosted on 08/03/07 at 08:54:57

Rave improved a lot, but he really has no purpose besides opening to low midcard matches without The Embassy (read: Nana.)

Roderick Strong is terrible, regardless of whether he thinks you are a fag or not.
The EmpressPosted on 08/04/07 at 00:31:02

Um, Roderick Strong is a great wrestler.  What are you guys on about?  As for him calling you gay, if he was a heel at the time, he was probably just playing his role.  Wrestlers of the old days always did stuff like that.
pszPosted on 08/04/07 at 01:13:46

Hell, in the old days, they curse out your mother and (on occasion) take a "Swing" at you.


God I miss the old heels V_V
CrplsPosted on 08/04/07 at 08:07:55

In the old days guys didn't have fire pro movesets.

Old School, Rod Strong is not.
Critic of the DawnPosted on 08/04/07 at 16:32:47

From what I saw on PWInsider, Jimmy Rave has apparently been unhappy for a while because of an unlucky string of injuries, being passed up for pushes up the card, and being one of the contracted workers who did NOT receive health insurance as part of his written contract.  If memory serves correctly, he actually went up to management and demanded his release in the middle of a show after a match in which he ruptured his eardrum (ouch!).  I can understand being frustrated by the injury, but with a show in full swing, Cary and Gabe have a lot on their plates already... kinda unprofessional there, Jimmy.  That's the kind of asshaberdashery that I'd expect to hear about a guy like Teddy Hart.

Now don't get me wrong.  I really enjoyed Jimmy Rave during his Embassy run - he was an incredibly fun heel precisely BECAUSE he tended to be merely carryable compared to a roster of great workers.  Once Nana was out of the picture, Jimmy Rave predictably floundered, because he was never the most charismatic member of the roster either.  

ROH was obviously more interested in bringing in new workers and pushing the more skilled workers towards the top than elevating Jimmy Rave - this is understandable, but it's also understandable why Jimmy was frustrated.  As I said earlier, though, Rave has definately burned some bridges by the unprofessional way he demanded his release.

Where does Rave go from here?  I'm sure he can find plenty of indy work, but I'm skeptical of his ability to move further up than that.  Signing with TNA seems possible (but unlikely) because of his friendship with AJ Styles, but I wouldn't count on it.

All things considered, Rave was expendable to ROH.  Whether Jimmy can climb as high outside of ROH as he did inside remains to be seen.

Eric "Critic of the Dawn"
JakePosted on 08/04/07 at 19:29:01

On 08/03/07 at 08:18:18, suicidalbynature wrote:I liked Jimmy when he was using the Heel Hook and was actually being built up to mean something. Then I saw him get demolished by Samoa Joe in Philly. My buddy, who hates wrestling but loves ROH (figure that out), turned to me and said rather bluntly "That dude sucks." He opened my eyes that night.

I also was a big fan of Roderick Strong until that night. Me and my friend had seats right on the aisle and as he walked by I made a comment about how short he was (I thought he was bigger but I towered over him and I'm only 6'1") and Roddy turned around and called me gay. That son of a bitch!
Short and gay?

You sure you two weren't discussing Snabbit?

;D
mamushiPosted on 08/04/07 at 21:12:02

On 08/04/07 at 19:29:01, Jake wrote:
Short and gay?

You sure you two weren't discussing Snabbit?

;D
Hey Snabbit... want me to call an ambulance?  Because it looks like you just got burned
The EmpressPosted on 08/04/07 at 23:25:42

On 08/04/07 at 16:32:47, Critic of the Dawn wrote:From what I saw on PWInsider, Jimmy Rave has apparently been unhappy for a while because of an unlucky string of injuries, being passed up for pushes up the card, and being one of the contracted workers who did NOT receive health insurance as part of his written contract.
Hmmm . . . If that's the case, I'd say ROH was unprofessional first.  Let's give benefits to this guy, this guy, and this guy, but not this guy.  It don't work like that!  With normal places, full-time workers can opt to get insured, so with wrestlers, I'd say any contracted wrestler should get the same treatment.

