With Sapolsky in charge, every result mattered, and was a piece of the puzzle. There was really no "throw away" matches or shows...every show was important, because selling the DVD's was the #1 revenue stream. Each character had a direction, and there was clear long term booking that would all come together at "Final Battle" at the end of each year.
Adam Pearce has changed everything. 75% of the roster has no direction or storyline. Tons of throw away matches where the result is meaningless, so why should we care? It's like watching midcarders on WWE Superstars. The "house shows" are now just that--house shows with no meaning. Why buy a ticket?
It's also more character driven now, as opposed to athletically driven. Why would anyone watch another character driven promotion, especially when you cant compete with the slick presentation of the other two companies? At least ROH used to cater to a niche, now they cater to nobody.
This sums it up best:
The crew no longer works long, state of the art matches. KENTA & Davey Richards tore down the house in Houston on WM weekend. I was there, bpapa was there, bigbiss was there. Standing ovation, would have been the easy Match Of The Year in pro wrestliung if not for the botched finish, and its the match anyone who was there will remember forever. Well, Pearce chewed out both men when they came back through the curtain, because they gave the crowd "too much". Unreal.
The bottom line when it comes to ROH these days is this...the Gabe shows did tend to be overlaod sometimes, BUT...
I'd rather be burnt out than bored.