Introduction By @TrueGodImmortal
-Some things just are not meant to happen. This proposed sale of Ring of Honor to WWE is one of them. Now, if you're the biggest WWE fan who really pays no attention to anything else, you MIGHT think this is a good thing. It's not. The idea already is WWE is much bigger than any other company in North America, so what would be use of buying out your closest competition that really isn't that close to you anyways? This is where things get a bit fuzzy. WWE has shown ROH love, in a way, but also raided the talent pool from the company. AJ Styles was doing well in NJPW and ROH before WWE signed him, we all know the history of Kevin Steen, Samoa Joe had just got back to ROH before signing with WWE, and Roderick Strong left ROH to go to WWE. Cedric Alexander left ROH and ended up on the WWE payroll months after.
The thing is, WWE has enough of these former ROH talents on the roster and they don't know what to do with half of them as is. They need to focus on the guys they have on their TV shows now and book them better (Joe, Sami Zayn, Cesaro, Luke Harper come to mind) instead of focusing on buying out a top tier indie company. WWE is rumored to want to buy the tape library and that isn't a bad idea, if only it means they get to buy the rape library from the beginning of ROH until 2015. That would be great to see WWE infuse some ROH content onto the network for a premium package, BUT that's where it should end. That's my opinion. Before I get more in depth to why this is a problem for wrestling, I'll pass this over to Peagle so he can vent off on the topic, but I'll stop back in on the outro.
@Peagle05
The absolute LAST thing the wrestling business needs is WWE sticking its soon to be (I think) HHH length nose in ROH and their business. This isn't even about what I think of WWE quality wise, it's about the wrestlers. Contrary to casual belief, there are other options out there. Chief among them, ROH. It's bad enough that WWE has no idea what to do with its talent with a consistent 5 hours of main roster content a week and now you want to potentially absorb a fairly large indie promotion? For what? Most of those guys will get released and end up taking bookings on solid but lesser local state promotions because ROH would then either be WWE and not at all what they used to be or just straight up cease to exist. Losing a major indie isn't good for the wrestling business and TNA is basically going the way of the New York Knicks: Alienating its star attraction and becoming a far less desirable destination.
Yeah, wrestlers will sign there for the money but when they realize how much of a shitstorm that company is, they'll be miserable and try to find their way out. With WWE being unable to handle an admittedly stacked roster of talent as it stands now, what benefit is there for us as fans to see a promotion like ROH absorbed and then see its wrestlers subsequently relegated to 2 minute matches and comedy gimmicks? Leave it alone WWE. Work with the beasts you have.
Outro By @TrueGodImmortal
-That's the thing about this that confuses me about this whole WWE/ROH deal. What would the purpose be? Is there a reasoning for buying the company that genuinely makes sense for both sides? This benefits WWE because it would eliminate all competition but look at ROH and their side of it. Their roster would suffer greatly due to lack of space. Think of Dalton Castle, Christopher Daniels, Kazarian, Adam Cole, Jay Lethal, The Young Bucks, Jay White, and MANY more of the wrestlers in ROH. Where would they fit in? In NXT? I guess that's just it. Many stars aspire to be in WWE one day, but does that mean it'll work out perfectly?
No, it doesn't. For the WWE, this is a move to just hold their competition from progressing. To eliminate the 2nd biggest company in North America. This is what it means. It isn't some noble move to give these guys a bigger platform, it's just a power move. That's something the WWE loves to pull. Power moves. For Sinclair and ROH, they will never be as big as WWE, but with Bully Ray in the fold, Adam Cole, The Hardys for a brief moment, Jay Lethal, and the possibility of Kenny Omega becoming more active there, ROH is in good shape. A large number of these guys wouldn't even hit the WWE's radar if not for their work in ROH and that's how many have gained their spots. A company like ROH is needed for better or worse in this business because we need balance. Everything can't run through WWE. We don't need that monopoly at all in the professional wrestling business. ROH has dispelled the rumors of selling to WWE so far, but who knows. Stranger things have happened. Let us hope ROH does not sell to them.
-EOTR
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