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[LOLtron]

Does the debut episode of ROH on SBG deliver?  The Outhouse's resident ROHbot weighs in.

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• New opening video is business. Looks great.
  
• The Frontier Fieldhouse is packed, which looks so much better crowd-wise than the HDnet shows.
  
• Audio is strong.
  
• Great to see Nigel back in ROH. He seemed like he would be a good fit in TNA early on, but it never panned out.
  
• LOVE the Bravados. "Futureshock gave my brother a concussion last time we wrestled, and that's poor sportsmanship!" ROH is still utilizing the UFC-style sit-down interviews.
  
• Match #1: Bravados (Harlem/Lancelot Bravado) vs. Futureshock (Adam Cole/Kyle O'Reilly).  Keeping with the UFC-theme, we get a great "Tale of Tape" feature. All the usual, plus a little acknowledgement on whether they adhere to the Code of Honor. Good stuff. Match is an excellent and energetic opener that sees Futureshock win with "Ride the Lightning," or a basic high-low. Exactly the type of match you should use the open a show.
  
• A video package for Best in the World plays. The production values on it are strong, no complaints here. This is one of the things I was hoping to see improved by SBG and it's definitely an improvement. Big recap of the four corner tag match with a lot of emphasis put on how long it last. Next big recap is for the Edwards/Richards main event (my MOTY at this point). More emphasis put on the length of matches, which is a great way to condition the fans that the matches in ROH won't be three minute quick-runs. The emotional aftermath of the match is played and it comes off a lot like a UFC main event. I think that's the best way to try and promote themselves. Good video recap, all-in-all.
  
• A weekly news segment called "Inside ROH?" Yes, please.
  
• Inside ROH: Jim Cornette explains the point and value of the Code of Honor. I've always loved it and think it adds a great dynamic to the promotion. Jay Lethal does a decent sit-down interview to promote his match with El Generico. Politely craps on TNA, "It's not nostaglia, it's not politics... It's competition." Not sure I'd crap on getting over as Black Machismo, though.
  
• ROH Flashback: Recap of the finish of the four corner tag match at Best in the World to set up tonight's main event of Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team vs. The Kings of Wrestling.
  
• Nigel interviews a fan about who the fan think will win tonight. They pick WGTT. Meh-segment.
  
• Main Event: The Kings of Wrestling (Claudio Castagnoli/Chris Hero) w/ Sara del Rey & Shane Hagadorn vs. Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team (Shelton Benjamin/Charlie Haas) [c] – ROH World Tag Team Title Match. Big-fight intros for the main event, which I always love. WGTT follow the Code of Honor, but KOW do not according to the Tale of the Tape. It bears mentioning at this point that commentary needs a lot of work. Never been a huge fan of Kevin Kelly, but Nigel isn't exactly delivering on all cylinders either. Smart move having the most recognizable wrestlers on the roster main event the first show, BTW. Match is solid, but audio seems to have fallen off. Good main event-style match. WGTT gets the win with a Hart Attack, called "Wrestling's Greatest Finisher" by Kevin Kelly. Absolutely needs a better name than that.
  
• As debut shows go, this was pretty good stuff. It'll take some getting used to watching the wrestling be broken up by so many commercials, but that's no big deal. The in-ring quality was there, new content (Inside ROH) was there, and the best parts of HDnet were there (the UFC-influences). If they can improve the video, master the sound (a lifelong ROH problem it seems), and we see improvement from Kevin Kelly and Nigel on commentary, then we're going to have the best wrestling show on TV each week right here.
  

Written or Contributed by: syxxpakk


http://173.199.169.70/index.php/reviews/entertainment-reviews/16237-roh-on-sbg-review-92411.html/

[S.F. Jude Terror]

Man I can't wait to watch this (via internet) later.

[syxxpakk]

It goes online for all to see on Thursday. But if you go to the ROH web site and become a Ringside Member, you can get it online tomorrow (along with access to their video library, discounts on DVDs, and tons more of awesome stuff).

www.rohwrestling.com

[fieldy snuts]

Finally saw ROH for myself. It was very good and felt like an old school wrestling show free of the gimmicks...but like I feared the production was too low rent.

