Moments Ago: Is June 23rd too Soon?
Ring of Honor recently produced their first Pay per View, “Respect is Earned.†Many say it was not their best show ever, but in my humble opinion it is gosh darn near close. The full card will be an excellent DVD release and the PPV broadcast will be second to none.
The Main Event
ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima & Bryan Danielson
vs.
Nigel McGuinness & KENTA
ROH World Tag Team Title Match
Jay & Mark Briscoe defend vs. Claudio Castagnoli & Matt Sydal
Special Challenge Match
Roderick Strong vs. Delirious
Special Attraction Match
Rocky Romero vs. Naomichi Marufuji
ROH World Title Match
Takeshi Morishima vs. BJ Whitmer
This is on tap to be one of the best Pay per View broadcasts of the year. The second Pay per View taping is announced for June 23rd. Is this too soon? Read on and find out
Why it IS too soon
The first Pay per View will not have even aired yet and they are taping the second one. This may inundate the market before it wins over the new fans that it seeks. Both WWE and TNA run Pay per View shows monthly, but they also have television time hype up their shows. It doesn’t mean that they do a good job of it, but they sure as daggone hell try. Just look at Phil Clark’s column about Vinny Ru for just a touch of the examples of how this luxury is abused by the #2 wrestling company in the U.S.
Ring of Honor’s current business model puts almost all of its eggs into the DVD basket. The PPV will not have aired, and the DVD will by no means be released yet, and they are advancing storylines that are nearly a month behind. This is nothing new to RoH as the lag time between DVD releases allows on those few fans with the desposable income, frequent flyer miles, and spare time to attend every show to keep up minute to minute on the goings on of the best wrestling company in America.
Still, though, Ring of Honor does not know the success/failure rate of the first foray into PPV before going to the well a second time. I am of one mind that RoH should hold off and see how successful the first Pay per View is before taping number 2. If the first show flops, which I sincerely doubt, it may be worthwhile to put different advertising efforts and allow the name to get out there a little bit before going ahead. By taping on the 23rd, however RoH must air the PPV no later than, say, September 1 to capitalize on the freshness of the storylines and even that is pushing it.
I have always trusted that the business minds behind Ring of Honor know what they are doing, what is best for the company, and what the best show possible for its fans is. With that in mind
Why it ISN’T too soon
The first Pay per View was unreal good live and could possibly be even better on tape. Takeshi Morishima’s matches have, from what I have seen, all been better on tape. Roderick Strong vs. Delirious seems like it will come across better on tape when certain angles and pacing can be addressed more clearly and close up.
Striking while the iron is hot is usually a good thing. The internet sites are buzzing about the huge leap forward that RoH has taken. This will keep going at least until the first Pay per View airs. They might as well have the second one in the can so they can get it out there while fans are still pumped from the PPV debut.
So far, the matches announced for the second Pay per View are “American Dragon†Bryan Danielson vs. KENTA and Kevin Steen and El Generico vs. Jay and Mark Briscoe for the RoH World Tag Team Titles. If any two matches were hyped at “Respect is Earned†it was these two. Fans who have never seen the beauty that KENTA vs. Dragon can produce will be salivating for a singles match after seeing their interaction in the tag team main event. They can also buy the DVD of their previous encounter to see one of if not the best match from last year. Ring of Honor’s business plan succeeds again!
Secondly, there is the tag title match. If their first two encounters are any indication, then the match of the year could be happening in Chicago on June 23rd. This is shaping up to be perhaps the best tag team feud in the history of Ring of Honor. This match alone will sell PPV buys to all RoH fans. Fans that are unable to make the trip to the Windy City will be chomping at the proverbial bit to see this match as soon as possible.
In Conclusion
There are compelling reasons for both sides of this coin. On one hand you have the idea of too much too soon; on the other you have the notion of striking while the iron is hot. Ring of Honor has committed to putting on the show, and I am considering doing what I can to make my way out to the great Midwest in order to be their live and in person. This is a big year for wrestling as WWE slowly regains some of its former popularity, TNA runs out of feet to shoot itself in, and Ring of Honor takes the first step towards industry dominance.
I’ll see you next time
