Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter
According to sources, Ring of Honor is in the middle of a major week as they are holding their traditional ROH/NJPW tour. The tour is selling very well as the War of the World pay-per-view event drew a sellout of 1,500 fans, The following night’s live event in Dearborn, MI drew 1,000 fans and the TV tapings in Toronto drew 1,700 fans. Saturday night’s live event in New York City is currently sold out with 1,100 fans. Also, merchandise sales in the new markets are said to be “very, very good.”
With that being said, there are several internal issues being questioned with some questioning how much ROH is relying on NJPW to draw. Of course, the relationship with NJPW has helped raise the profile of Ring of Honor and has also dramatically helped with ticket sales, but now there is a feeling that with the NJPW talents being used so often, the appearances are feeling not as special.
There is also concern that ROH booking is being controlled too much by New Japan Pro Wrestling. There is give and take, but New Japan owns and controls The Bullet Club, which are now positioned as the top act in ROH. New Japan’s booking philosophy relies on the importance of wins and losses. Where the top guys only lose when it’s necessary for storytelling. This means that a lot of top guys will not be losing in ROH when they are brought in for these ROH shows.
It was New Japan’s decision to have Adam Cole and Adam Page join The Bullet Club. Gedo pushed for Adam Page to be added to Bullet Club, and is said to be very high on him. The Young Bucks pushed for Adam Cole to be added to the unit. Cole is under an ROH contract through April of 2017. Both will start working Japan regularly as part of Bullet Club this summer.
