Ring of Honor Wrestling

Big news from the Ring of Honor front, as it appears ROH mainstays the Briscoe Brothers are no longer with the company.

According to PWTorch (via WrestleZone):

Jay and Mark Briscoe are no longer with Ring of Honor, confirming our earlier report. Their contracts have expired and there is no intention of the company renewing them at this time.

Both men were written off television at this week's television taping. The incident that will actually take them off TV isn't set to air until the end of July, so there is definitely time for the two parties to work out new contract deals. 

At this time, Jay Briscoe is still the ROH World Heavyweight Champion, and Ring of Honor has not issued a statement on the Briscoe’s, or the future of their primary title.

Tuesday afternoon, WrestleZone also noted that the former tag team champs may be WWE-bound. Keep in mind, the Briscoes and WWE have some history. The pair tried out for WWE in 2009 and declined a follow-up developmental tryout offer from the company.

Overall, if the duo is indeed no longer with ROH, it could be a huge blow to the company. They have been with the company on and off since 2002 and have a huge fanbase there.

Yes, at times the pair has been controversial and caused some negative press for ROH. However, their tenure with the company has been mostly positive. ROH has recognized this by rewarding them with several tag team title runs and a World title run for elder brother Jay.

As it stands, ROH could strip Jay of the title and have a good old-fashioned tourney for the gold. A move like this could generate some buzz for the company and allow it to put the strap on a more household name in Matt Hardy.

Keep in mind, the Briscoes have previously taken a sabbatical from the wrestling game in order to recharge themselves and get back in the game. However, if that is the case, it would be terrible timing with Jay holding the main ROH belt.

In the end, if they are WWE-bound, they will find themselves alongside fellow ROH castoffs and could easily rekindle some of their feuds from the past. This would allow for a bigger audience to see what they may have been missing for the past 10 years.

Saturday night saw Ring of Honor Wrestling present the 2013 edition of their Best in the World event. Live on Internet pay-per-view, ROH looked to give fans a great show.

With eight matches booked, all three titles on the line and many storylines coming to a head, ROH was going to do just that. Unfortunately, technical issues and bad camera work plagued the entire show.

I will get into those issues as they happened, which was right away during the very first match.

Mike Bennett w/ Maria Kanellis and Brutal Bob vs. B.J. Whitmer

B.J. Whitmer picked up the victory here over Mike Bennett with an exploder suplex after failed interference from Brutal Bob. The match itself was quite good.

Both Bennett and Whitmer gave fans solid back-and-forth action throughout, and they proved to be great talents inside the squared circle. It was a good way to open the show for sure.

There were at least two technical issues during the match. To make a long story short for future mentions of this, the issues were the stream freezing and buffering, thus forcing fans to miss parts of the match. It was pretty annoying.

I was hoping ROH would fix the issue, but unfortunately, it continued throughout the entire three-hour event.

The American Wolves vs. Adrenaline Rush

Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards defeated Tadarius Thomas and ACH here after Richards got his knees up to block a Thomas 450 Splash and roll him up for the victory. These two teams put on a great match here. It was fast-paced and really fun to watch. It was tag team wrestling at its finest.

It’s great to see Thomas and ACH finally get a team name. Adrenaline Rush fits them perfectly, too. Watching them in the ring gives you a major rush of adrenaline. Their unique styles are exciting to watch, and it makes them quite the exciting team as well.

The American Wolves are still one of the absolute best teams in wrestling today. They just got back together a few months ago and it was like they never spilt up. Richards and Edwards' chemistry as a team stayed intact.

The Wolves will no doubt be ROH World Tag Team champions again, but Adrenaline Rush isn’t far behind. The gold is definitely in their future as well.

As for any technical issues, the stream froze twice. Despite being a bit annoying, it wasn’t too bad. The majority of the action took place while the stream was working properly. That would soon change, though.

Roderick Strong vs. Adam Cole

Adam Cole defeated Roderick Strong here via count-out after he superkicked him off the apron and through a table. It seemed like Cole would actually help him back into the ring, but he ended up pushing him back down so that he wouldn’t be able to answer the 20-count. For those that don’t know, ROH has a 20-count instead of a 10-count.

