ROH Hostage Crisis
by Michael Barton
michaelbartonfreelance@gmail.com
Considering I do flyers for Ring of Honor (and other companies), I feel it is only appropriate to write up an article about the show from The Manhattan Center yesterday from a different point of view than many have. I hope you enjoy this.
I arrived around 9am yesterday and there were already some really cool fans hanging out. My one new friend John traveled all the way from Quebec to make this show in NYC! I went around and basically caught a 10 block radius from The Manhattan Center and made up my own mini grid. After exhausting the first batch of flyers I had already created, I went back and said hello to Mr. Cornette and we spoke briefly. For me, it's all about being a fan at this show, and ROH fans are some of the most knowledgeable fans one can ever meet and hang out with. At noon, I hit staples and made up even more, stopped at The Irish Times (I do not drink but man what a set up!) with John and got the word out about ROH, North East Wresting and 2xzone.com. By the time I got back to the venue, many more fans we're already there, including my friend Peter. If it wasn't for him taking me to a show over a year ago, I wouldn't have the gig with them that I do!
I always make sure to help out security at these shows, but I never get (nor ask for) credentials from ROH because I do not want nor need to do more than what I already do for them. New York has some very strange liability laws (remember, wrestling is still sanctioned by The NYS Athletic Commission), and The Manhattan Center security team is top notch. One young lady fainted from the heat and they immediately made sure she was okay. They are in an impossible position from my point of view. For one, they do not work for ROH, they work for The Manhattan Center. Two, all the ROH fans are really smart people, but some of them can get a little mouthy (it is NYC after all) so I spent a few hours basically playing the PR guy in between security and the company. Once the fans know that you're involved somehow with the company (be it as a volunteer or otherwise), they immediately smile because they know you are one of those guys that is willing to do anything to make them happy! For me, that is the main reasons I spend weeks promoting The Manhattan Center show's for ROH!
Truth Martini and Jimmy Jacobs came out and were on their way to do some quick shopping, so I said hello and we exchanged pleasantries and they got out of there. I got my pics with them, but for me it's different. I take those pics for private use only, and the guys know that so I am able to get things that many simply cannot. The line for this show was not as bad as the last one, and the next thing I knew, Jeff Jones was getting my ticket signed for me by Nigel McGuinness! That ticket is going to a very good friend of mine - James Lacerenza - who inspires me more on a daily basis than I think he realizes!
My tickets we're comped thanks to the company for the work I do with the flyers, and my friend Jose from Discipline Theory (http://www.disciplinetheory.com) showed up right as it was time to walk in. We started on the second balcony, but then realized that the upper balcony was the place to be and watch the show. Next thing we know, we're hanging out with Vinny The Guido of Top of the Line Talent Bookings (http://www.facebook.com/TopOfTheLineTalentBookings) and Dr. Don J. Moore, a chiropractor who is also a professional wrestler himself and just a great human being. If you know Youtube, look up Dickie Rodz vs. Dr. Porter and enjoy!
The show itself for us was very different than most of the fans. We're all sitting up top watching things from a technical standpoint. I haven't been able to watch a match like a fan since 1997 myself, but ROH knows exactly what it's fans want and they consistently deliver a product that just stands out every time one watches it. The crowd misses one big point however that I feel the need to point out, and I hope they do not hate me for what I am about to say.
Everyone gets that Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan) and CM Punk come from ROH and now work for WWE. What upsets me most (and certainly shows my age) is that a lot of the supposed smart fans are wearing WWE Shirts on an ROH iPPV, and the most popular chant of the night is always the Daniel Bryan "Yes, Yes, Yes!" chant! I am sure it doesn't bother the office, but for an older person like myself, they are missing the point that they are actually helping promote the company the purportedly dislike in WWE by wearing those shirts and using those chants at ROH shows! At least the guy with the Cena shirt and spinner belt has the stones to say he's a WWE fan! The most ironic part of the entire situation is this - those same people wearing Daniel Bryan WWE shirts get on this young man for wearing a different WWE shirt. You're all wearing WWE shirts at an ROH show, and to me from where I sit, that is disrespectful to the company! I never said I wansn't going to share my opinion on my blog, and if you are one of those fans, think about it before you jump down my throat. I lived through the original ECW and The Monday Night Wars being 36 now, and on this topic my opinion is based more on the business side of things from a completely economically driven standpoint.
The beauty of professional wrestling is that it is like the United Nations of Life! It doesn't matter where we come from or where we go after, for a few hours even guys like me get to root for the people I like, boo the people I dislike, and I still have no voice from last night because ROH is that company that everyone gets to have fun at! Be sure to support them at http://www.rohwrestling.com
Top of The Line Talent Bookings
