By Chris Vetter, PWTorch.com contributor

Chris Vetter is a longtime PWTorch.com contributor who covers the indy scene and has attended hundreds of indy shows in his lifetime and logged thousands of miles in recent years traveling to see them.

How I fell out of love with Ring of Honor

Even before the news that Gabe Sapolsky was being removed from Ring of Honor, I've been considering writing a column about my frustrations with the niche indy promotion.

People who've read my columns for the past few years have seen my in-depth DVD reviews, especially for Ring Of Honor DVDs. However, I have not watched a single ROH DVD from 2008, although I have seen the pay-per-views.

My frustration with ROH reached a peak last week, when I picked up a copy of the most recent ROH PPV, "New Horizons," from a friend. I watched a debacle of a four-way match featuring Delirious, Shane Hagadorn, Erick Stevens, and Ruckus. The match was a fast-paced mess, ending in under five minutes. I watched this horror with aghast, wondering how ROH had come to the point that it treated its undercard like WWE treats its cruiserweights. Sure, the match was fast-paced, but the win was meaningless for Stevens. What did he gain with the victory? What good did this match do for anyone?

So - even before Sapolky's dismissal was announced - I started to compile this list of ROH's main problems. (Torch ROH specialist Sean Radican wrote a similar column this week, and my thoughts certainly echo his comments.)

(1) ROH doesn't have any dream matches left from within their regular roster. There are many reasons for this. First, the promotion simply runs too many shows a month. With four shows any given month, ROH quickly ran through all possible "marquee" headline matches. I stopped "New Horizons" after four matches. Up next was Nigel McGuinness vs. Claudio Castagnoli, and I'm sure I'll watch it in the next day or two. But I'm hardly excited about this match - I first saw them wrestle each other live in IWA Mid-South in 2004 - more than four years ago! These two have already had numerous, numerous matches on ROH DVDs! Sure, this match was for the title, but it doesn't stand out to me as anything special.

The only "dream matches" ROH might have now is when they bring in some top-level Japanese talent, or bring back some of the TNA guys. When I read lineups with Roderick Strong vs. Erick Stevens or Austin Aries vs. Jimmy Jacobs... I can't help but think about how many times I've already seen those matchups.

(2) ROH hasn't created many new stars in recent years. I am more likely to pull out an ROH tape from 2002 through 2006 and watch that, rather than check out one of my newer DVDs from 2007/08. Why? The old ROH shows featured Low Ki, A.J. Styles, Homicide, Samoa Joe, C.M. Punk, Christopher Daniels, Matt Sydal, Paul London, Spanky, Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, Jay Lethal, and Colt Cabana. The new shows simply do not. It's not ROH's fault that they lost all those marquee wrestlers to TNA and WWE. Those are all fantastic wrestlers I WANT to see, and was willing to pay $20 for a DVD to see.

But ROH simply hasn't created new stars to replace those departing wrestlers. I like Davey Richards. I thought highly of Tyler Black long before he ever debuted in ROH. But that's about it. ROH has tried using a lot of guys, from Matt Cross to Ruckus to Erick Stevens to Brent Albright to Adam Pearce to Kevin Steen. None of them has filled the void. I know there is a lot of praise out there for Steen, but I look at him and I see a fat, obnoxious kid that wouldn't even get a tryout in a WWE ring. He is simply not in the caliber of the above-named wrestlers that have moved on to TNA or WWE.

(3) Lack of top-tier talent. This is slightly different than creating new stars. There are some good undercard wrestlers I really enjoy, like Jimmy Jacobs. He was always enjoyable in his role on the opening half of a show. As much as I like watching Jacobs wrestle and respect his work in the ring... I don't ‘buy' him as a main event competitor. It feels like he has been pushed into the upper tier... because there was no one else left in that spot.

(4) Too many student matches. If ROH wants to collect $20 from me, they need to drop the ROH student matches now. I don't want to see Bobby Dempsey, Pelle Primeau, or Matt Franklin. They don't entertain me.

