Booking with Bitterness……or Better Business?

I’m not going to lie.  I’ve been a person who has eaten the pill of bitterness.  No one likes to be done the wrong way.  It’s a crappy feeling.  But, for those of us who can let it go, I applaud you.  For those who can’t, like me at times, will we ever heal?  I think the key reason we don’t is because we can’t believe it happened to us.  That girl who was seeing someone on the side while seeing you.  That company you helped build that kicked you out the door.   There’s always something that makes you just a little sour on life.  Well, it has been said that if life gives you lemons, make lemonade.  Of course, good lemonade isn’t too sour or sweet, but just right.  However, sometimes, when you get this particular lemon that’s extra sour, you don’t add more sugar.  Sometimes, you allow the juice to squirt in your eye….or in your wound.

I just read a status update from the former Ring of Honor booker, Gabe Sapolsky, claiming that Ring of Honor (ROH) is a horrible company for not giving the fans the courtesy of a good pay-per-view stream of a decent quality.  I find this to be funny for a lot of reasons, especially with the timing.  You see, ROH just finished giving its fans, not one or two, but three straight internet pay-per-views with abysmal quality.  Now, this is not the same ROH from 2009 that started using IPPVs as a means to do business.  This time, they are owned by Sinclair Broadcasting Group.  They have money to burn, no doubt.  So, taking the cheap route is not exactly the best move to make.   Ring of Honor is, without question, the #3 organization in the United States.  Although booked and run like an independent federation, it is not an independent fed by nature any longer.  Any and all independent organizations are run out of the pocket, like a “mom and pops” business.  No corporations, organizations, etc. have any ownership of the company.  Technically, you aren’t independent, since, you know; you’re depending on someone or can be seen as a dependent.  So, with this type of backing, you’d think ROH would go out of their way to make their next IPPV better qualitatively, among other things.  They didn’t, and it’s showing, heavily. 

For the third straight time, an ROH IPPV has had technical issues.  Now, although this might have been excused in the past for the company, it is inexcusable now, only due to the fact that the company has the money and wherewithal to make the adjustments needed to improve their programs.  I mean, they are owned by a production company, if that hasn’t been made clear before.  There’s no reason why they don’t have the resources, let alone the equipment to make this right.  And what happens?  They stick with Go Fight Live for the internet PPV service, after years of slip-ups with them, and lo and behold, the IPPV, “Showdown in the Sun” which took place during the Friday and Saturday before WrestleMania 28, in the same state of WrestleMania 28, was a complete disaster.  Entire feeds were lost for extended amounts of time.  Various matches went unseen.  When replays were offered the same day or the day after, the feeds were also faulty.  To make matters worse, the Saturday show had the misfortune of losing power in the building itself as well as the feed.  More matches were unseen and more feeds were lost.  This led ROH to replay the matches in their entirety for free on their YouTube Channel.  However, the damage had already been done.  To compensate this, Ring of Honor had put together numerous contingencies, including severing ties with GoFightLive.tv as their internet pay-per-view provider.  However, once this was done, and the upcoming Border Wars event was mentioned, it was stated that it would be live on IPPV.   The problem: there weren’t many, if not any, viable sources for IPPV that ROH could use.  So, the decision was made:  the show would be streamed exclusively from the ROH website.  A move that they some say should have happened sooner than later, and a move with consequences.

On the day of the event, at the very start of the live feed, something close to 90% of the ROH fans who were logged on to the site were kicked off instantly.  It was then a mad scramble on both ends to log in and catch the first match, and answer a ton of requests to log in from administrators.  This met with severe backlash, as various fans could not report, let alone enjoy the show as they were trying endlessly to log in to ROH’s website, with no luck. This chaos was then followed with more feed issues, as various matches after this were cut out, including parts of the tag team and world title matches.  After this, ROH went on record to state they were sorry for all the chaos and even went through the process of raising the storage capacity of their servers to allow for a live feed.  Unfortunately, they did not factor in the random issues the ROH website has had ever since its upgrade.  Also, there is a rule on the site that kicks off members if they are inactive on the site while online.  The problem is their inactivity in this case could be attributed to their waiting for the live ppv as there is not much else to do on that site, save for order merchandise.  That said, ROH was more than willing to offer refunds to those who demanded it (I’m sure they have either heard the reviews or seen the comments asking about such from their previous IPPV) and offered a free stream to those who wanted it for the next IPPV, Best in the World, on June 24^th, live from the Hammerstein Ballroom. 

