WEEKLY OVERVIEW – ROH (thru 9/4): Top stories of week, major show lineups, live event results, schedule of live events, noteworthy social media posts, more

The following article is part of our Weekly Overview Series to help put in perspective major wrestling promotions with a weekly overview, looking at news and roster developments, results, future line-ups, social media activity, key interviews, plus a timely commentary at the end. We will be featuring similar features on other promotions each week and each will be updated weekly.

•Top Stories of the Week

• Rumors have been swirling this week about the contract status of Marty Scurll and Matt Taven. The ladder’s contract has been reported to be up sometime in September. While Scurll’s is rumored to be up sometime in November.
• It has been widely accepted that Scurll was out the door to AEW or NXT once his ROH contract was up. But, the interesting part of this story is Taven. The general consensus was that his contract was up after Scurll, this was the reason that he got the title over Scull at Supercard in April. All of those ideas are seemingly dashed, Rush vs. Taven at the end of September appears to be the answer to the problem of Taven potentially leaving the company.
• The participants and match-ups for the #1 contender tournament have been revealed.
  • Quarterfinal Match 1) PCO vs. Kenny King
  • Quarterfinal Match 2) Dalton Castle vs. Mark Haskins
  • Quarterfinal Match 3) Colt Cabana vs. Marty Scurll
  • Quarterfinal Match 4) Bandido vs. Jay Lethal

•Live Event Results

There were no live events this week.

•Upcoming Major Show(s)

ROH Global Wars (9/6, 9/7, 9/8)
Dearborn, MI; Villa Park, IL; and Milwaikee, WI

Your updated card can be found HERE.

•Upcoming Events

• ROH Live (Live Event) 9/6/19 in Dearborn, MI at Ford Community Center
• ROH Live (Live Event) 9/7/19 in Chicago, IL at Odeum Expo Center
• ROH Live (Live Event) 9/8/19 in Milwaukee, WI at Potawatomi Casino
• Death Before Dishonor (PPV) 9/27/19 in Las Vegas, NV at Sam’s Town Live
• Death Before Dishonor (TV Tapping) 9/28/19 in Las Vegas, NV at Sam’s Town Live
• ROH Honor United (Live Event) 10/25/19 in London, UK at York Hall
• ROH Honor United (Live Event) 10/26/19 in Newport, UK at The Newport Centre
• ROH Honor United (Live Event) 10/27/19 in Bolton, UK at the Bolton Whites Hotel UK

All current live events are located on rohwrestling.com.

•Latest TV Highlights: 9/1/19 ROH Wrestling

ROH TV Results
September 1st, 2019
Toronto, ON at Maple Leaf Gardens
Airing on Sinclair Networks and rohwrestling.com

• Another week of highlights and video packages with one match.
• Here are some recap highlights:
  • Highlights of Dante Caballero and Joe Keys were shown. As well as a highlight of the Top Prospects Tournament.
  • A recap of The Bouncers July and August is shown, ending with a promo for the team.
  • Lifeblood (Mark Haskins & Bandido) defeated Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham at 19:43

Check out the full detailed recap by Harley R. Pageot HERE.

•LATEST “TALKING HONOR” PWTORCH DAILYCAST COVERING ROH

“Future Endeavors.” It’s the final episode of Talking Honor. Harley R. Pageot and Emily Fear reflect on their past 85 episodes, answer listener mail, and discuss the future of Ring of Honor and why they’ll continue to watch. Plus: a full announcement regarding their futures and the new Wednesday Dailycast.

•Social Media Scene

Below is this week’s round-up of social media posts from ROH personalities. It was a slow week for ROH Talent.

Sunday’s Global Wars Card in Milwaukee.

Coming back to Milwaukee this SUNDAY – one of my favorite @ringofhonor cities! Join us in person or on #HonorClub for #GlobalWarsEspectacular!https://t.co/K5VmLJzU5chttps://t.co/shJL7zjMdo pic.twitter.com/gtGslFp60u

— Todd Sinclair (@sinclairtodd) September 4, 2019

Some cool new Shane Taylor shirts.

AVAILABLE AT THE #ROHPROSHOP! @shane216taylor

SHANE TAYLOR "KNOCKOUT" T-SHIRT: https://t.co/cnjfD8H6hy

SHANE TAYLOR "TV CHAMPION" T-SHIRT https://t.co/nPiT254g1d pic.twitter.com/8FKR9pAGZN

— ROH Wrestling (@ringofhonor) September 3, 2019

Friday’s GW card.

https://twitter.com/ringofhonor/status/1168871440118145024

Please bring back this ring!

The @ringofhonor ring has been home to hundreds of classic matches. Now you create your own with our #ROH Real Scale Wrestling Ring and action figures! #ftctoys #figlife @FullyPoseable @WrestleFigNews https://t.co/q2peCPYzjS pic.twitter.com/tXDJfIgSid

— Figures Toy Company (@FiguresToyCo) September 3, 2019

•Closing Commentary

Disclaimer: I am going out on a limb and just stating my personal opinion below. I have zero facts to base this on; this is just my perspective on the situation.

This week I want to talk about the absolute potential of ROH’s management being an utter joke. All of this is predicated on the rumor that Matt Taven’s contract is up sometime in September. This has been reported widely on the internet, and Taven has not responded to the rumors. My assessment of the situation is that Taven’s contract is up and he is shopping his services to both AEW and WWE (NXT).

If Taven ends up walking, it will prove one of two things:

1) ROH management chose to put the belt on Taven knowing his contract was up sooner. They did this because they were convinced that he would re-sign. If he leaves, it shows they at best have no idea what they are doing from a talent relations perspective. If you wanted to get a commitment from him, have him re-sign before you make him champion. Or have Lethal get a quick win on him to get it back.

2) ROH management had a pretty good idea that both Taven and Scurll would be leaving the company in the fall. If this scenario is true, that means the management truly thought that Taven was the better person to put as the face of their company for five months. I personally disagree with this idea, only if you look at the popularity of Taven vs. Scurll. It’s not even close; if you wanted to make lemonade out of the Marty Scurll situation, you would.

1) Make him world champion and still create Villain Enterprises. This would get PCO, King, and Flip over as a dominant team.

2) Then have a member of that team defect and take the belt form Scurll, and have him be the new face of the company.

Instead, here we are with Rush, who I really like, getting the title because we know the current champion is on his way out the door. Literally, if this happens, it is like the last six months of ROH booking were absolutely meaningless.

Tyler has been a wrestling fan for 20 years. He’s from Columbus, Ohio. His Twitter account is @ringoftyler and he hosts a podcast over at @tandbwrestling.