Raoul Duke said:
Most of those guys have dick all for charisma, though. And that matters. It's what makes great ring technicians into superstars. It's why Dean Malenko never got over as anything other than a lowercard guy even though he was superior in every technical way to Chris Jericho. What did Jericho have? Charisma.
I'm sorry you are satisfied with a faceless, charismaless army of talented yet simultaneously boring guys. Although Low-ki and Alex Shelley are awesome, and Punk had potential but ran his stupid ass mouth when he should have shut up.
And Styles can't sell? You're deluded. Perfect example was the match tonight. Petey Williams fucked up his arm in a sweet ass spot on the Ultimate X frame, then Sabin countered a Clash attempt into a badass triangle hold on the same arm. Styles eventually did a modified clash to get out of it, but when he tried to shimmy on the rope to the belt, he couldn't hold on due to the injury. Yeah. He doesn't sell or use psychology, though. You're totally right. I can think of like four other matches where opponents have worked body parts consistently over on AJ and he's sold it like a champ. You obviously just want to hate him, so go ahead and keep doing it. You're wrong, though. Styles is one of the five best guys working in any fed today.
Brian: You forgot DOUG... who is fucking awesome as well.
I'm sorry, Raoul, butI think you are missing some thing here. Granted, I cannot change your taste or your opinion, but, the reason why ROH is great is because of the wrestling. Go to a show... go to many shows... you will be entertained which is MORE than I can say for anything the WWE puts out nowadays and.. yes... even TNA.
The fact that some of ROH's superstar have/are wrestling for TNA is actually a moot point. Many wrestlers wrestle in multiple organizations... Daniels and Styles wrestled for a while in both organizations... Steve Carino wrestled in 3-4 multiple organizations and I know Doug Williams spreads his time between the US and Great Britain (and these are only a few examples).
Although I agree with you about the charisma aspect of wrestling... the ROH doesn't need it. For one, the lines are so blurry as to who a heel or face is that it allows someone to cheer for the wrestler they feel is awesome simply because of their abilities in the ring. Excellent concept! This is possible because of (2.) the fact that charisma need not play a part in ROH because there are no "locker room" promos feeded to the crowd during a show. I'm not proposing that I'm a hardcore fan of ROH... but I have been to quite a few shows and it seems that there is an equal diacotomy of those that follow the storylines and those that do not... i.e. there are plenty of people there more interested in the quality of the matches and who is facing whom (like me). In this aspect I feel they are tremendously successful... the shows could be a bit shorter but I have never not been entertained or satisfied after leaving a show.
Brian's list of wrestlers within ROH is an excellent one... and you will find them on every ROH card you go to. He didn't mention, however, the celebs that gravitate to ROH from time to time. Raven was in the organization for awhile, James E. Cornette supports the ROH as does Piper and Folley. Even Steamboat has made an appearance... for what ROH is right now... it's truly entertaining.
Bottom line is *I* would much rather go to an ROH show than watch any of the shit that I've witnessed lately on National TV.
(And Styles can sell
He's awesome.)