So, where does Gabe Sapolsky fit in all this?  Again, it’s funny due to the timing, the wording, and the person it’s coming from.  Here’s the exact quote, verbatim, from Gabe’s fingertips:

"When the ownership and management of a company doesn't care or have enough respect for its employees and more importantly paying customers to spend enough money to have adequate equipment they can f-ck off. When a company decides to go on the cheap and take a risk that something like a website will work instead of doing everything in their power to guarantee it will work they can f-ck off. If the ownership and management doesn't care or respect it's (sic) fans enough to do this they don't deserve your support."

He then went on to post this quote:

"It's too late to delete that other thread cause everything is out there, but to the people making all the negative comments do you realize I'm just saying we respect and appreciate your business and you deserve the best for your money? Yes, there are bumps in the road due to things out of control, but we never cut corners on things we can control and we always work our hardest to give you the best quality. I'm trying to serve you the best we can and I'm saying you should get nothing less. I take offense when you do."

These quotes came out after the two EVOLVE shows Gabe held in or near North Carolina, with the second show that just so happened to coincide with Border Wars.  And, wouldn’t you know it; it was on IPPV, but not through a company like GoFightLive. 

Upon seeing the deals dealt, Gabe decided it would be cheaper and more affable to run their IPPVs in-house through the World Wrestling Network, the DVD distribution company that not only was responsible for ROH’s DVD collection from 2002 to about around the time of Gabe’s departure, but is also responsible for the Dragon Gate USA shows that occur.  To say that the quality of ROH’s DVDs hasn’t suffered since WWN’s departure is an understatement.  WWN had access to the endless video equipment ROH used for recording, as purchased by Rob Feinstein, as well as a solid team to help them.  Meanwhile, ROH had the video-making expertise of WWN and its partners, making their DVDs a much better sell in most ways.   As soon as the agreement fell by the wayside, the in-house crew at ROH just couldn’t get it together, as their DVDs look to be very low on production value, as well as presentation.  As for WWN, they would continue to maintain the same quality with their DVDs, and they would open their IPPV website, WWNLive.com to stream PPVs and other events that were not on PPV initially.  They would allow all viewers to stream these events as many times as possible and their prices were also affordable, even to the point where it would be a steal.  And yet, I can’t help but wonder why, of all people, Gabe Sapolsky would sound off about this, and when he would he sound off about this, knowing his history with ROH.

To compare and contrast, both EVOLVE and ROH had rather solid shows pertaining to quality, according to reviews, with the main draws of both being a match for their respective titles.  While Johnny Gargano of EVOLVE would defend his DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate title (EVOLVE is now an offshoot company of Dragon Gate USA instead of a separate entity) against the winner of a 4 way match earlier, pitting some of the best up-and-comers against each other.  In the end, Gargano fought against new sensation, A.R. Fox, and won, putting on another solid match in EVOLVE’s history.  ROH’s title match pit “wrestling’s worst nightmare”, Kevin Steen versus the “American Wolf” Davey Richards.  This would be Steen’s first and only title shot and his banned finisher, the package pile driver, was allowed for the match.  This was all done so if Kevin Steen lost, there would be no excuses.  Also, this was done to protect the ROH title from Kevin Steen’s control with the possibility of a rematch and victory.  The biggest difference between these two main events was how the matches were built up.  If that is factored in, EVOLVE couldn’t compare in any way to ROH.  Steen’s tirade and rampage all through ROH from show to show and from episode to episode has been documented ever since he lost his job as a stipulation in December of 2010 after losing to El Generico.  When he was given a chance to appear in ROH last June, he took it upon himself to publicly and obscenely insult the company on live PPV and was escorted out of the building.  Since then, he has appeared on camera causing all kinds of chaos, much to the delight of fans.  Fans were respectful to Steen’s wrestling acumen as well as his compelling and rebellious character, who for the most part, echoed the sentiments of ROH fans who didn’t like the changes that occurred.  Steen got his wish to rejoin the company after defeating Steve Corino to win his job back one year after he lost his job.  The clock was then ticking as to when Steen would be world champion, something he desired most in an attempt to hold ROH hostage and change it to his will.  He would continue to antagonize Davey Richards in an attempt to get a title match with him.  Well, the match was signed, and Steen is the new world champion of ROH.  Did it take an intermittent amount of time to let this match happen?  Most likely, but it’s better late than never.  Regardless, it makes for a more telling and compelling story.  In fact, it was one of the more interesting stories to come out of ROH in recent memory.