This was a very good match between two of ROH’s best wrestlers. They gave fans great back-and-forth action as they continued a night of great wrestling.

It’s weird seeing Cole acting like a heel. He’s been a babyface for quite a while, so it's a different change of pace for him. Strong is typically a heel, but lately he’s been a good guy. I like Strong as a bad guy, though he is working out very well as a fan favorite.

As the match finished, I let out a cheer because there were no issues with the stream throughout the entire match! I thought that they had fixed whatever was going on, but as Steve Corino left the commentators' table to go after Cole, it happened.

Instead of seeing if Corino got to talk to Cole about joining S.C.U.M., fans were treated with a buffering stream. I celebrated too early.

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Michael Elgin

As things got back up and running, Veda Scott was trying to sit in on commentary since Corino left. Kevin Kelly instead wanted R.D. Evans, so Veda had to leave. That was a shame as I like Veda. It made sense, though, since Evans used to manage Tommaso Ciampa before turning on him.

Michael Elgin would then defeat Ciampa with a combination of moves that included spinning back fists, an elbow to the back of the head and a massive clothesline. This was a great match right here. Seeing two of Ring of Honor’s heavy hitters go at each other did not disappoint.

Ciampa and Elgin gave fans a hard-hitting, back-and-forth and very physical contest. There were many tests of strength, feats of strength and just outright intensity. These two guys work great together; their chemistry is phenomenal.

During the match, there were zero technical issues. Then Q.T. Marshall came out post match and, just as he entered the ring, the stream froze. When it returned, he was outside the ring with R.D. Evans. I have no idea what happened. Since Ciampa and Elgin were up, I assume they chased him off.

Matt Taven w/ Truth Martini and the Hoopla Hotties vs. Jay Lethal vs. Jimmy Jacobs: ROH Television Championship

Here is a match that was really hindered by the technical issues. After all three men were introduced, the show froze. When it finally unfroze, Taven was in the crowd as Lethal and Jacobs lay out on the floor.

Kevin Kelly mentioned that Taven flew over the top, but it was completely missed. In fact, I’m not completely sure how much of the match actually occurred during the buffering of the stream.

It continued without a hitch for the majority of the match after that, including when Lethal ripped Scarlet Bordeaux’s top completely off. For a split second, you saw everything! The “We want puppies” chant really brought me back.

Then the stream stopped, and when it finally came back, the match was over. Since Taven was leaving with the belt, I think it’s safe to say that he retained his title, but fans didn’t even get to see the finish.

For what I actually saw of the match, it was very good. The action that was seen was fast-paced and very fun to watch. All three wrestlers performed great in the ring, but the fact that I missed probably half of the contest due to a buffering stream was just ridiculous.

reDRagon vs. C&C Wrestle Factory vs. Cliff Compton and Rhett Titus of S.C.U.M.: ROH World Tag Team Championship

After a short moment of freezing during the introductions, Bobby Fish kicked Cedric Alexander in the head after Alexander hit the brainbuster on Kyle O’Reilly. Fish then draped his partner over onto Alexander to retain their titles.

This was a fun match that featured constant action throughout. It was great to see the champions and C&C work together at first to try to take out a common enemy in S.C.U.M. The Steve Corino-led group is trying to take over ROH, and it’s resulting in babyfaces and heels working together. It’s something TNA should be doing with the Aces & Eights, and something WWE should have done with the Nexus.

The teamwork didn’t last long, though, since it wasn’t an elimination-style match.

Both reDRagon and C&C are great teams. O’Reilly and Fish were put together just days before winning the titles and they have proven to be quite the cohesive unit. Like Adrenaline Rush, Alexander and Coleman have similar styles that mesh well together. As a result, they make a great and entertaining team.

Compton and Titus didn’t get much teamwork in, so I don’t really have much to say about them as a team.

My only issue with the match is that it seemed really short. The stream didn’t freeze during the match itself, so that was good.