So it looks like even ROH isn't perfect.
mamushiPosted on 08/04/07 at 23:32:15

On 08/04/07 at 23:25:42, The Empress wrote:

Hmmm . . . If that's the case, I'd say ROH was unprofessional first.  Let's give benefits to this guy, this guy, and this guy, but not this guy.  It don't work like that!  With normal places, full-time workers can opt to get insured, so with wrestlers, I'd say any contracted wrestler should get the same treatment.

So it looks like even ROH isn't perfect.
you also have to remember that wrestlers are independent contractors.  

Should? Probably.  Have to? No.  Smart to? No.
CrplsPosted on 08/05/07 at 02:39:17

It should really be pointed out that ROH hasn't even bothered to let anyone know what the "health insurance" actually amounts to. That can mean a lot of things. I'm skeptical because the cost of insuring professional wrestlers is enormous and many companies won't even do it.
Critic of the DawnPosted on 08/05/07 at 04:44:03

On 08/04/07 at 23:25:42, The Empress wrote:

Hmmm . . . If that's the case, I'd say ROH was unprofessional first. Let's give benefits to this guy, this guy, and this guy, but not this guy. It don't work like that! With normal places, full-time workers can opt to get insured, so with wrestlers, I'd say any contracted wrestler should get the same treatment.

So it looks like even ROH isn't perfect.
While I can understand the point you're making regarding treating contracted wrestlers the same, in reality this makes less sense than it appears to at first glimpse.  

Using purely arbitrary numbers, let's say that health insurance for a wrestler costs $5,000 per month because of their high-risk profession.  ROH assigns the size of the contracts offered to its workers based on how much money they think they can make for them.  A top-carder like Bryan Danielson or Nigel McGuinness might be worth $20,000 per month to ROH, while a lower midcarder being rewarded for a long tenure with a contract (Jimmy Rave) might be worth more like $7,000 to per month.  ROH can offer an attractive contract of $15,000 per month plus medical insurance and the ability to work other indies to Nigel McGuinness and Bryan Danielson, but when you do the math for Jimmy Rave, you end up either offering him $7,000 per month or $2,000 per month plus health insurance.  If Jimmy Rave is already making $6,000 per month appearing for ROH, how likely is he going to be to take a 66% pay cut for a contract that just happens to also include benefits?

It should really be pointed out that ROH hasn't even bothered to let anyone know what the "health insurance" actually amounts to. That can mean a lot of things. I'm skeptical because the cost of insuring professional wrestlers is enormous and many companies won't even do it.
A fair point.  I'm not an insurance expert and I don't have inside information regarding ROH contracts, so I can only speculate.  Even if the benefits are far from comprehensive, it's at least a step in the right direction that few others have taken.

Eric "Critic of the Dawn"
Snabbit888Posted on 08/09/07 at 21:28:10

On 08/04/07 at 19:29:01, Jake wrote:
Short and gay?

You sure you two weren't discussing Snabbit?

;D
That doesn't even make sense.

I'm 6'1".

*sly wink toward Jake*
JakePosted on 08/09/07 at 21:51:14

On 08/09/07 at 21:28:10, Snabbit888 wrote:

That doesn't even make sense.

I'm 6'1".

*sly wink toward Jake*
*slowly backs away*

*turns*

*runs*

(I LOOOOOOOOOOVE My Name is Earl.)
JustinPosted on 08/29/07 at 02:49:51

Mike Johnson is reporting that TNA has signed former ROH star Jimmy Rave to a contract. He is currently scheduled to make his debut at the No Surrender PPV.
Critic of the DawnPosted on 08/29/07 at 06:08:26

Jimmy Rave actually has a chance of being given a bit of TV time in TNA, from where I sit.  While he is wholly unremarkable compared to the rest of the X-Division, he is reportedly quite close to AJ Styles and (more importantly) to Vince Russo.  So they MAY actually give him a decent shot...

...

What am I thinking?  He'll end up buried in 3 minute throwaway 6-man clusterfucks like the rest of the X-Division inside a month.

Eric "Critic of the Dawn"
JustinPosted on 08/29/07 at 22:14:47

Supposedly he is going to be teamed up with Lance Hoyt at No Surrender