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| An intrepid traveler's journey back to gold? Photo Credit: Devin Chen |
I know I've been a bit lax following the ROH World Championship situation, but apparently, that whole thing with the Briscoes leaving isn't a work (or if it is, it's a long con). Jay Briscoe has been stripped of his title, and now, it's being put up in a sixteen wrestler tournament. Some of the names are ho-hum in that one might expect say, Michael Elgin, Roderick Strong, Kevin Steen, Tomasso Ciampa, BJ Whitmer, and Adam Cole to be involved. That isn't to say that those names aren't appreciated. I'm just saying, they're expected.
However, the other four names that have been announced so far are pretty interesting. Sonjay Dutt, Karl Anderson, Paul London, and Brian Kendrick have all been announced for the tourney. Forty percent of the announced field being guest stars or returnees? That feels unique enough to take note of. I like tournaments anyway, but when they contain the same ol', same ol' and nothing more, they don't get used to their full potential.
Six slots remain in the tournament. Obviously, there are names on the roster who'd fit into any one of those bracket-entries available, including Davey Richards, Eddie "Eddie Edwards" Edwards, Bobby Fish, Mike Bennett, Kyle O'Reilly, Jay Lethal, Mike Mondo, Matt Taven, any member of SCUM, or even ACH. But there also have been rumblings that there are still other guest stars that ROH is courting. One of the rumored targets is Alex Shelley. If Shelley makes it in, then whoa boy, yeah, I'd be guaranteed to get the vapors.
If I had a magic checkbook and date-clearer, my final six guys in the tourney would probably be Bennett, Lethal, ACH, TaDarius Thomas, Shelley, and Chris Masters, but I understand that I have esoteric tastes. As of right now, this tournament has my attention. ROH's 2013 so far, even with the lumps of fucking up their own Internet pay-per-view model to the point of ditching it altogether, has been interesting to say the least. Ideally, their flub of the Briscoe situation left some scuffing on the title's credibility, but tournaments are always a great thing, especially given the names announced for it so far. I'm excited.
However, the other four names that have been announced so far are pretty interesting. Sonjay Dutt, Karl Anderson, Paul London, and Brian Kendrick have all been announced for the tourney. Forty percent of the announced field being guest stars or returnees? That feels unique enough to take note of. I like tournaments anyway, but when they contain the same ol', same ol' and nothing more, they don't get used to their full potential.
Six slots remain in the tournament. Obviously, there are names on the roster who'd fit into any one of those bracket-entries available, including Davey Richards, Eddie "Eddie Edwards" Edwards, Bobby Fish, Mike Bennett, Kyle O'Reilly, Jay Lethal, Mike Mondo, Matt Taven, any member of SCUM, or even ACH. But there also have been rumblings that there are still other guest stars that ROH is courting. One of the rumored targets is Alex Shelley. If Shelley makes it in, then whoa boy, yeah, I'd be guaranteed to get the vapors.
If I had a magic checkbook and date-clearer, my final six guys in the tourney would probably be Bennett, Lethal, ACH, TaDarius Thomas, Shelley, and Chris Masters, but I understand that I have esoteric tastes. As of right now, this tournament has my attention. ROH's 2013 so far, even with the lumps of fucking up their own Internet pay-per-view model to the point of ditching it altogether, has been interesting to say the least. Ideally, their flub of the Briscoe situation left some scuffing on the title's credibility, but tournaments are always a great thing, especially given the names announced for it so far. I'm excited.