Kevin Steen vs. Matt Hardy No Disqualification Match

Before the match, Steve Corino got on the mic to bash Baltimore and praise Matt Hardy. Throughout his promo, he was treated to chants of “Shut the **** up” and “You suck ****.” Just use your imagination and you’ll figure out what those words are.

Corino gave a pretty good promo as Hardy just stood their basking in Corino’s self-promotion. Kevin Steen soon came out to cut a solid promo and to ask Nigel McGuinness, who was now on commentary, for a No Disqualification match. It was granted, and the match got underway.

Hardy would ultimately pick up the victory after three members of S.C.U.M. came out, with Hardy delivering the Twist of Fate onto two steel chairs. The match was quite good, as Steen and Hardy beat the hell out of each other.

Much like Ciampa vs. Elgin, this was hard-hitting and very physical. Steen and Hardy had some help in the form of weapons, though.

It took four people to defeat Steen, so the former ROH world heavyweight champion looks strong in defeat. At the same time, Hardy continues his heelish ways as he prepares for an eventual world championship match.

This contest saw one major technical issue, which was the event freezing right when Steen grabbed a crutch from the crowd. The stream didn’t return until after it was used. Other than that, the use of a trash can, chairs and a ladder went uninterrupted.

Jay Briscoe vs. Mark Briscoe: ROH World Heavyweight Championship

With the entire Briscoe family in attendance, Jay defeated his brother Mark after hitting three Jay Drillers to retain his title. The two brothers gave fans what was the match of the night. They delivered a great back-and-forth matchup that saw nonstop action throughout the contest.

Their chemistry together is phenomenal. Being real-life brothers, they know each other very well inside the ring. It’s that chemistry that makes them a great tag team. They were able to transition it to singles competition, and they really showed that they are two of the best ROH has to offer.

The match saw the stream freeze during two crucial moments. The first was towards the beginning. It froze with both men in the ring, and when it returned, both were on the outside with fans chanting “Holy ****!” Once again, use your imagination. I have no idea what happened.

The second time was when Mark had Jay laying on a table on the outside. As Mark was climbing the ropes, the stream froze and didn’t return until Mark jumped off the top rope onto Jay inside the ring. The table was broken, so Jay most likely went through it. It would have been nice to see the move, though.

With the exception of those two incidents, the match went on without a hitch.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the 2013 edition of ROH Best in the World was a great night of wrestling. Every single match delivered the goods. All wrestlers were at the top of their game and gave the fans in attendance a night to remember. For what fans watching at home were able to see, we got that as well.

The wrestlers did their job, but it was Ring of Honor that dropped the ball.

For a company that has been around for 11 years and has been doing PPVs online for the past few years, this was unacceptable. Out of the three-hour event, I would guess an hour or so was lost due to their stream freezing and buffering.

You would think that they’d be able to solve this issue, but every ROH iPPV I have watched this year has been plagued with the same problems. Until they can solve this constant issue, this will be the last iPPV I watch from them.

A frozen stream wasn’t the only issue, unfortunately. Whoever is directing the camera cuts backstage needs to be fired. The camera would cut away from the action to show something else throughout the night.

A few examples include; the camera cutting to Truth Martini on commentary when Jimmy Jacobs was about to fly over the ropes during the TV Championship match, cutting away from the action during Steen vs. Hardy just so Kevin Kelly can randomly talk to the camera and the closing moments of the main event. Instead of showing a series of superkicks from Jay to Mark, the camera was cut to a few fans just standing there. They weren’t even cheering!

The crane camera was also constantly in the way of the hard camera. Ring of Honor needs somebody back there that knows what they’re doing.

Best in the World 2013 was a night filled with great wrestling and excellent matches, but technical issues and terrible camera work ruined quite a bit of the show. I love Ring of Honor Wrestling, but they made this fan an unhappy one Saturday night.

Saturday night is Ring of Honor’s time to present their weekly one-hour show, ROH Wrestling. Unfortunately, only certain markets get the program. Seeing as it doesn’t air in my home state of Connecticut, I have to rely on the Internet to watch ROH.

It usually doesn’t appear online until a few days after its initial airing, but this week, the June 8 episode appeared online early! With Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness on commentary, they welcomed fans to the show and ran down the events of the past few weeks.