(5) Not enough "Do or Die" matches. When ROH enters a new territory, they should put the best local talent on the show. (Think Delirious vs. Matt Sydal debuting in St. Paul a few years ago.) For whatever reason, when ROH returned to the Twin Cities, Gabe flat-out refused to give the top local wrestlers a tryout "do or die" match. His loss. One or two exciting "do or die" matches featuring fresh new faces/matchups is much better than seeing another Richards-Stevens match.

(6) Too much emphasis on "stars" from Dan Puder to Johnny Fairplay. That does NOT sell DVDs. 'Nuff said.

(7) Storylines that don't wrap up well. The best example I have here is that Claudio Castagnoli's feud with Larry Sweeney began in December 2006. By the time they finally met in the ring in December 2007, it was time for Castagnoli to get the win and blow off this feud. It didn't happen. Sweeney got the cheap victory. I was left with a very bad taste in my mouth.

(8) The trios feud. UGH. The last half of 2007 was loaded with "faction warfare." I liked the faction of Rocky Romero & Davey Richards & Roderick Strong. They seemed to have a common heel attitude. Few other teams made sense. Stevens-Aries-Cross didn't work for me. Jigsaw, teaming with Ruckus and Jack Evans, didn't seem like a good fit. And the Hangmen Three of Adam Pearce & Brent Albright & BJ Whitmer was dull.

(9) The move to pay-per-view has not paid off. First, DVDs were released out of order. I hated that from the beginning. Second, matches taped on one show weren't necessarily put on the DVD of that show; they were included on the release of the PPV. Also, the move to pay-per-view meant altering the pacing of shows and the matches. In the past, my above mentioned four-way match (Delirious vs. Ruckus vs. Hagadorn vs. E. Stevens) would have been given perhaps eight to 13 minutes to develop. There would have been some meaning to the match. But on PPV, the match was crushed down into a breakneck speed debacle. Making matches shorter, and more like WWE cruiserweight matches, is NOT the way to show off your product.

So, what are the solutions?

(1) If you are going to continue doing PPV, make it more like an ROH DVD release. If that means only four matches, each getting the normal 15 minutes, with a 20-plus minute main event, go with that. Don't try to crush six or seven matches, a whole bunch of promos, and some backstage segments, all into a two-hour window.

(2) Add those Do or Die matches again. Last weekend, ROH had the debut of the Chikara squad of the Osirian Portal. That's a good start. Let's see more of those. But no ROH students! Give the new guys a chance to shine. Also, do a better job of scouring the indy scene for talent.

(3) Clean house. Make no mistake, there are still a lot of good ROH wrestlers worth watching. I'm still a big fan of the Briscoes, Delirious, Claudio Castagnoli, Jigsaw, El Generico, and a few others. But it's time to rotate in a few new wrestlers, create some fresh matchups, and start over.

(4) Give me a storyline I care about. One that will carry over from month to month.

(5) Fewer shows!! With today's economy, even with DVD specials, I simply am not going to watch four DVDs a month. Cut the shows in half each month, and make each show mean something!

(6) Bring back TNA talent, the more often the better. It has become evident that TNA will allow wrestlers to work ROH shows, just not appear on ROH PPVs. That's fine. The Samoa Joe appearance in Chicago is a good start. Bring in A.J. Styles, Jay Lethal, Homicide, and Christopher Daniels whenever possible. Even if it means they don't appear on the PPV format of ROH releases.

Make no mistake, I am not blaming Gabe for all of ROH's recent woes. Whenever I have spoken to Sapolsky in the past, he has been cordial. Everyone knows he's worked hard. Hopefully the new crew in charge of ROH will take the foundation that Gabe has built, and move ROH ahead.

RELATED ARTICLE from PWTorch.com: EDITORIAL: As a follower of ROH from Day One, Sapolsky's recent booking indicates he needed a break and ROH needs fresh ideas

Vetter can be reached at chrisjvetter@hotmail.com. While the PWTorch.com Indy Report has been on hiatus this month, it will return soon.

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