The lighting didn't seem camera friendly and they retained it looking like a dungeon with a lot of the darkness and at times some visuals were glaring. Speaking of the camera's, they looked like equipment TNA used to use before they got bumped up to HD...considering how the big two have moved up it was really jarring to have gotten this from what was supposed to be a HD x264 rip. It looks like a plain old 576p analogue signal. On new TV's or monitors it ends up pretty fuzzy.

Sound was pretty boxy. This stood out a LOT whenever Kevin Kelly raised his voice. Nigel McGuinness cut a great promo when he returned but was pretty quiet most of the time on commentary. Hope he doesn't become another Booker T or Jerry Lawler...maybe a manager role would be more fitting for him.

Onto the actual show, the matches were what you'd expect from solid TV matches. Not really high risk or PPV-worthy material but more a steady paced match with just enough energy to keep the crowd into it. Kings of Wrestling vs Worlds Greatest Tag Team was easily the highlight of the night and they deserve it. Not as good as some of their other matches I've caught but a solid effort. Would've liked a singles match personally, but oh well.

Now about the in-ring action: another production complaint. They do too many camera shots from the floor while stuff's going on...that's something that truly annoys me. It works if they're on a corner or on the ropes, but not so much when they're frantically hitting moves in the middle of the ring and running out of view at the ropes.

maybe I'm being spoiled by WWE production budgets and what things TNA's camera crew manages to do right....but I expected SBG to inject enough money into ROH to improve most of this.

[misac]

I disagree on the audio, it sounded like a blanket was over the mics. But that could have been cause I watched on the computer. But the crowd did sound better.

One of the Bravados also had a funny line about their Cherokee ancestry.

Really fun show with good matches. Even though I’m familiar with it I liked the intro feel to the show. The video packages were cool and I really liked the Jay Lethal interview, everything he said sounded sincere and I believed everything he said.

Only negative was Nigel being so quite on commentary, I’m sure he’ll grow into the role.

[S.F. Jude Terror]

Watching this episode now. Good start. Video quality isn't great, but it's good enough. Sound is glitchy, and the crowd sounds a little flat (though I can tell they're cheering like crazy, which is good. It definitely comes across that the crowd is into it, which is good.

Now, what is wrong with Nigel McGuiness? Why did he stop wrestling? He doesn't look so great.

[S.F. Jude Terror]

I liked the quick video package before the first match, agree with what you said about it Syxx.

Kevin Kelly is doing a good job explaining who the teams are. Something that should be done every episode.

[S.F. Jude Terror]

Combination of the flat crowd noise and echoing ring sounds makes it sound crappy. I hope they improve this.

[S.F. Jude Terror]

I guess maybe I have to get used to it, but the lighting is awful. Great fucking match though.

[S.F. Jude Terror]

Future Shock's finished appears to be a near ripoff of Total Elimination.

[S.F. Jude Terror]

Kevin Kelly switches back and forth between serviceable and embarrassing.

[fieldy snuts]

Watching this episode now. Good start. Video quality isn't great, but it's good enough. Sound is glitchy, and the crowd sounds a little flat (though I can tell they're cheering like crazy, which is good. It definitely comes across that the crowd is into it, which is good.

Now, what is wrong with Nigel McGuiness? Why did he stop wrestling? He doesn't look so great.

No one knows for sure, but the general consensus is post-concussion syndrome due to all the concussions he suffered over at ROH with a ton of unprotected blows to the head. It was just too much for him and while he went to TNA to escape that it was already too late. Word is that's also what stopped WWE from signing him.

Ironically him not wanting to wrestle with a concussion is what made him a heel in the ROH fans eyes back in the day

[S.F. Jude Terror]

I met Jay Lethal at a house show for TNA, and he was very quiet and humble. Nice guy. I'm not sure I agree with what he's saying here though, as the crowd there showed him a lot of love and no one was calling for him to do Macho Man impressions or anything. TNA did drop the ball with him totally, but it almost sounds like he disliked the fans.

[S.F. Jude Terror]

The sound in the clips from the shitty internet feed from Best in the World are better than the show tonight. The video, lower quality, actually looks better. Maybe HD is a bad idea for ROH. I'll have to try the SD version for this week's show.

[S.F. Jude Terror]

I like the stats before the matches. The Briscoes are some classy, well-spoken individuals.