Hyping the main event and the Best in the World event in two weeks, this episode kicked off with a singles match!

Matt Taven w/ Truth Martini and Hoopla Hotties vs. Pepper Parks

Before the match, though, Truth Martini grabbed a microphone. He talked about his client, ROH Television champion Matt Taven, and his Best in the World opponent Jay Lethal. He declared that Taven was a fighting champion and challenged anyone in the back to a Proving Ground match.

In ROH, a Proving Ground match gives any wrestler the opportunity to wrestle one of the company’s champions. If they win, they will receive a future shot at the champion they defeated.

The challenge was answered by Pepper Parks, and after Martini ran him down, Parks punched Taven to get the match going.

Truth Martini is weird on the mic. His voice sounds terrible, but it fits his character as a sleazy manager. I don’t like hearing his voice; though at the same time he’s good at what he does. He knows how to cut a promo very well.

What Taven lacks in mic skills, Martini is really picking up the slack. He does Taven’s talking for him, and then the champion gets the job done in the ring. He really is a great manager. He also brings the Hoopla Hotties with him, which is always fun!

I love the concept of the Proving Ground match. It gives anybody the opportunity to fight a champion and get into the title hunt if they win. As for the match, Taven defeated Parks with his cool-looking finisher. I don’t know what it’s called, but Wikipedia calls it an Arm Trap Headlock Driver.

The match itself was a solid one. It featured good back-and-forth action throughout, as both wrestlers delivered in the opening contest. Taven is quite the talented wrestler. At over 6'0'' tall, he flies around the ring like it’s nothing. He’s very impressive.

I’ve seen Parks a few times in ROH, and after this match, I want to see more of him. He, too, was impressive in this match. He deserves major props for going toe-to-toe with a ROH champion.

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Rip Impact

Tommaso Ciampa defeated Rip Impact after hitting a White Noise off the middle rope. With this match being Ciampa’s first since his injury, and it also being Impact’s ROH debut, I fully expected to see the “Sicilian Psychopath” just destroy his opponent. Thankfully that wasn’t the case, though.

The two wrestlers had a pretty solid, back-and-forth match that was highlighted by the skill of Impact and the intensity of Ciampa.

Ciampa looked great in his return match. He hasn’t lost a step in the ring and reminded ROH fans why he’s known as the “Sicilian Psychopath.” Some of the moves he pulls off look brutal and he’s also just pure intensity inside the ring.

Impact held his own in the match against Ciampa, so he deserves some praise for that. He probably won’t be back on television for a while, but when he does get to wrestle again, I’ll be glad to see him.

During the match, Michael Elgin came out to ringside. He caused a bit of a distraction for Ciampa, but in the end it didn’t matter. Post-match, Elgin grabbed a mic told Ciampa that he was the wrong guy to mess with, and as a result, his return would be short-lived. Elgin’s promo was short and sweet, but very good.

At Best in the World, Ciampa and Elgin will be going one-on-one. That is a match to look forward to. Both guys are great in the ring, and given their respective hard-hitting styles, the match will definitely be a must-see.

S.C.U.M. Demand Title Opportunities

Before the main event could get started, the leader of S.C.U.M., Steve Corino, made his way out with members Jimmy Jacobs, Cliff Compton and Rhett Titus. He was ranting to ROH matchmaker Nigel McGuinness about his men not being included in last week’s No. 1 contender’s matches.

He praised Matt Hardy, who is set to get a ROH World Championship match at some point, and called McGuinness a coward for not giving S.C.U.M. what they wanted. That brought out No. 1 contenders Jay Lethal and the team of Cedric Alexander and Caprice Coleman. The six men brawled while Corino and McGuinness stared each other down.

ROH delivered with this segment. S.C.U.M. had lost some steam after Kevin Steen was kicked out, but thanks to Steve Corino, the faction picked things right back up. Corino was also the voice of the stable then, but he has really stepped up his game since the loss of Steen and the ROH World Championship.

There are times when he overacts, but overall he’s very entertaining on the mic. He gets the job done for the group. Corino plays the part of the manager/leader very well. It seems like he has hung up his wrestling boots to just be a mouthpiece and I think that’s great. He’s not in the best of shape, so it’s best to leave the wrestling to the other members.

