I’m pleased to see so many positive about ROH. I struggle to keep up with 2 hours of Dynamite so I likely won’t subscribe but I’m keen to see Final Battle after reading about it and will definitely keep up. This could be an awesome show and have the occasional cross promotion appearances with AEW.
It’s a shame they didn’t get a TV deal financially but streaking is the future…just not personally sure about all these different platforms but obviously a lot are willing to pay
I’m not sure a lot are willing to pay. I wouldn’t anticipate more than 30k or so given how many PPV buys they do. That’s 3.6 mill in revenue - not great when you consider they have to pay for their network upkeep and pay talent and book venues and production.
Yes the PPV is outside of that and will help but I feel more that this is an attempt to bulk up ROH network and sell the whole package with next TV rights. You really can’t sell ROH if it isn’t on some platform
The advantage NXT had was Main Roster was shit, and NXT was intentionally trying to compete with ROH and Indies. So then AEW comes in, fills the void, is a main roster version of what many loved about Non-WWE, includes all the top acts from ROH, signed all of ROH draws, and spent almost a year showcasing ROH as a tuck in to AEW.
How would it be made different than anything we get on AEW unless it became the 3rd hour of Raw or Lucha Underground.
NXT initially was an alternative. It was much more indie style with actio packed, wrestling, simpler, storylines, smaller guys and up-and-coming stars.
In it’s current incarnation it’s not quite that, but it is more up-and-coming stars with more wrestling action
For AEW I do not think they’ve view ROH as a developmental brand. They already have dark and elevation for that. I think ROH is a separate entity that they are trying to package together as one deal. Similar to Stardom and new Japan pro wrestling. If they made ROH developmental than what is the point of elevation and dark ?
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So turn AEW into an All Women’s promotion?
My point was what can ROH even do to differentiate and draw eyeballs for the non-super-hardcores already consuming everything. If that’s their target market it’ll cap out soon after they start weekly.
Question: any performer you can see them making exclusive ROH who only appears on ROH and draws considerable fans to subscribe and tune in weekly? There’s on obvious answer but not even sure how that works. Also he’s currently injured and eating muffins somewhere in a Target stocking room
And that’s why I think it’ll be less about the talent appearing (and I say that knowing the roster will likely be incredibly strong), but could be grounds to do things in a way more experimental way.
Perhaps not as nuts as Lucha Underground… But they’ll definitely be able to lean into certain things that aren’t TV friendly, such as a certain level of violence, if the choose. I’m not saying ROH becomes a death match fed or anything like that - but creating an “anything can happen” vibe, that I most associate with ECW in the mid 90’s, would likely be the route.
Give lots of room to get different talent over in riskier ways. Give exposure to talent in a different setting.
Again, I say tape at smaller, more intimate buildings. Create a buzz.
I believe a 90-120 minute show, on the streaming platform every week, could develop a lot like TNA did.
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It’s neither my business nor my concern how a billionaire spends their money. But just as a wrestling fan, I am concerned that some of my personal favorites (Claudio and Samoa Joe come to mind currently) will become exclusive to ROH. I could also see Danielson getting an ROH run given his history, and he’s one of the few guys whose matches turn Dynamite into appointment viewing for me.
And beyond just my personal preferences, there’s just no way that I see for their to NOT be a hierarchy between who is “All Elite” and who is “ROH” when one brand has three hours of cable per week, and the other is on a streaming service targeted and the most hardcore of hardcore fans. Even if the pay structure is the same, TK would still obviously be making decisions about who is more profitable, draws more eyeballs, etc. when building the rosters. And when you’re a worker still taking independent dates and/or trying to build a personal profile, the difference between being featured on AEW TV and being featured on ROH (as currently proposed) could be a serious difference.
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Briscoes will be exclusive. Punk probably costs too much for ROH only.
The rest of them I think will be like NXT. They can go down for a brief run like Finn Bálor did, and then come back up.
However, you likely see more movement the other way. In. So I can see if Claudio has a great run as champion and loses the title he’ll come up to AEW as opposed to just stay there.
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He’s already being paid and can be loaned from one entity to the other for 1$
Maybe he cares enough about his legacy to do one more ROH run and be a team player 
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Nope, seems like any potential TV deals were nigh. Strange, I would thought there would have been some more interest and opportunities to stream via more popular existing platforms.
I definitely agree that Danielson seems like the kind of person that would enjoy the challenge of rejuvenating his old stomping ground and working with different talents. He was also someone that came to mind as a potential booker of the show since he also has some experience working in creative from WWE.