After another notable technical failure from Ring of Honor at Best in the World this past Saturday, it appears ROH have finally realised that yeah, they really suck at putting on iPPVs.
To our fans,
This past weekend at "Best in the World" in Baltimore, MD , Ring of Honor proved once again from top to bottom why our talent is truly the best in wrestling today. Unfortunately, there were some issues with the live iPPV stream that wound up distracting from the energy and action in ring. For this, we sincerely apologize to all fans that encountered problems.
Because of how much we value the support of our fans, and understand the imperfections of the live streaming technology, "Best in the World" will be the last iPPV stream that we will be broadcasting live. All future main event shows will now be offered as a Video On Demand, which will allow Ring of Honor to present a flawless show and truly depict the excellence of our product.
From now on, fans can watch ROH Wrestling on TV, VOD, or DVD, however there is still nothing like seeing Ring of Honor in person. We thank you for your continued support and are excited to be moving forward.
- Ring of Honor Wrestling
It was an announcement that certainly came out of nowhere. After so many bad iPPVs from a technical standpoint I, as well as a lot of other people I'm sure, figured that this announcement would be like all their other. They would first state that they ARE THE BEST PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING COMPANY WHO PUTS ON THE BEST PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING MATCHES FROM TOP TO BOTTOM IN THE ENTIRE WORLD, and then finally address the technical problems.
Instead, it seems that ROH have thrown in the towel when it comes to broadcasting PPVs. And while many people may think this is the step backwards, I think stepping back is the right choice for ROH.
Let's face it, since leaving Go Fight Live last year, nearly every bit of publicity from Ring of Honor's PPVs have been bad publicity. There were some clean runs here and there, but more often than not headlines would be addressing both results and technical problems together.
It's also fair to say that a lot of this bad publicity came from ROH themselves in regards to how they handled each situation. When 2012's WrestleMania Weekend shows Showdown in the Sun encountered problems galore, it was ROH who used them as a scapegoat and put all the blame on them.
After that show ROH took their product in house and produced their own PPVs, leaving them with no one to blame but themselves if something went wrong. A lot went wrong of course, and ROH, who must have the worst PR team in the world, decided to address their WORLD CLASS PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING PRODUCT first, and their iPPV issues second. They addressed this issues in the worst possible manner though. They would blame the new technology, the dirt sheets, or even just ignore the situation all together. It was almost a mind boggling scenario as ROH's complete and utter unprofessionalism shone through after every problem they encountered. With the iPPVs now gone, maybe now their weaknesses on the PR side of things won't be highlighted.
Apart from that though, it benefits them on how they present their product in the future. With ROH's new VOD service, fans can now watch their latest shows just a week after being put on. It enables fans to keep up to date with ROH a bit easier, and also to watch the shows without any fear that the stream will stop for them.
It also enables ROH to bring some unpredictability back to their house shows. Over the past two years or so house shows have lacked the spark that they once had. Without depending on all their big stuff happening on iPPVs, ROH have the chance to throw in some shockers here or there, and hope that sales will boost because of that.
It may leave their TV show with even less direction because of this news, but that all depends on how they deal with the situation going forward. ROH can put on high profile shows whenever they need, and not have to worry about putting all their eggs in one basket when it comes to drawing big numbers.
It's a chance fort Ring of Honor to go back to basics.
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