The war between ROH and S.C.U.M. is getting very interesting. Corino keeps egging McGuinness to fight him. Could the retired ROH matchmaker get into the ring one final time? Time will tell, but for now it looks like they’ll just go with another ROH vs. S.C.U.M. multi-man match. That’s fine with me, as previous matches, while chaotic, have been quite good.

American Wolves vs. Briscoe Brothers

After some miscommunication with the Briscoe Brothers and a Tombstone Piledriver from Davey Richards to Mark Briscoe, the American Wolves defeated the brothers for the first time ever.

These two teams have had a long rivalry, so seeing Richards and Eddie Edwards finally pick up a victory is great. The match itself was awesome. In fact, “awesome” doesn’t really do it justice. I’m not really sure there are any words that can properly describe this match.

The American Wolves and the Briscoe Brothers had one of the best tag team matches I have seen in recent memory. Jam-packed full of action and great tag team wrestling, both teams gave ROH fans a show here.

With this victory, Richards and Edwards most likely moved up the ladder toward a shot at the ROH World Tag Team Championship. They’ll obviously have to wait until after Best in the World when champions reDRagon defend against Cedric Alexander and Caprice Coleman, but they are definitely on their way back into the title scene.

The miscommunication between the brothers provided some tension, which is good. Jay will be defending his ROH World Heavyweight Championship against Mark at Best in the World, so ROH is adding some potential bad blood to the mix. I can’t wait for their match at the event!

Final Thoughts

Overall, I thought this episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling was very good. The first two matches of the night were solid, while the main event was just plain awesome. ROH has some of the absolute best talent in the wrestling business working for them. As a result, the matches on their shows always deliver.

When it comes to wrestling, Ring of Honor has both WWE and TNA Wrestling beat. WWE and TNA do have a number of great matches every week, but ROH delivers with every match. It’s rare that a match falls flat at a Ring of Honor event.

Their next big show, Best in the World, is getting some great hype. The company really knows how to put together a pay-per-view, or in their case, an Internet PPV.

It’s a shame that they only have one hour of television every week, though; they have the talent to pull off great two-hour shows. Maybe two hours of television once a week is in their future, but for now, I’m just enjoying the ride one hour gives.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed a look at Ring of Honor. If ROH Wrestling keeps appearing online in time every week, I will continue to bring Ring of Honor to Bleacher Report!

I began my Ring of Honor odyssey at the end of 2011. I quickly watched all the episodes aired under Sinclair Broadcasting I had missed and religiously caught every episode thereafter.

In February, I began writing weekly reviews of their television episodes and pay-per-views. I talked Ring of Honor to every wrestling fan I knew.

I can’t do it anymore.

In order to be effective, a wrestling company needs to exhibit quality and consistency.

Ring of Honor’s in-ring product is consistently excellent, and their storylines are always meaningful and occasionally powerful.

Name the last WWE storyline that felt like art.

Even if everything is perfect inside the ring, the viewers at home still need to see it. A company’s television shows and pay-per-views must be consistently aired and well-produced.

This is where Ring of Honor lost me.

In March, ROH’s Showdown in the Sun internet pay-per-view was marred by numerous technical difficulties and glitches. Ring of Honor responded by ending their relationship with iPPV provider GoFightLive.

The next month, ROH fans were disappointed further when Border Wars, perhaps their best show of the year, was unwatchable for nearly everyone due to more technical issues.

Finally, after two lackluster-but-viewable pay-per-views, ROH fans were unable to watch the highly anticipated Death Before Dishonor because of—say it with me—technical issues.

I can’t take it anymore.

With their superior wrestling and engaging storylines, Ring of Honor could be a successful competitor to WWE. However, I promise that it won’t happen until they stop alienating their most loyal fans by ensuring that they can’t watch their shows.

Chikara, anyone?

Jim Cornette has been ousted as ROH booker, and replaced with the man that preceded him, Hunter "Delirious" Johnson.

