Ring of Honor Weekly

Columns, Top Story

Gabe Sapolsky was fired during this past weekend’s Ring of Honor shows. The basics are that ROH Cary Silkin tired of Sapolsky’s booking According to reports, Gabe was a (benign) dictator who was beginning to be booked out after so long having the ROH book and, with the company’s attendance and DVD sales shrinking, Gabe became the easy fall guy for the company. Of course, a lot of the DVD market’s falling is at least partially due to the PPV deal, where most major changes happen on PPV, making many matches anti-climactic because of the PPV set-up, a move that Gabe was privately against and hurt the creative process by limiting what could happen when. The extreme tape delay meant things were set up far in advance of playing out, or played out and were stuck in limbo far in advance of airing. If you look at a lot of the new pacing problems ROH suddenly began facing, almost all can be traced to either that or the extreme growth in amount of shows. I’m not ashamed to admit I was a big proponent of ROH for PPV. So was owner Cary Silkin. We were both wrong. Gabe was not, but that’s still a huge part of what cost him his job.

I’m an unabashed Gabe fan. In dealing with him, I always found him a bit abrasive, but his booking and ideas for wrestling brought me back from what I thought was the point of no return in not being a fan. Now I write for a major site, know plenty of people within the business, and watch wrestling from all around the world. So much of that can be traced back to Gabe’s infectious passion with his brain-child, ROH, that it’s hard for me to be objective about this.

Perhaps that’s the reason this whole affair left such a sour taste in my mouth. Adam Pearce apparently knew well enough in advance to tell friends he had something big coming up and arrange the losing of the NWA Title. That being the case, why was it in the middle of the last show that Gabe was told he was being replaced? That was, to this observer, classless and unexpected. Let him know in advance and begin to wrap up storylines so that what comes next may be done with a clean slate. As is, we have a mess both within and from outside of the company.

This being the wrestling business, I’m actually shocked (and fairly relieved) that ROH didn’t decide milk this. The Gabe farewell booking tour for ROH would have done huge business and likely could have eased the financial burden the company now finds itself in. That burden and all else that Gabe carried on his shoulders now find their way to Adam Pearce. Apparently near falls, repeat moves, and great matches will be toned down in the undercard to avoid burning crowds out. Spots are still going to be prevalent, but the spotfest will be toned down and shows will be shorter featuring less talent. These changes in and of themselves won’t be catastrophic, but it’s difficult to see how the long term is anything but.

Apparently, after Glory by Honor VII, Cary had to be talked out of closing up shop right then and there. He didn’t have enough money and ROH was operating in the red. Putting Pearce in charge and making shows feature less time and exciting talent doesn’t sound like it’ll draw more DVD sales or live attendance. Part of that will be saved in booking less wrestlers per show, but even ROH shows with one great match are hardly must-buy unless that one is blow away. Fans have a standard in mind for must-buy Ring of Honor shows that includes multiple great matches. Perhaps the peaks and valleys of more traditional shows will help those special matches stand out to get more praise, but considering how much hype a Death before Dishonor VI or Supercard of Honor III got the new booking will have to be amazing story-wise to re-claim ROH’s success in the current American financial climate.

Here’s something no one has mentioned. If ROH is doing financially poorly, why is Kensuke Sasaki flying in? How do you afford to bring back Joe? How about Nakajima and Marufuji? Does these seem like fiscally responsible moves? These were deals made when Gabe was in place, but if the comapny is losing so much that Gabe absolutely had to go for a new direction, why are these wrestlers still coming in? They weren’t announced before Gabe was let go! The fans wouldn’t have been dissapointed; they’d have never known.

Ultimately, although no one is saying it, Gabe, due to being sometimes abrasive, became the scapegoat for the current lull period in ROH. The theory seems to be that Gabe’s wrestling won’t draw for a mainstream audience. That theory has, in my experience, proven to be nonsense. I’ve shown ROH to many a WWE fan and almost all have more interest in the product, at least willing to buy a few DVDs. With the economic downturn, that’s simply currently not the case. With so many shows and money not going as far as it once did, even I, a true hardcore fan, have fallen quite behind on my DVD purchases. Most of those I know who truly complained about creative either never bought DVDs to begin with or continues to even while complaining, feeling the good outweighed the bad.

Combine financial losses due to the economic lull and the feeling (if not reality) that everything major was being saved for PPV ROH was having trouble living up to past expectations, let alone growing. The past expectations became a killer when the company was apparently expected to go through perpetual growth. That, unfortunately, stopped when ROH had converted all of the internet that they were able to. As I’ve written numerous times, their advertising and exposure outside of the ‘net is abysmal. Perhaps that’s Gabe’s fault and perhaps not, but you must ask yourself this: if it is his area of control, why is the creative mind behind the shows also being asked to be an advertising executive? Exposure is never an easy achievement, however, this is yet another area Gabe is being unfairly maligned.

At the end of the day, Adam Pearce has huge shoes to fill. He must maintain creative direction, keep the wrestlers motivated and performing at a high level without hurting their egos, and find away around skeptical fans for whom anything less than greatness is failure. This is just assuming he isn’t being held responsible for all the advertising and web-master duties Gabe previously performed. I have nothing but goodwill for ROH despite all of this, but when already in a financial hole, it’s going to be a tall order. Honestly, while I’ll still support the product, not only has their leash gotten shorter (as in if it’s weak I’d drop it, while previously, when I trusted who was in charge, I’d wait out a lesser direction), but I really don’t expect the company to necessarily survive past when the current contracts run out in May, given that they really almost closed after GBH.

Until proven otherwise, ROH is the best place to go for great wrestling and well-thought out storylines. If that is shown to no longer be the case, we can reassess as needed. Even if it remains the case, with the financial situation both in ROH and the country, there is no guarantee ROH survives. That’s the sad reality. All of ROH’s great talent need and deserve a place to shine and show their talent. Even if you hate the way this was handled, the hard work of the wrestlers deserves support and to pay off. Adam, you have your work cut out for you; I hope you’re ready. Gabe, you were appreciated and will be missed.

Glazer is a former senior editor at Pulse Wrestling and editor and reviewer at The Comics Nexus.