A look at the ROH roster through the years

Jay M. Punkster

Indy Moderator

Here's a look at ROH's roster right now. A name may be forgotten or mislabelled here or there but that shouldn't change the main point.

2008

Bryan Danielson, Nigel McGuinness, Jay Briscoe, Roderick Strong, Jimmy Jacobs, Tyler Black, Necro Butcher, Joey Matthews, Austin Aries, Erick Stevens, Delirious, Adam Pearce, Eddie Edwards, Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, Kevin Steen, El Generico, Brent Albright, Jigsaw, Ruckus, Pelle Primeau, Sara Del Ray, Daizee Haze, Lacey, Rhett Titus, Bobby Dempsey, Alex Payne, Mitch Franklin, Shane Hagadorn, Ernie Osiris and Kyle Durden.

Davey Richards, Rocky Romero, Jack Evans and Mark Briscoe are unavailable at the moment. Counting the three regular SHIMMER wrestlers and the students ROH has thirty one wrestlers at their regular disposal. Take out the four students without any sort of program (Osiris, Durden, Franklin, Payne) and the SHIMMER wrestlers and that takes ROH down to 24 regular wrestlers. ROH can occasionally use Naomichi Marufuji and Go Shiozaki while Silas Young, Zach Gowen, Jason Blade, Kenny King, Sal Rinauro and Chasyn Rance are on cards every now and then. Shelley and Sabin are coming in for two shows so they really don't count as regulars. Eddie Kingston's status is anyone's guess.

2007

Compare this to last year around this time when ROH had the 19 of the same regulars (no AOTF and Ruckus yet) on the first list PLUS the "unavailable four" mentioned earlier, Jimmy Rave, Mike Quackenbush, Steen, Generico, Hallowicked, Morishima regularly, Matt Sydal, BJ Whitmer, Matt Cross, occasionally Irish Airborne, Bobby Fish and KENTA, Marufuji and Gran Akuma. That's roughly 30 regulars without the SHIMMER or student wrestlers.

2006

Compare THAT to the previous year (2006) when the list looked like Daniels, Danielson, Joe, Homicide, Cabana, AJ Styles, Jay Lethal, Alex Shelley, Davey Richards, Jay Briscoe, Nigel, Jimmy Yang, Mark Briscoe, Rave, Whitmer, Jacobs, Sydal, Evans, Strong, Aries, Ricky Reyes, Hero, Necro, Claudio, Pearce and Irish Airborne, Ace Steel, Jason Blade and Kid Mikaze every now and then.

What shocked me is that the number of regulars in 2006 was nearly identical to the number of regulars that ROH uses now. Here I was commenting on the thinness of the ROH roster right now when 2006, the supposed peak of the company, had roughly the exact same sized roster - students and SHIMMER wrestlers not included. The one reason 2006 may have appeared larger is due to the name value and former title holders that made up nearly every single spot on the regular male roster.

The entire regular 2006 roster is made up of ROH wrestlers (minus Claudio, Hero, Necro and Davey) who had been in ROH for a minimum of two years for most, three years for some and four years for everyone else. Is there any wonder that period is so fondly remembered? Fans had between two and four years to become emotionally invested in ROH's every day lineup.

This time last year that experience level had dropped and one third of the roster was brand new or less than a year into their ROH careers. Now as we are into June of 2008 roughly a third of the current roster has a year or less on the main roster. The only six year veterans in the company are Bryan Danielson, the returning Matthews and The Briscoes. The only five year veterans is Jacobs. Nigel had one match in 2003 at the Dayton debut but he fits mostly with the other 2004 additions with Strong, Aries, Evans, Delirious and probably others I'm forgetting.

I guess the bottom line and the point of all this is simple. There is a reason people aren't as invested or enamored with some ROH wrestlers or storylines in 2007 and 2008. The roster has turned over in the 50% range since 2006. I've heard someone say that "there is no such thing as progress in art". While I'm not saying ROH is art I am saying that people are stubborn and they mostly prefer what they are familiar with. That familiarity built up and made 2006 a perfect storm of character and storyline payoffs along with adding a few new names and the once in a blue moon promotion vs. promotion feud. It is unrealistic to expect the same kind of attachment to today's ROH. Sports fans get interested in their home team rebuilding every now and then. The excitement is in the unknown, the potential and the possibilities that the potential can reach. We won't have another Milestone Series/Summer of Punk this year. What we will probably get will make the next ROH milestones mean EVERYTHING when we eventually do hit a new high.

Discuss !!

Blitzkrieg

Well, I think you hit the nail on the head. It's all about name value.. and lets not mistake the newer talents for a Daniels, Punk, Joe, or Styles or someone on that level. They aren't proven yet to that extent.

I think as time goes on and these guys show more of what they are capable of, one of two things could happen.. They could bring back the fan's interest and once again appear to be the cutting edge of pro wrestling, or things could get worse.. and with ROH, or any independent, they cannot afford to have many shows or pay their contracted talent when times are rough..

KillSteve

Well, part of it is name value but the general standard of the wrestlers has descreased, atleast in my opinion. Guys like Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, Low Ki, CM Punk, etc are/were all world class competitors and some of the best in the business.

I mean look at the '06 roster:

The only wrestler there I would consider to be below average is Jack Evans, and even then he has his uses and has alot to offer outside of in-ring ability.

Fast forward to the '08 roster:

First of, you listed the student, and they shouldnt be mentioned as they all fail, which would leave you with a slimmer roster. Over the last year or so some wrestlers have really gone downhill and lost their appeal. Jimmy Jacobs hasn't interested me since his fued with BJ. His promos are unbearable and his in-ring work seems to be not as good as it used to be, the whole emo schtick is really lame. The Briscoes have completley forgotten how to sell, it seems as if they work well in matches but they just completely no-sell everything it really damages their matches, a year or so back they didn't seem to suffer from this problem. Not only do you have wrestlers going downhill, but you have alot more bog-standard wrestlers. Whereas in '06 pretty much everyone worked at a high standard, now you have guys like Eddie Edwards, Joey Matthews, Brent Albright, Ruckus and Rocky Romero who are just dead average and whilest not necasarily bad, just not very interesting.


So yeah, whilest I do still enjoy ROH, it doesn't interest me as it used to. The roster is still good, but not on the level that it used to be.

Jay M. Punkster

Indy Moderator

Thanks for discussing guys i agree with both on parts. Yes bigger names get you interested in the product and yes the young new guys need time to develop.

The one thing ROH does have and that is loyal fans, guys that love and will always love the product whoever is on the card if its Samoa Joe, CM Punk and Christopher Daniels or if its Nigel McGuinness, Davey Richards and Bryan Danielson. Maybe in a few years we will be saying how we miss the guys like Richards and McGuinness ?