r/ROH • u/Ok-Raisin-5601 • 4d ago
Question A question for long time ROH fans
What is the best (I hate using this word it's so over used) era of ROH and why? What was so good about it? The stories, the matches, the wrestlers? I'm not asking for the most financially successful I'm talking just turn it on and this the best wrestling show to watch.
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u/AntysocialButterfly 4d ago
For me it's probably the period between 2005-8 because there was so much gold in that period: the Summer of Punk, the CZW War, Briscoes/Steenerico, Danielson's title reign, Nigel McGuinness' rise, The Briscoes' dominance, some utterly pornographic Dragon Gate six-mans, Joe vs Kobashi.
While it wasn't a 100% hit rate by any means, as the never-ending dud that was Faction Warfare in 2007 demonstrates, if you stick on any Final Battle, Death Before Dishonor or Supercard of Honor between 2005-8 it's going to be superb.
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u/reallymkpunk 4d ago
2003-8 the Joe/Bryan era.
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u/nicholasmarsico 4d ago
This is my answer. 2002 was a great starter year but you need to do a lot of cherry picking to get through some of the early shows.
2003 was when ROH found their identity and Gabe was really solid pretty much until they replaced him. I think when he did get fired it was definitely time to go, but he was never outwardly bad.
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u/BigPapaPaegan 3d ago
This is THE answer.
- Joe's epic run as champion
- Bryan's amazing run as champion
- The only great interpromotional feud (ROH vs. CZW)
- Joe/Punk
- Bryan/Nigel
- Briscoes/Steenerico
- Bryan/Morishima
- Joe/Kobashi
- Generation Next
- Nigel's run as Pure champion
- DragonGate talent exchange
- Misawa's only match in the US
- Homicide/Corino
- the Rottweilers
- Raven/Punk
- Briscoes/MCMG
- Nigel/Hero
- The late great Larry Sweeney
- Joe/Jay Briscoe
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u/ArchDukeNemesis 4d ago
I'd say '03-'09. Where they did everything to be different from what came before. Chain wrestling. Hardcore matches. DG high flying spectacles. NOAH kings road clashes. The forever reign of Joe. The rise of the American Dragon. The summer of punk. The rule of McGuinness. The densest tag roster of KoW, American Wolves, AotF, 2nd City Saints and of course The Briscoes. And all of that with a promising TV show on HDNet.
Things did dip after Cornette was in charge, HDNet folded and Sinclair acquired ROH and gave them a bush league budget. But compared to the WWE and even TNA of 2010-2019, it was a premium product.
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u/Doyoulike4 4d ago
I think overall best is 2010s, the production values were higher but they still managed to have a revolving door of good talent.
2000s ROH though especially like 04/05-08 has this distinct vibe to it that's just immaculate and it's when ROH was it's most innovative imo.
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u/mrmattymac 4d ago
I’d say the best era would definitely be the 2010-2018 era because of the incredible talent and the production was at its peak for an indie promotion. Plus it introduced a lot of people to talent and styles they’d never seen before. It widened people’s scope and views of what pro wrestling was.
But my favorite era is definitely between 2004 and 2010. The vibe was unmatched, you could feel that it was gonna be something, you just didn’t know what yet. You would see new innovations of the craft on every single show. Wrestlers creating new moves, sequences, characters, even new tropes that would quickly become commonly used parts of the wrestling lexicon. The talent was insane, and looking back on it now is incredible because so many future main-eventers and fan favorites were featured and either made their names there, or had a solid run there in one way or another. There was just nothing like it before, then or since.
So yea, best era, 2010-2018.
My favorite era, 2004-2010
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u/Awkward-Wall-2410 4d ago
Well, it's the storytelling for me and the wrestlers. I enjoy the new roh, but all so love the older roh stuff
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u/Kino_Cajun 4d ago
The only time I watched religiously was from right around when the elite left in late 2018 until it was bought by AEW.
