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ROH Lost the rex plex

TerryFunkaPosted on 03/07/05 at 06:56:55

In  a story that was rumored and has been circulating through the wrestling business for the past few weeks, the Rexplex, the biggest venue for Ring of Honor, shut down this weekend citing financial problems. The DOI first heard this story several weeks ago, but weren't able to confirm anything until this weekend. The story sounded too made up at the time, but unfortunately for ROH, it is true.

As many remember, the Rexplex recently opened up a bar, that served alcoholic beverages, to increase income and revenue. What wasn't known by many, was that the Rexplex was losing money, and the bar was opened up as a financial measure to help the Rexplex's financial situation.

Ring of Honor will now be forced to reschedule or postpone their 4/2 event, which is scheduled to feature a "Top of the Super Junior Tournament". Coincedentally, ROH  decided to show no respect for ECWA's Super 8, which is considered the top super junior tournament in America today, by running a similiar style tournament a week before Jim Kettner's prestigious event. Some ECWA wrestlers commented to the DOI off-the-record that it was "tacky" for ROH to schedule such an event before ECWA's mega-show of the year. Unlike CZW, that waits until the summer to have their Super Junior tournmament, ROH decided to run there show a week before what is considered the best tournament of the year.

The Rexplex has been ROH's biggest venue ever since ROH started running shows there. Major ROH moments occurred in the building, such as the debut of Jeff Hardy, the first show after the incident, which saw 2100 people come out, ROH's biggest crowd to date, and many more memorable moments.

Not only does this affect ROH, it affects any scheduled events at the Rexplex. All dates/events at  the Rexplex have been cancelled.

Obviously losing this building is a big blow for Ring of Honor. However, it is my opinion, and many others in the wrestling business, that losing the Rexplex won't be as big of a blow as it seems, as long as ROH is able to find another building in north NJ. With ROH already having a show scheduled in Manhattan, it might be a blessing in disguise for ROH for now, as NY/NJ fans will now be forced to go to Manhattan shows, if they want to see ROH in their backyard live. However, I don't see ROH taking this lightly, and we could see ROH look for a new building in NJ soon.

As of right now, the 4/2 show has not been rescheduled to take place anywhere else.

Further attempts to contact Rexplex management have gone unanswered.
We'll have more on this story as information becomes available.

credit doiwrestling
Critic of the DawnPosted on 03/07/05 at 15:38:32

The RexPlex is closing, huh?

I don't think losing the Rexplex will hurt ROH too badly. While their top-drawing cards have been held there, it's mainly due to the fact that the location is convenient for fans across the Northeast. I've attended two events there myself. So long as they can get another venue in North Jersey that's somewhere near the turnpike and can seat 1,000+, they'll be just fine.

As for ROH's tournament on 4/2 being a slap in the face to ECWA... no. Just... no. ECWA's tournament has always been about the best wrestlers from the indies being recognised. ROH's tournament is to select a representative from Ring of Honor to compete in NJPW's annual Best of the Super Juniors tournament in June. That limits things to Jr. Heavyweights, and to ROH regulars, and will quite possibly be effected by ROH storylines. So, for starters, it's a totally different animal. As for the issue of timing... considering the amount of notice that ROH seems to have had and the fact that Best of the Super Juniors is in June, their choices were pretty much limited to what was still open and not booked up before then.  While the timing might not be ideal for ECWA, I don't think it will hurt their ability to draw a large crowd to their best known show, and had ROH had more notice, I think they would have scheduled the card with more respect to ECWA.

Eric "Critic of the Dawn"