The Ring of Honor 2011 Top Prospect Tournament will be held on 1/21 and 1/22 in Philadelphia, PA at The Asylum Arena (former New Alhambra Arena/ECW Arena) during our last set of “ROH on HDNet†TV Tapings.
The Top Prospect Tournament will be a standard 8-man tournament consisting of ROH newcomers, established ROH wrestlers who have never been in any kind of championship contention, and one wrestler who has never competed for Ring of Honor.
Not only will the winner be named the ROH 2011 Top Prospect but he will shoot to the top of the ranks generating more high profile matches and opportunities.
Each of the 4 opening round matches will give the wrestlers a more focused exposure to both fans and ROH Officials. It is a huge opportunity to impress and take the next step in their ROH career.
Participants include:
Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly
ROH newcomer Adam Cole and his tag team partner Kyle O’Reilly have recently burst onto the ROH tag team scene and have been highly impressive. Cole & O’Reilly have yet to garner enough wins to be in the tag team championship picture, but now both men will have the opportunity as singles wrestlers to prove they deserve more. Each man has been placed into the tournament and there is a possibility they could face one another.
Andy Ridge
Andy Ridge is an ROH newcomer who recently competed in the first ever 5-Match ROH Trial Series against established Ring of Honor veterans. Although Ridge did not gain any victories, he was able to show everyone his determination and will to succeed. Ridge earned the opportunity to wrestle in Richmond, VA on 1/14 and Charlotte, NC on 1/15 and was able to go 2-0 for the weekend. Ridge showed that the experience gained during the Trial Series was invaluable and he was able to translate that into wins against younger competitors. Ridge has another shot at rising in the ranks as he has earned a spot into the 2011 Top Prospect Tournament.
Bobby Dempsey
Bobby Dempsey is a competitor who has competed in ROH for over 5 years and yet has never been able to gain what was necessary to receive any kind of championship opportunity. Dempsey has always been very popular with the fans and has been selected as one of the 8 competitors to get a fair chance at rising up the ROH rankings.
Grizzly Redwood
Much like Bobby Dempsey, Redwood is a long time ROH competitor who constantly puts on passion filled performances when he competes, but he has yet to get that win to earn him a high profile opportunity. The cliché term of “heart of a champion†fits Grizzly perfectly and because of this he has been selected by ROH officials as one of the established ROH wrestlers chosen for the tournament who have never been in any kind of championship contention.
Michael Elgin
Michael Elgin is the newest member of Truth Martini’s House of Truth and in his few ROH appearances has shown scary power and unlimited potential. Not much is known about Elgin except that he passed the rigorous HOT recruiting process and has been selected by not only Martini but ROH World Champion Roderick Strong himself as the man to stand behind and back up the champion. Elgin will get his chance to bulldoze the competition and earn the title of ROH’s 2011 Top Prospect.
“The Prodigy†Mike Bennett
“The Prodigy†Mike Bennett has come into ROH with a strong amount of hype that will be hard to live up to. Bennett and his trainer Brutal Bob have tried their best to get attention from ROH officials and top ROH wrestlers alike. By sitting front row ringside to scout ROH stars and their matches, with the most primary target apparently the ROH World TV Title and champion Christopher Daniels, “The Prodigy†has certainly made his presence known. Bennett recently scored 2 big wins in Richmond, VA and Charlotte, NC and also has earned a huge, albeit questionable win over Colt Cabana in Plymouth, MA. While being very impressive since his debut, he is going to have to do much more before ROH officials give him a shot at Daniels or consider Bennett to be in any kind of title picture and a victory in this tournament could be a step in the right direction.
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ROH officials have been scouting different areas in the United States for a relative unknown competitor in order to give him the unbelievable opportunity of competing in this tournament, and getting a chance to earn an ROH spot and climb the ranks quickly.
The “2011 Top Prospect Tournament†will go down THIS Friday and Saturday in Philadelphia, PA during ROH’s final set of “ROH on HDNet†tapings. Which of these 8 men will break out in The Asylum Arena? Get your tickets here to see it first hand: http://www.rohstore.com/index.php?dispatch=categories.view&category_id=3. Ticket prices start at $10 each!!!