One would think the recent house show in Rahway, N.J., was the straw that broke the camel’s back, where a "no contest" in the Kevin Steen vs. Jay Lethal main event backfired badly and had fans pelting the ring with thrash. The angle was believed to be building towards a Steen/Lethal main event match at Final Battle.

I’m not sure Cornette, with the official title of Executive Producer, ever publicly took over booking duties from Johnson to begin with, but the booking patterns had Cornette's fingerprints all over them, and it was obvious Cornette was the one pulling the strings.

Johnson was said to be involved heavily in the booking, but now the pencil is officially his once again.

If you recall, Johnson took over for Adam Pearce (whose failed booking reign looks fantastic in hindsight compared to Cornette) a few years ago, and the booking improved almost overnight. He's got quite the task ahead of him this time, with about 10 weeks or so to build towards the biggest show of the year, Final Battle.

Cornette is staying with the company as a consultant of some type. A noted control freak, I wonder how long he can contain himself before he attempts to interject himself heavily into the booking again. Cornette joined ROH as a consultant to begin with, and slowly but surely somehow ended up the primary booker.

Let's take a look at five key issues that sunk Cornette:

ROH failed to create new stars on Cornette's watch, which is the biggest problem the company faces

Guys like Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, Tomasso Chiampa, Mike Bennett, and most of all, Michael Elgin, have star potential (on this level, at least), but none have truly advanced above the mid card.

It's hard to give Cornette credit for Kevin Steen, whose long storyline and push began two bookers ago, and you can argue he's a bigger star and more interesting personality for PWG these days.

Cornette took too long to put the tag team titles on All Night Express, who were red hot after Ladder Wars, and Cornette has taken far too long to turn Michael Elgin face following what should have been a star making match against Davey Richards in Florida during WrestleMania weekend. That match feels like it was an eternity ago, and Elgin has lost his momentum as his slow burn turn has failed to generate any buzz.

Speaking of All Night Express, Kenny King jumped to TNA while one half of the tag team champions

Some say this means very little in 2012, but to the hardcore fan base of a group like ROH, this was a very embarrassing blow and something that simply never should have been allowed to happen.

Cornette booked King & Rhett Titus to win the tag titles, despite King's contract coming due days later. King, unhappy with a lack of bookings from ROH, made no secret he would be shopping his services to other companies. Cornette & King had a handshake agreement, and while you can probably make a moral argument against King, you certainly can't make a legal one.

King showed up on a live episode of TNA Impact, and ROH was left egg on their face and vacated tag team titles.

iPPV disasters

Fairly or unfairly, the Cornette reign will be forever linked to numerous iPPV disasters that have severely threatened to kill the iPPV golden goose that has helped sustain other smaller U.S. promotions.

Following the original round of issues, ROH fired original streaming provider gofightlive, but ROH streaming the iPPV's themselves from their own website has not solved the issues, which is insane when you think about it, considering ROH is owned by a media company that owns dozens of television stations.

One has to wonder if ego got in the way of business at some point, as former ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky offers a streaming service, wwnlive.com, which has to this point streamed dozens of wrestling shows with nary an issue. In fact, during a podcast interview earlier this year, Sapolsky told me directly that he has reached out to ROH in the past, offering to host ROH iPPVs. But a contentious relationship lately between Cornette and Sapolsky may have prevented this from happening.

According to Sapolsky, ROH never got back to him earlier this year after the two sides initially discussed the possibility of wwnlive hosting ROH events.

A boring product

Let's face it, ROH is boring.

It's unfair to expect current ROH to resemble 2005 ROH, because from a business perspective, that style, while buzzworthy, did not get them beyond the level of high-profile indie. The company had to try to evolve if it were to grow, so the firing of Gabe Sapolsky in 2008, while unpopular, ultimately made sense if the goal was to grow and expand.

In fact, Sapolsky is still following his old ROH booking ideals of fast action and progressive style, and his companies, Dragon Gate USA and sister promotion EVOLVE are basically at the same level ROH was at with him at the helm. So, while ROH has attempted to escape niche status, first with Pearce then with Johnson and Cornette, they now find themselves at an odd purgatory between smaller major league and larger indie. But that perceived growth has nothing to do with the product, and everything to do with new, richer ownership, Sinclair Broadcasting, which airs the ROH TV show on affiliates that cover somewhere between 30-40 percent of the United States.