Gabe’s opinion, as poignant as it is, could not have seemed more venomous.  I’m not defending ROH in any way here.  Their production value and presentation has taken a severe dip and hasn’t looked better in any way, shape, or form.  It feels a lot like they aren’t even trying to improve it.  They would rather cut corners and save money.  Money, in this case, is not a factor, since they have a rather lucrative company, as it would seem.  So, why not shell out a few extra dollars to improve in certain areas.  Heck, you could stand to shell out that much money to hire more talent as well.  But again, it seems like ROH is in that phase of bleeding money, instead of making it.  All that, plus the booking philosophy doesn’t jibe well with most of ROH’s fans.  Now, that can be attributed to their entitled, spoiled, and at times, biased nature.  However, there are even seemingly ROH fans that don’t have those aforementioned qualities that find fault with the way business is being done.  I am one of them.   But, as a fan and a consumer, I can afford to complain, since well, it’s my money I’m risking here.  Gabe isn’t even working for the company, let alone buying their product, nor should he after being unceremoniously shown the door from the organization he helped start.  However, he stated these comments either out of wanting to see his former company to succeed on what brought them to the dance and a little professionalism or out of bitter spite.   From what I’ve seen and heard, it seems like the latter is playing out to be true.

Gabe has to understand that it’s not his company anymore.  If anything, he may have to understand that it wasn’t really his company to begin with.  Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been shown the door with no fuss.  He was just a booker, not an owner or a shareholder.  Had he been one, it would be a much different landscape, to say the least.  But, that’s not the case, and he now runs EVOLVE and Dragon Gate U.S.A.  If he continues to give ROH any undue attention, let alone vitriol in his comments, it will make him seem, look, and respond in a growing negative light.  To some, if not most, it would make him seem bitter. 

Why would you choose to add your two cents after your shows that may or may not have been excellent shows?  You have your own shows to concern yourself with, and the sales they do, and the buy rates they may or may not accrue.  If your shows did great and you are going to your old job and throwing stones, it makes you seem petty.  Unless, of course, there was an ulterior motive, which would most obviously be to score some ROH fans to watch your product and support your companies.  That, in all essences, is not only a common move by businessmen in or out of wrestling, but it’s a very dangerous move to make, as it exposes you for your true feelings, as well as your shortcomings.  I mean, to use profanity towards your old company is not professional.  It’s spiteful.

Also, how can you try and cover up the spite and bitterness?  No one wants to be kicked out of the place they helped build when it comes to business.  No one wants to be shown the door by people who really don’t know what are doing in certain instances.  But that’s the nature of the beast.  It happens all the time.  Now, you have a new endeavor in life and a new beginning.  You have not one, but two organizations to control (albeit one is less important than the other).  Why should you care if your old company is cheating its fans?  Why not worry about how to make your fans happy?  And, it’s not like they don’t have anything to be unhappy with, when it comes to your affairs.  For starters, when WWNLive was created, it was done almost in an effort to compete with ROH and its IPPV providers.  They decided to do it in-house in order to get the bulk of the residual fees.  But, many a time had come where complaints were had over the times the shows lost it video streams, had its audio out of synch, and generally looked abysmal.  Or, how about having no choice but to use the DVD version of the stream to make up for the damaged replays?  Truth be told, shouldn’t you have used that stream in the first place?  You probably don't want to do that since you want your DVD footage to be crisp.  And while on the subject of DVDs, how come it’s always more pertinent nowadays to push the need to watch the events on IPPV than it is to, say, release the DVD on time?  Is it money?  Is it a need to match the buy rates of your competitors? Is it because your video crew is only 2 people, as opposed to a team of people? Whatever the case may be, it shouldn’t take as much as, say, half a year for a DVD to be released.  I went to see Freedom Fight 2011, the final show of DGUSA in November 2011.  The DVD won’t be released until May 18, 2012.  And, that’s not guaranteed, as many a time, DVDs haven’t shipped on time.  Some were delayed heavily.  Now, why would this be the case?

They say the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.  If that’s the case, then don’t take it upon yourself to urinate on the other person’s lawn.  It shows that you aren’t content.  It shows that you are still very spiteful.  That’s not a trait of professionalism.  Let the fans decide how bad the product has gotten.  Let the reviewers do that as well, if anything.  Don’t throw your two cents in.  You’ll risk having it land in their fountain, and having their wishes come true of great success, when you can use that extra two cents of yours to put towards expenditures that can help you.  They have already done you damage by removing you.  They’ve even taken some of your potential stars away.  You’ve already hurt them by proving that your shows on WrestleMania weekend were of good, if not better quality, and that your matches had more meaning to them, if not better direction.  Throw in the affordable price, and you have gold.  Don’t you think that’s a better way to show your professionalism?  Instead of throwing stones in a glass house, convert your house to a brick one and strengthen your foundation.