Stars In Progress…Who Goes Up & Down This Week?

Ring of Honor's Debut Tonight
One Anticipated Step Up

I want to wish Ring of Honor and crew good luck on their debut broadcast tonight on SBG.  As most of you know, Kevin Kelly (ROH announcer) writes exclusively for WrestleZone and I know he's very excited about the future of the company.  

In a recent interview, Kevin Kelly said the following regarding their show tonight: "A lot of new fans will be tuning in, and what they are going to see right from the start is they are going to learn the difference between professional wrestling and everything else. They are going to learn that everything else is where competition really matters and where wins and losses matter. And we are going to learn why these people do what they do. You are going to learn some of the nuisances of Ring of Honor. We are going to explore 'The Code of Honor' and other things that make ROH unique. We going to present it in such a way that fans who have turned away from the 'sports-entertainment' aspect, they are going to find something that is comfortable to them."

ROH's issue has always been limited exposure.  Mainstream wrestling fans know very little to nothing about this company.  Most mainstream wrestling fans probably wouldn't care much about ROH even if they did see the product, simply due to their perception of what professional wrestling is supposed to be.  Ring of Honor isn't WWE.  It's not TNA.  Not even close.
 
I often compare learning about Ring of Honor when you're a WWE (and/or TNA) fan to learning about college sports when you've always only watched pro sports.  You have to learn the players all over again.  You're also aware that in three-four years, those players will have likely moved up or moved on and may not be there anymore, so you'll have start over yet again.  It's discouraging.

I encourage you to give ROH a chance though – for the same reason I think you should give college sports a chance if you're a pro fan.  Ring of Honor wrestlers (much like college players) are still hungry.  They love what they do.  They aren't doing it for the money and still have something to prove.

Give it a chance and if you do (or did already) watch the show this weekend, be sure to send in your thoughts.  You can email them to wzchriscash@yahoo.com or vownick@gmail.com.