Matt Taven is one of the most established veterans on the Ring of Honor roster, as he made his debut for the company in 2009. Throughout his run with ROH, he has personally seen it reach new heights and endure challenging rebuilding periods.
In an interview with Liam Alexander-Stewart of Inside The Ropes, Taven looked back on how, though much has changed since his first match with the company, ROH is still driven by its wrestlers’ desire to prove that this company truly offers the best wrestling in the world.
“…It’s that that that attitude, that confidence of everyone in the locker room that really think like no, we are the best wrestling like don’t give a crap what anyone says,” said Taven. “I could care less if there’s two people out there or 200,000, I’m gonna go out there and kind of show everyone why I think I’m the best wrestler in that like, friendly competition between the locker room and you’re like, Ring of Honor calls himself the best wrestling on the planet.
“And that’s such a people could just kind of sniff at it says like, Oh, that’s a cliche, like, marketing ploy. And like, no, that’s really the feeling that all those guys have have, like, No, we are the best.”
Taven noted how, perhaps more than ever, ROH is viewed as an underdog among other major promotions in the wrestling world, a mindset that might fuel a sense of defiance among the roster.
“Maybe even now more than ever, there’s still that there’s that underdog feeling of like, try to doubt us and watch, watch what we go out there and do and like will will step up to, you know, any challenge that’s put in front of us,” said Taven.
While ROH might not have the same budget as WWE or AEW, it has grown a lot under the ownership of Sinclair Broadcast Group. Taven pointed to how ROH’s on-screen presentation has evolved over the years and described how this enhanced production has been beneficial during the pandemic era. He stated that the combination of Sinclair Broadcasting Group’s backing and ROH’s “gritty” identity produces the best of both worlds.
“And it’s just like, now even at a time during the pandemic, when we’re not allowed to have a single fan in the building, you look around at just the production, they had the giant screens around the ring, the pomp and circumstances that is brought with Sinclair broadcasting is just like, it to me it’s the best of both worlds, it has still that gritty indie feeling from the guys that want to prove something, but at the same time has a great production,” said Taven. “You know, [it’s a] major corporation backdrop and then being able to kind of put the promotion and production behind this product that has really always been a ground roots like us against the world mentality.
“So though the combo of the two, I think that’s why I’m most excited to get back on the road because that I really right now see kind of like the merger of those two ideals kind of come into fruition with Ring of Honor.”
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