Kevin Sullivan Says Fans Think That Ring Of Honor Is Uncool
“Let me tell you about their talent,” Sullivan said of ROH. “I’ve seen them all in my 40 years. Jay Lethal and Jay Briscoe matches are just as good as Funk and Brisco, Flair and Steamboat. These guys are just superb. They’ve got some great young talent. Dalton Castle? He’s a special talent. They get Cody [Rhodes] there. He’s a special talent and an influx of New Japan guys.”
Sullivan praised ROH talent but voiced displeasure how the company is owned by Sinclair Broadcasting. The media empire operates 173 stations throughout 80 markets in the United States and there is little continuity concerning the time ROH airs in each market.
“There’s no, ‘at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, watch Ring of Honor!'” Sullivan explained, “It is all spread out!”
He also said ROH has no idea what the ratings are for the show either because they’re not allowed to see the numbers. This causes a lot of other issues concerning how to book a show because ratings are often a helpful tool in determining what is getting over.
“So, if you and I shoot an angle on segment 2, I can’t tell you if that angle got over or not. These people are booking with their hands tied and blindfolded. How can you progress not knowing if you’re succeeding or not?” Kevin Sullivan continued, “the main thing with Sinclair is politics. Wrestling is not a fly on an elephant’s ass – It is a nat on the fly on the elephant’s ass! I don’t know how you can expect these guys doing the writing to know if they are succeeding or not. That tells me they, Sinclair, really don’t care. They just need to fill an hour segment or a 2-hour segment.”
This year’s Supercard Of Honor broke ROH attendance numbers with 6,000, but Sullivan wasn’t impressed. He continued saying how ROH only drew the numbers they did because WrestleMania was in town.
“What are they going to do if they’re wrestling fans? Of course, you’re going to go to the show! They haven’t drawn! Are you kidding me? What else would a wrestling fan do?”
All In is getting a lot of attention as they sold out the Sears Center in less than thirty minutes, but ROH couldn’t do the same in Chicago. Sullivan then suggested ROH might be losing their cool factor with the audience while using the success of All In as proof.
“I’ll give you why and I think this is the definite proof. Last Saturday, Ring of Honor was in Chicago with Cody and all of the boys, right? They drew 1,600 people. On Sunday, All In drew 11,000 people in 29 minutes and 31 seconds. What is wrong with this picture? People look at Ring of Honor and think it is uncool.”
Fans only knew who would be performing at All In and little else. The only match scheduled for All In was Nick Aldis defending the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Cody Rhodes, but Sullivan explained that was all it took.
(Pro Wrestling & MMA World)
