May 21, 2007 Observer Newsletter: ROH’s first pay-per-view, WWE SmackDown injury updates

ROH had what in many ways could be the most important event in its history, the 5/12 show at the Manhattan Center which was to tape the company’s debut PPV show that airs on 7/1 (which will air on most systems throughout the month of July, with the exception of DirecTV).

The show drew a hot sellout crowd of 1,250 fans, although they did begin to tire by the end, credited to the fact the first hour was so strong it was hard for the second hour to follow. It was drawn with no matches announced as they wanted to present it similar to Raw where angles on the show would lead to matches. The show itself went four hours and will be edited down to a two-hour PPV show, with no editing being done of individual matches. Not all of the matches taped will air on the PPV, but the ones involving angles and build-up are guaranteed to appear. It’s uncharted water when it comes to a promotion with no television, but a genuine niche audience, going on PPV with a high match quality but taped PPV show. The idea is the $9.95 price tag will get people to sample, and they can expand their audience base and draw more at the house shows and sell more DVDs.

Subscribers can read this issue here.