by thedonsutd
In 2011 I started watching Ring of Honor because it popped up on my local CW network and has since got a 9PM slot on Saturday nights and a replay Sunday mornings at 11. For the longest time it was my favorite promotion because I felt it was fresh to me - I liked the grungy production, the wrestling was the focal point, in 2011/12, the booking was an obvious issue but when Jim Cornette was fired in 2012 things started changing and the show got better-and-better.
Over the last year something has happened where the show feels stale, its devoid of excitement, the main guys are the obvious main guys and the undercard guys don't feel like threats. Dalton Castle is the nearest thing to an underdog you can believe in and while there are still things I look forward to, like the potential of Christopher Daniels finally getting a World title run, there are so many head scratching aspects of ROH that have made my fandom for it to dissipate because the negatives are starting to out-weigh the positives.
That said, this has NOTHING to do with talent leaving. I have only been an ROH fan for seven years but I know and everyone else should realize that it is a powerhouse for making stars, it has lost all of its big stars other than The Briscoes, Adam Cole and Jay Lethal, but it has constantly created new ones to replace them. So far this year eight talents, including KOR and Dijak, have left or about to leave ROH, but as some of the ROH diehards on here and other places have pointed out, in 2009, ROH lost fifteen roster members and wound up replacing almost every single one of them within the next year, so the talent isn't an issue because WWE has changed its perspective and obviously being an ROH guy nowadays seems to mean that you're good enough for NXT.
Instead, I have frustration for the booking and especially, Delirious. On this weeks MLW Radio, Court Bauer, a former ROH employee who has really not said a whole lot about his time there because he has openly said he agreed not to bad mouth ROH after he left sort of finally lost his temper and vented a bit and made a lot of points. I have taken the time to record the conversation between him and MSL, parts of it are paraphrased, mostly MSL's, but I think it's extremely interesting and feel it deserves more coverage:
MSL: "Something that I saw this week that I paid extra attention to because it involved broadcasters and I am a broadcaster myself, is the story that Kevin Kelly, who was working full-time for Ring of Honor has left and will instead be doing part-time shows and New Japan. I've seen a lot of memes online comparing ROH to HBO show The Wire, because their both based in Baltimore and there is always drama going on behind-the-scenes..."
Court: "They both have big body counts to match!"
MSL: "...haha. Have you any insight on this Court?"
Court: "Ah yeah, Kevin Kelly who was also doing broadcasting duties for New Japan through their New Japan World service, ah... basically gave notice he was leaving, ehm, I understand he was basically given an ultimatum and eh, it's a peculiar situation, I mean there's just a lot of instability with Sinclair Broadcasting's [ROH's parent company] management of their Ring of Honor division, a lot of guys are moving on, a lot of guys are leaving, and... eh, they just reach a point where they leave - and I'm not speaking for Kevin Kelly in particular, there's just... a lot of people that have left and have gone to EVOLVE and have gone to... end up being signed by WWE and have gone to... just move on to other things and... that's not a great narrative to have for your company when the only big stories coming out from your company are these kinds of things.
This is a company that really was supposed to be all about wrestling and not about drama, in the way it was originally envisioned when it was launched in 2002 and you don't really hear people talking about the great wrestling anymore, you hear people talking about... what's the deal with them sticking with one booker and not just moving on to other guys, or what's the deal with this guy leaving or that guy leaving. Joe Koff overseas the division [ROH] as the COO from within Sinclair along with the booker, Delirious, and he and Delirious have a father/son relationship, that is... essentially unbreakable. Its been tested, its been challenged and it has prevailed, some have tried to divide, some have tried to politically divide and all have failed... and all will fail if they try to do that or their perceived as a threat. Look, the reality is-"
MSL: "Well, I heard rumors online - I don't know if this is true, but I read these rumors online - that Kevin Kelly wanted Delirious' job. I don't know if that played any role in his departure or not?"
Court: "Well you know, there's just so much paranoia from certain people within Ring of Honor about that, whether it's real or not. If you're really good at your job, you shouldn't sweat that, but it seems that like... look - I don't want to put you in an awkward situation M so, we can edit this out after if you like but... I understand, that they have not booked Kevin Sullivan since December because internally he was perceived as a threat, and that there aren't any plans to book him, ah, which is a shame because if you talk to fans who were watching the product they liked Kevin Sullivan on their show on a weekly basis and I understand the boys liked him as he was giving them great feedback on their matched and how they could get better, as a veteran with a gazillion decades of knowledge would do and that's a benefit. And you know, there were insecurities - "
Court: "They both have big body counts to match!"
MSL: "...haha. Have you any insight on this Court?"
Court: "Ah yeah, Kevin Kelly who was also doing broadcasting duties for New Japan through their New Japan World service, ah... basically gave notice he was leaving, ehm, I understand he was basically given an ultimatum and eh, it's a peculiar situation, I mean there's just a lot of instability with Sinclair Broadcasting's [ROH's parent company] management of their Ring of Honor division, a lot of guys are moving on, a lot of guys are leaving, and... eh, they just reach a point where they leave - and I'm not speaking for Kevin Kelly in particular, there's just... a lot of people that have left and have gone to EVOLVE and have gone to... end up being signed by WWE and have gone to... just move on to other things and... that's not a great narrative to have for your company when the only big stories coming out from your company are these kinds of things.
