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I attended the ROH events in Lakeland yesterday and am offering the following thoughts.
ROH Fanfest:
ROH maintained a modest merchandise stand and another DVD table. They seemed to move a lot of merch, even selling a fair amount of $35 Bullet Club t-shirts.
The lines to buy autograph tickets were insane. Tickets were priced $20 for a singles wrestler and $30 for a tag team and got you either an autograph OR a photo opportunity. Every wrestler but one signed an autograph AND took a picture. There seemed to be a little ambiguity with how this worked.
Most wrestlers were extremely accommodating, and like I said above, just about every wrestler took a picture and gave an autograph. Additionally, about two-thirds offered an autographed 8x10 even when you presented another item for them to sign. One could tell the toll Wrestlemania Weekend was taking on the talent was wearing on them, but they all tried to power through and present a good front for the fans.
The talent was split into two groups; one signing from 2:15-3:15 and the other from 3:30-4:30. The most popular wrestlers in the first group were Dalton Castle and Adam Cole but none of the lines in the first session were too long. The lines for the second session were insane. ROH lined the Hardys, Cody and Young Bucks next to each other, in the concourse of the Jenkins Arena of the Lakeland Center. Actually, for the first 20 minutes or so the lines could be more accurately described as mobs. ROH should consider spreading out the top talent for future fanfests, or at least trying to find a more appropriately shaped room. Eventually lines for all three were formed going down the concourse.
The Hardys and Young Bucks signed for everyone who had purchased a ticket. This meant the Hardys were there until around 5:10 and the Bucks were there beyond 5:30. Both teams were extremely accommodating, with the Bucks performing a myriad of poses for fans requesting them. These four men are all pros and gave the fans what they wanted.
I was unable to see the Women of Honor matches because I was getting autographs and food.
ROH Supercard of Honor 11:
The live show started with the matches that would air during the IPPV while the live show was at intermission. These were the Motor City Machineguns vs. Cheeseburger & Will Ferrara vs. Shane Taylor & Rhett Titus of the Rebellion, and Frankie Kazarian vs. Punishment Martinez. Both matches were solid and the live crowd was all over Martinez for his resemblance to Shinsuke Nakamura.
There are already reports on the IPPV so I will try to hit a few highlights from the live crowd. The opener of Adam Cole vs. Marty Scurll was fantastic, but Cole was treated unfairly over missing a reserve tombstone and then a double tombstone. Both guys were over huge.
The crowd seemed pretty evenly split throughout the night, but especially during the 6-man tag and the Bullrope Match. Great work in both matches.
The Will Ospreay & Volador Jr. vs. Dragon Lee & Jay White match was a wicked awesome spotfest but there seemed to be some communications issues that affected the flow of the match. Some of the moves they pulled off were sick.
The ROH title match never seemed to get into a good flow. The roll-up pin seemed to have come from out of nowhere but I don't think many people seemed to mind.
The main event ladder match between the Hardys and Young Bucks did not disappoint. There were dueling chants of "delete" and "too sweet" throughout the match. These men brutalized themselves to put on a great show. Go out of your way to watch this. No one went home disappointed.
One final note: Bully Ray signed autographs and posed for photos at intermission.
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