Kevin Sullivan Says Ring of Honor is ‘Uncool’ For Fans, Takes Issue With How ROH is Run

– Kevin Sullivan discussed his issues with Ring of Honor during his semi-recent appearance on Interactive Wrestling Radio. Highlights are below:

On Ring of Honor’s in-ring performers: “Let me tell you about their talent. I’ve seen them all in my 40 years. Jay Lethal and Jay Briscoe matches are just as good as Funk and Brisco, Flair and Steamboat. These guys are just superb. They’ve got some great young talent. Dalton Castle? He’s a special talent. They get Cody there. He’s a special talent and an influx of New Japan guys.”

On his issues with the way ROH is run: “There’s no, ‘at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, watch Ring of Honor!’ It is all spread out. Now, here’s the kicker. Do you realize those guys booking for ROH have no idea what the ratings are? So, if you and I shoot an angle on segment two, I can’t tell you if that angle got over or not [via the ratings]. These people are booking with their hands tied and blindfolded. How can you progress not knowing if you’re succeeding or not?” Kevin Sullivan continued, “the main thing with Sinclair is politics. Wrestling is not a fly on an elephant’s ass – It is a nat on the fly on the elephant’s ass! I don’t know how you can expect these guys doing the writing to know if they are succeeding or not. That tells me they, Sinclair, really don’t care. They just need to fill an hour segment or a 2-hour segment.”

On ROH drawing their biggest house for Supercard of Honor: “You can’t say, “They drew 6,000 people!” 100,000 people came in for their vacations from Japan, Australia, Ireland [for WrestleMania]…What are they going to do if they’re wrestling fans? Of course you’re going to go to the show! They haven’t drawn! Are you kidding me? What else would a wrestling fan do?”

On All In versus ROH’s numbers in the same market: “I’ll give you why and I think this is the definite proof. Last Saturday, Ring of Honor was in Chicago wih Cody and all of the boys, right? They drew 1,600 people. On Sunday, All In drew 11,000 people in 29 minutes and 31 seconds [in advance ticket sales]. What is wrong with this picture? People look at Ring of Honor and think it is uncool.”