the opening and strength, you might be right... the ring I had was kinda flimsy, dont remember the gauge. Once the lid is in place it helped keep it from going "out of round"... Lay the rod across the top of the kettle pizza and put some downward pressure on the rod and wiggle it, see if the KP ring feels wobbly... If not, I'd Go for it...and no, a couple holes for the rod aint gonna affect cooking a pizza..