Caprice Coleman Discusses the Growth of ROH, Training Under Matt and Jeff Hardy, and ROH Potentially Getting a Basic Cable Show

– The Wrestling Epicenter’s Interactive Wrestling Radio recently interviewed ROH commentator Caprice Coleman. Below are some highlights.

Caprice Coleman on being trained by Matt and Jeff Hardy in OMEGA: “I think the main thing I took away from them was never forget who you are and never forget the people that you helped. That is one thing they’ve never done. I can call them … As a matter of fact, Matt called me a couple of weeks ago because my son and him celebrate the same birthday. He called me just like that and that’s the type of person he is. Same thing with Jeff. They never forget where they’ve come from. They never forget the people they’ve helped out and they continue to be that way. So, no matter how high I think I get, I never forget to show love for the people who are trying to get there and the people who helped me out along the way. I think that, being easy to work with, will help you out because there’s a humbling part that knows that it can be taken away just like that.”

His thoughts on the growth of ROH: “I’m almost rendered speechless. I’ve known of Ring of Honor for years. I think my first time with Ring of Honor was in 2006! They’ve always been that company you want to work for. I remember I was working for Wildside and I got the phone call from Ring of Honor, I felt like it was just as big of a phone call as WWE. I would do WWE spots, TNA spots, and Ring of Honor spots. To me, they were equally exciting. I could tell Ring of Honor was smaller than those other two companies. But, I always saw the potential in it because the guy I was performing with was on another level.

“Even then, I saw the differences. WWE is like 75% entertainment and 25% wrestling, TNA, at that time, was maybe 50% wrestling, 50% entertainment. But, Ring of Honor was 75% wrestling and 25% entertainment. That’s what turned me on to that. [ROH] has always been a big deal to me and to see it grow from crowds of 200, 300 people to crowds of 6,000 people like we had when we were down in Louisiana. It makes no sense – It makes sense but it almost makes no sense to see it grow and to know we have bigger things ahead in April at Madison Square Garden, it is a blessing to be along for the ride.”

Caprice Coleman’s thoughts on The Elite leaving ROH/NJPW and indy scene: “If we had this conversation a year ago, the conversation would have been about Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly … Kevin Steen at one time. All these guys and yet we still continue to roll. We always look at a brand and say ‘The core of the brand is this’ or ‘The core of the brand is that’ and the core of the brand always seems to be picked up or goes sooner or later, and it still isn’t clear that they’ll (The Elite) go but just to answer your question, there are so many other guys here and also talent all around the world eager to come and be impactful. Ring of Honor is not the Bullet Club and the Bullet Club is not Ring of Honor. Ring of Honor is a brand that finds the best talent and makes the best out of it.”

Caprice Coleman on ROH potentially getting a basic cable show rather than syndicated TV: “I believe anything and everything is possible. I look at Sinclair and when I signed with Ring of Honor 6 years ago, they told me, ‘Hey, we’ve got some new owners here. It is going to be a slow ride but it is going to be a great ride.’ They’ve done nothing but that. Sometimes you get a company, they throw them out there to the wolves and it is too much, too soon. I believe we are ready for a TV time slot for two hours. We’re just waiting for that opportunity. Who is to say it is not in the works?”