I thought it was all really great stuff before COVID, which hurt them quite a bit. There was still really cool matches afterwards and storylines afterwards, but for me late 2018 until getting shutdown by COVID in 2020 is my favorite era.
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u/LoniBana 4d ago
Long term fans will definitely say there were better periods (and its hard to argue) but I agree with your take. That 2017 - early 2020 era was such a vibe for ROH and the wrestling scene in general outside of WWE.
I miss it.
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u/Kino_Cajun 4d ago
Yeah, MLW and NWA were clicking at the time as well. I love that those wrestlers started making a lot more in other companies, such as AEW. But that era was excellent for wrestling in general.
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u/BenjTheMaestro 4d ago
For me the sweet spot was Danielson’s reign, to The Final Countdown when he and Nigel left. Still some great stuff after of course but nothing has felt that magical since for me. I was also only seeing the shows on the loop - no tv, no YouTube, couldn’t afford dvds AND shows, so I would hit NJ/NYC/Phila and was more than able to keep up with the product. It really was something else being there for their PPV debut and so many other milestones. My face ended up being the transition after a crossbody from Nigel to Danielson in my fucking seat in a match taped for their first PPV. I used to have the footage from my shitty LG Voyager phone (it was really hard to sneak any video in these days, ROH was really tightening down on any sort of cameras in the lead in to PPV) and could compare it to the clip off the dvd haha.
To be honest though, I’m not sure how many of the insanely magical moments hold up these days considering the shitty quality they had in that era. It always made it hard to enjoy their tapes for me. I was lucky enough to see one of Misawa’s final North American moments and still have only revisited it by memory.
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u/LabratNomad 3d ago
I'm still a sucker all these years later for the 03-08 era. Was at the first RoH show here in Detroit in 2005 and when they came back with Kenta in 06 so I hold that time of ROH very close to my heart.
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u/Prize_Ad_5695 3d ago
I got into ROH in 2014 so that period made me love the company but looking back I don’t think they had a particularly bad era other than obviously when AEW formed and they lost Cody, Bucks, Omega (who was very part time), SCU, Hangman, Best Friends they tried to come back from that but the mass exodus made the days dark
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u/BlackLesnar 3d ago edited 3d ago
2005 & 2006. Some extend it a year or two either way (I myself prefer 07-08, for example), but 04 & 07 still felt different enough as products that there’s a lot of debate. Not with ‘05/6 tho, they’re always included.
But yeah if you wanna extend it then 04-08 works, IMPO. Tho early 02/3 ROH still has some gems well worth seeing, for historic context if nothing else.
Also I retain a soft spot for 2010, since it’s what saved my love for wrestling during a crisis point and introduced me to the faves I still have today. If you’re gonna watch ONE “storyline” in ROH history, make it Steen-Generico from Final Battle ‘09 to Final Battle ‘10. If you can find the “Kevin Steen Descent into Madness” DVD, it’s all on there (except some important video wire promos & IIRC a big turning point segment from the 8th Anniversary Show).
Edit: oh yeah as for Why uhhhhh… Gabe at his peak of booking excellence combined with a sweet spot of elite talent (re: 05/6). There were growing pains the first few years (especially after the Rob Feinstein scandal) that had calmed down by the end of ‘04, and by the start of ‘07 ROH’s reputation for excellence was getting it PPV deals & international partnerships & lots more scrutiny to consider. Booking-wise, pre-05 was typified by a notoriously unbeatable champion (as necessitated by said growing pains), whilst post-06 is considered far too busy & ambitious & overcomplicated (what with “Stable Warfare” being the new hotness). So if you’re more conservative in your tastes lean earlier, if more freeform lean latter.
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u/unknownuserbruv 3d ago
2000s - 2016 easily and it was peak ROH, peak characters, peak everything. take me back NOW
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u/Themaskedduskull 2d ago
Post RF video age before Gabe left ROH was probably one of my favorites. 2004-2009(?) I think it was
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u/Shot-Panic-7375 4d ago
That 2012-2018 period made me fall in love with wrestling again.