This is a company that really was supposed to be all about wrestling and not about drama, in the way it was originally envisioned when it was launched in 2002 and you don't really hear people talking about the great wrestling anymore, you hear people talking about... what's the deal with them sticking with one booker and not just moving on to other guys, or what's the deal with this guy leaving or that guy leaving. Joe Koff overseas the division [ROH] as the COO from within Sinclair along with the booker, Delirious, and he and Delirious have a father/son relationship, that is... essentially unbreakable. Its been tested, its been challenged and it has prevailed, some have tried to divide, some have tried to politically divide and all have failed... and all will fail if they try to do that or their perceived as a threat. Look, the reality is-"
MSL: "Well, I heard rumors online - I don't know if this is true, but I read these rumors online - that Kevin Kelly wanted Delirious' job. I don't know if that played any role in his departure or not?"
Court: "Well you know, there's just so much paranoia from certain people within Ring of Honor about that, whether it's real or not. If you're really good at your job, you shouldn't sweat that, but it seems that like... look - I don't want to put you in an awkward situation M so, we can edit this out after if you like but... I understand, that they have not booked Kevin Sullivan since December because internally he was perceived as a threat, and that there aren't any plans to book him, ah, which is a shame because if you talk to fans who were watching the product they liked Kevin Sullivan on their show on a weekly basis and I understand the boys liked him as he was giving them great feedback on their matched and how they could get better, as a veteran with a gazillion decades of knowledge would do and that's a benefit. And you know, there were insecurities - "
At this point, Court audibly becomes more angry when speaking, actually cutting MSL off completely.
Court: "I mean, a guy at 69/70-years-old isn't going to take the fucking book and fucking book, y'know, wherever in Pennsylvania shows, so it's like what are you threatened by?"
MSL: "...Ehm, I hadn't heard that - it wouldn't shock me just because I know how wrestling is, and sometimes that sucks for guys like Kevin, who has all this knowledge -"
Court: "It's fucking absurd! It's fucking absurd! And the fact that Joe Koff, the COO of this thing, just allows this operation to become so toxic and dysfunctional is just asinine to me! There is no oversight above that, there is nobody from Sinclair looking out - whether it's a wrestling mind or not - but it's not helping the product. The preservation or the self-preservation that's going on there is detrimental to the brand, its detrimental to the talent, its detrimental to the fans, its detrimental to the viewers and to the company's future! It's ridiculous.
And Joe [Koff] is in his late 60's, eventually he will pass the baton on to Greg Gilliland. Greg Gilliland [general manager of Ring of Honor for Sinclair] runs the day-to-day operations, and, eh, maybe then it will change, but right now... not so much. And it's so sad to see something compromised due to the insecurities to the extent it has. It really is sad."
MSL: "Well it wouldn't shock me because I know how wrestling works. And you know, from Kevin's side, when he started doing appearances for them he was just happy to be working for them, he was just happy to be involved, I mean - hahaha there wasn't any mind-set at this stage of his life of him wanting to be a booker anymore or anything like that so. So that's unfortunate if that's the case."
Court: "Look, it's the same thing, Gary Hart, dear friend of Kevin Sullivan's, when he started doing these autograph sessions when he was in his late 60's it was just to get out of the house, he was just happy to get out of the house and make a payday, for Kevin Sullivan it was just to get out of the house and make a payday. Neither of these guys at this point in their lives have the interest to book or write TV every week or edit it in post-production in Baltimore - that's just not their lifestyle anymore, and of course if you see someone with that wealth of talent and experience and of course he [Kevin Sullivan] goes back 30/40 years with Joe Koff because Kevin first met him through Florida, then they [Delirious] are like, "uh-oh", they view that as a potential threat to the throne, and it's just pathetic. I don't know what else to say."
MSL: "Well man, I hope it's not true because I know the fans love seeing Kevin and he loves seeing them too so, I just hope it's not true."
MSL: "...Ehm, I hadn't heard that - it wouldn't shock me just because I know how wrestling is, and sometimes that sucks for guys like Kevin, who has all this knowledge -"
Court: "It's fucking absurd! It's fucking absurd! And the fact that Joe Koff, the COO of this thing, just allows this operation to become so toxic and dysfunctional is just asinine to me! There is no oversight above that, there is nobody from Sinclair looking out - whether it's a wrestling mind or not - but it's not helping the product. The preservation or the self-preservation that's going on there is detrimental to the brand, its detrimental to the talent, its detrimental to the fans, its detrimental to the viewers and to the company's future! It's ridiculous.
And Joe [Koff] is in his late 60's, eventually he will pass the baton on to Greg Gilliland. Greg Gilliland [general manager of Ring of Honor for Sinclair] runs the day-to-day operations, and, eh, maybe then it will change, but right now... not so much. And it's so sad to see something compromised due to the insecurities to the extent it has. It really is sad."
MSL: "Well it wouldn't shock me because I know how wrestling works. And you know, from Kevin's side, when he started doing appearances for them he was just happy to be working for them, he was just happy to be involved, I mean - hahaha there wasn't any mind-set at this stage of his life of him wanting to be a booker anymore or anything like that so. So that's unfortunate if that's the case."
Court: "Look, it's the same thing, Gary Hart, dear friend of Kevin Sullivan's, when he started doing these autograph sessions when he was in his late 60's it was just to get out of the house, he was just happy to get out of the house and make a payday, for Kevin Sullivan it was just to get out of the house and make a payday. Neither of these guys at this point in their lives have the interest to book or write TV every week or edit it in post-production in Baltimore - that's just not their lifestyle anymore, and of course if you see someone with that wealth of talent and experience and of course he [Kevin Sullivan] goes back 30/40 years with Joe Koff because Kevin first met him through Florida, then they [Delirious] are like, "uh-oh", they view that as a potential threat to the throne, and it's just pathetic. I don't know what else to say."
MSL: "Well man, I hope it's not true because I know the fans love seeing Kevin and he loves seeing them too so, I just hope it's not true."
http://www.mlwradio.com/mlw-radio.html