I've strayed a bit from the point here, but the bottom line is ROH has not grown due to anything that is going on in the ring. House shows are mostly flat, usually down. They run fewer markets. They've burned out former home base Philadelphia, which is unfathomable if not amazing when you stop to think about it. iPPV is down (but that can also be blamed on the technical issues). Buzz is way down. Buzz can't carry you alone, but it doesn't hurt to have some. ROH has none. ROH is boring.

Friends of Cornette

Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Hass seemed like a good fit for ROH in theory, but they failed to get over and Cornette continued to push them. There is probably no reason for the Headbangers (the Guardians of Truth) to be on a major league wrestling roster in 2012, particularly on a roster full of younger wrestlers with more long-term potential.

It's not as if the Guardians of Truth were pushed hard, but it's still a spot that could have went to younger wrestlers. Tons of effort was put into Mike Mondo, who while talented, is another recycled wrestler who took forever to start to get over, while a fresh talent like Robert Evans is totally wasted in a non-wrestling role as "the Barrister" RD Evans.

At the same time, Evans is one of the most charismatic and over performers in two other promotions, CHIKARA and Anarchy Championship Wrestling. The misuse of Evans, who is not only a top-level talker but can do comedy as well as anybody and is also a very underrated worker, is one of the great mysteries of ROH.

What does this do to the legacy of Cornette? His two previous high-profile booking gigs were both considered successful.

Smoky Mountain Wrestling was a critically acclaimed regional group in the '90s that featured the simple, yet effective booking that has always been the Cornette trademark. From an aesthetic standpoint, SMW worked. From a business standpoint, it existed for roughly a half decade but eventually folded. 

Cornette was the primary booker of Ohio Valley Wrestling, which at the time was a developmental territory of the WWE. Again, Cornette's simple, logical booking worked very well in this setting, working mainly with young wrestlers who were learning how to work, build characters and build stories.

Cornette's logic-first booking style frustrated people at times, including an incident where the Dudleyz did a guest shot for OVW and inadvertently caused a young  Jillian Hall to be removed from a storyline and be taken off of TV.

In Cornette's view of the wrestling world, when a man puts his hands on a woman, if the woman doesn't sell it like she's dead, it compromises the legitimacy of the male characters.

So when the Dudleyz did their trademark spot of putting Hall though a table, Cornette was irate, because Hall was booked for a big match the next week, and in his mind, she absolutely had to be removed from the match. Probably a bit extreme of a reaction for a small developmental territory, but to Cornette, these types of details matter, and you can't fault him trying to teach and sustain long term logic in a business that in general has left that theory in the past.

A second similar incident ultimately triggered his dismissal as OVW booker from the WWE. Cornette physically attacked and slapped a young wrestler (the future Santino Marella) across the face who laughed at the ring entrance of the Boogyman. The wrestlers were instructed to react fearfully towards the character, and Cornette felt that Marella's laughter worked against the direction of booking.

Cornette was suspended, and would be fired outright by the WWE not long after.

Much of what made Cornette's booking work in the past is what backfired in ROH. Simple, logical booking works just fine in a '90s southern regional territory, where people just want to watch good 'ol southern boys beat up the heels, or in a developmental territory where the goal is to teach the basics.

But booking is all about time and place. Paul Heyman's ECW style would not get over today like it did in 1995, just as Verne Gagne's style of running one shock angle on TV per year would fail miserably in today's environment. Cornette inherited an ROH fanbase that was used to sophisticated booking and angles, particularly during the Sapolsky era.

There was nothing inherently wrong with Cornette's ROH stories; they were just from another time and place. You could argue that simpler booking is a refreshing change from what the WWE and TNA have offered these days, but not when fresh and progressive is replaced with slow and simple, driving away old fans and failing to capture new ones.

Jim Cornette's creative vision in ROH was serving no masters, and the trash littering the ring in Rahway this past week was a not so subtle conformation of that message.