Ring of Honor just finished the Race to the Top Weekend, and all reports indicate that it was a huge success. It seemed to make new stars from top to bottom, it seems that no one who participated in the tourney, even those who lost early, were hurt by their participation. The shows apparently made stars out of El Generico and Hallowicked, and cemented the stars of Jack Evans and the eventual winner Claudio Castagnoli. The question is, though: Should Ring of Honor Race to the Top every year?
Before we get to that, though, let’s take a look around the Pulse
Big Andy Mac’s Big Andy Links
First off, Ollie Sutherland posted the RoH Video Wire and I have to say, it is one of the best Video Wires that they have ever done.
Pulse Glazer attended the show over the weekend, and as much as another reviewer on this site, I feel his assessments are pretty spot on; A Modest Response is pretty good too.
Also the Top 100 Wrestlers of the Modern Era is coming along quite nicely.
Anyways, on to the column
Should they Race to the Top Every Year?
There are obviously two schools of thought on this: yes it should, and no it shouldn’t. I will argue for both sides and then say ultimately what I feel.
Race to the Top should happen every year:
Tournaments are fun simple as that. A chance for a new star to break out each and every year is a good thing. It provides a chance to put together unique match-ups and is an automatic draw. The idea that the wrestlers are not competing for a specific crown, but rather for the right to be called the best is also an intriguing concept. There is no guaranteed title shot associated with the tournament, nothing other than proof that you deserve consideration, and that is a cool concept.
Ring of Honor has run their share of tournaments, Race to the Top being the fourth standard single elimination tournament in their history, well third if you count the finals of the initial road to the title tournament as not standard, but I am counting it. Best of the American Super Juniors was a debacle caused by outside influence. The trios tournaments were good, but no one really was made into a bigger star as a result. Race to the Top accomplished that and more in its two night debut.
I think almost every Ring of Honor fan would be happy to see it become an annual event. Tournaments are an easy sell and an easy draw but
Reasons Race to the Top should happen every year:
The Ring of Honor roster was in an interesting state of flux in 2007 in that there were a lot of new wrestlers and there needed to be a way to help separate certain people from the pack. Especially the fact that Ring of Honor now has two year contracts for most of its talent implies that there will not be a whole lot of new stars making debuts and making waves, which makes it unlikely that a tournament is going to be totally necessary.
Also Ring of Honor has a mechanism in place to create a new top star, and that is the Survival of the Fittest tournament. Roderick Strong’s stock rose immensely from his victory in the second installment and he went on to have the best series of matches in Dragon’s title reign, except maybe for Nigel. Delirious has been on a huge roll ever since winning Survival last year. The Race to the Top sort of fills the same spot as Survival of the Fittest does.
Big Andy Mac’s Big Andy-Pinion:
Race to the Top is a great idea, and should not be a one time thing. I think making it annual would limit its possibilities as it seems to be a tournament that makes sense only in certain roster situations. If you do it every year it is going to look pretty similar next year and the year after. Plus the fact that Survival of the Fittest is already an annual tournament gimmick run by Ring of Honor. They both play a very similar role. I think that when the conditions are right a second Race to the Top tournament should happen. It would make the tournament more special and make the victory more prestigious.
Ultimately, Race to the Top shouldn’t be an annual event. If it makes sense to have another tournament in a year then bring it back, but if it makes more sense in 18 months to have the tournament, then it should be held off. If it becomes an annual event it will wear out its usefulness in much the way that King of the Ring did for WWE.
That’ll do it this week; Death before Dishonor is coming up next week
I’ll see you next time
