A.J. Styles - Poised To Take ROH To The Number Two Spot In Pro Wrestling!

I have been a wrestling fan for a little over 30 years. I discovered the sport one Sunday morning while on punishment. In 1983 punishment for me meant no going outside to play with my friends. So I sat in front of the black & white TV in our kitchen and began to turn the channel knob. Growing up in Baltimore, Maryland our local TV stations showed pro wrestling from NWA, WWF, AWA and WCCW regularly. I was initially impressed with the National Wrestling Alliance. It felt gritty, dirt-under-your-fingernails raw. That Sunday morning I became engulfed in the drama and athleticism that is pro wrestling.

The NWA had a sense of realness that did not exist in the showbiz driven WWF (WWE) The arenas that WWF ran their shows in were larger and better lit, but in the world of 'fake fight' it felt very phony. I watched all the wrestling I could get my hands on, including WWF. We obviously know that Vince McMahon and company won the wrestling war: with TNA Impact Wrestling in a very distant second place and Ring of Honor (ROH) in an even more distant 3rd place. I wont rant today on TNA but I do want to talk about ROH.

When Sinclair Broadcasting purchased ROH in 2011, I was very excited about the growth potential of the company. I tuned in regularly to their TV product and even caught a few live shows. Visually, ROH has many of the elements that made the 1980's NWA appealing to me as a child. There are some major differences however. On one hand, the intimate-independent nature of the ROH product gives it that hometown, grassroots feel. On the other hand, the lighting and production issues they have faced (things that the NWA dealt with too) have dulled the ROH shine to me.

In my peripheral vision, I payed attention to ROH news, but for the most part I checked out - that is until the re-signing of AJ Styles in late 2013. AJ Styles is an alumni of Ring of Honor, having wrestled there from 2002-2004. He is coming off of a nearly 12 year 'phenomenal' run with TNA Impact Wrestling. Though I was not a fan of the last few story lines he has been involved in - his talent cannot be denied. He is one of the best they had.

 I heard AJ Styles say in a recent interview with PWTorch editor Wade Keller, that his January 4th match with Roderick Strong would be televised February 1st. In the preceding weeks, I started to catch up on ROH story lines and news. Without the signing of AJ, this would not have happened. I saw the match, and aside form the very stiff his 'Styles Clash' finisher; I loved the match. AJ is the type of wrestler that you can build a company around. This is what has always hurt his TNA run. When they did attempt to build with him, he was hampered by bad gimmicks (anyone remember Fortune) It is 2014 and AJ is 36 years old, he may be under 6ft tall - but the 'Phenomenal One' is more than capable of helping Ring of Honor get to the number two spot. Now all we need to do is get ROH some better lighting!


Find out more about Ring of Honor Wrestling
http://www.rohwrestling.com/