Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011; the promotion was subsequently sold to the Sinclair Broadcast Group, and then sold to Tony Khan.
Throughout the 2010s, ROH was considered the third largest wrestling promotion in the United States, behind WWE and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, initially operating on an internet distribution model. Under Sinclair's ownership, ROH began talent-sharing deals with wrestling companies outside the U.S., expanded their television visibility through Sinclair's broadcast stations, and eventually established its own streaming service in 2018 called Honor Club.
As Sinclair was struggling with debt in the late 2010s, ROH went on a hiatus at the end of 2021. In March 2022, the promotion was sold to Tony Khan, also the co-owner of All Elite Wrestling. The sale completed in May 2022. Currently, ROH operates as a sister promotion to AEW.
History
2002–2011: Formation and early years
In April 2001, the pro wrestling video-distribution company RF Video needed a new promotion to lead its video sales when its best-seller – Extreme Championship Wrestling – went out of business and WWE purchased its assets. RF Video also videotaped events held by other, less-popular, regional wrestling promotions; it sold these through its catalog and website. After months of trying to join Combat Zone Wrestling, RF Video's owner, Rob Feinstein, decided to fill the ECW void by starting his own pro wrestling promotion, and distributing its made-for-DVD/VHS productions exclusively through RF Video.The first event, titled The Era of Honor Begins, took place on February 23, 2002, in Philadelphia, the former home area of ECW. It featured nine matches, including a match between Eddy Guerrero and Super Crazy for the IWA Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship and a triple threat match between Christopher Daniels, Bryan Danielson, and Low Ki. In its first year of operation, Ring of Honor confined itself to staging live events in a limited number of venues and cities – primarily in the northeastern United States. Ten shows ran in Philadelphia, two in Wakefield, Massachusetts; one in metro Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and, one in Queens, New York.
In 2003, ROH expanded to other areas of the United States, including Ohio, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Maryland. In Florida, ROH supported Full Impact Pro, which would serve as a sister promotion until 2009. It also began to build its international identity by co-promoting an event with Frontier Wrestling Alliance in London, England on May 17, 2003.
In 2004, Feinstein was caught in an internet-based sting operation, in which he allegedly tried to solicit sex on the internet from a person that he thought to be an underage boy. After this was publicized by some news outlets, Feinstein resigned from ROH in March 2004.
In the aftermath of the scandal, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ended its talent-sharing agreement with Ring of Honor, abruptly withdrawing all of its contracted wrestlers from their prior commitments to perform in ROH shows—including major ROH draws A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels, who held and were about to hold ROH championships, respectively. Doug Gentry eventually bought Feinstein's stake in ROH, and later sold it to Cary Silkin.
ROH then started its own mail-order and online store operations, which sold DVDs of its live events, plus shoot interviews with wrestlers and managers, DVDs of SHIMMER and even some merchandise from competitors, such as Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. Under Silkin, ROH branched out across the world.
On January 23, 2007, ROH announced plans for a Japanese tour, resulting in a show on July 16 in Tokyo called "Live In Tokyo", co-promoted with Pro Wrestling Noah and a show on July 17 called "Live In Osaka" in Osaka co-promoted with Dragon Gate.
On May 2, 2007, Ring of Honor announced the signing of a PPV and VOD deal with G-Funk Sports & Entertainment to bring ROH into homes with In Demand Networks, TVN, and the Dish Network. The deal called for six taped pay-per-view events to air every 60 days. Because of the move to pay-per-view, TNA Wrestling immediately pulled its contracted stars from ROH shows. The first pay-per-view, titled "Respect is Earned", taped on May 12, first aired on July 1 on Dish Network.
Ring of Honor continued to expand throughout 2008, debuting in Orlando, Florida on March 28 for Dragon Gate Challenge II, in Manassas, Virginia on May 9 for Southern Navigation and in Toronto, Ontario on July 25 for Northern Navigation. On May 10, 2008, Ring of Honor set an attendance record in its debut show, A New Level, from the Hammerstein Ballroom in the Manhattan Center in New York City. It had plans for shows in St. Louis, Missouri, Nashville, Tennessee, and Montreal before the end of 2008. On October 26, 2008, the company announced the departure of head booker Gabe Sapolsky, and his replacement by Adam Pearce.
On January 26, 2009, Ring of Honor announced that it had signed an agreement with HDNet Fights for a weekly television program. The first tapings for Ring of Honor Wrestling took place on February 28 and March 1, 2009, at The Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and series premiered on HDNet on March 21, 2009. After nearly a year of producing weekly television broadcasts, RoH announced on January 20, 2010, that it would commission a new title, the ROH World Television Championship, to be decided in an eight-man tournament beginning February 5, 2010, and ending February 6, 2010, on its Ring of Honor Wrestling program. Due to a blizzard, however, the second half of the tournament did not take place until March 5, 2010, when Eddie Edwards defeated Davey Richards in the finals.
On August 15, 2010, Ring of Honor fired head booker Adam Pearce and replaced him with Hunter Johnston, who wrestles for the company under the ring name Delirious. On September 8, 2010, Ring of Honor and Ohio Valley Wrestling announced a working relationship between the two companies.
On January 11, 2011, Ring of Honor announced the ending of Ring of Honor Wrestling, after the completion of the promotion's two-year contract with HDNet. The final tapings of the show would be taking place on January 21 and 22, with the final episode airing on April 4, 2011.
2011–2019: Acquisition by Sinclair and expansion
On May 21, 2011, Ring of Honor and Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that the broadcast carrier had purchased ROH, with former owner Cary Silkin remaining with the company in an executive role. The promotion's programming began airing the weekend of September 24, 2011, with a relaunched Ring of Honor Wrestling airing on several Sinclair owned-or-operated stations; the show aired primarily on Saturday or Sunday afternoons or late nights, or on prime time on some of Sinclair's CW and MyNetworkTV affiliates.On June 22, Ring of Honor held their first live pay-per-view event, Best in the World, from the Nashville State Fairgrounds in Nashville, Tennessee. In September, Sinclair began syndicating ROH to other stations; the first deal was reached with WATL, a Gannett-owned Atlanta station, which began airing ROH on September 13, 2014.
On October 27, 2014, ROH announced a toy licensing deal with Figures Toy Company, which would see the distribution of action figures based on the Ring of Honor wrestlers, replica title belts and more.
On May 27, 2015, ROH announced a 26-week television deal with Destination America, beginning on June 3.
On December 13, 2015, ROH announced a partnership with Southern California promotion Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, which would allow ROH contracted wrestlers to continue working for PWG. On August 30, 2016, ROH announced the creation of a new title, the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship. The inaugural champions were crowned in December.
On November 9, 2017, ROH COO Joe Koff announced that ROH would be developing an OTT streaming service, similar to WWE Network and Impact Wrestling's Global Wrestling Network. The service, Honor Club, would be unveiled on February 2, 2018, and launch on February 19. At Final Battle 2017, on December 15, 2017, ROH announced the creation of the Women of Honor Championship, adding its fifth championship and the first for its female roster.
On September 1, 2018, ROH wrestlers Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks promoted and wrestled at All In – an event that was produced in collaboration with ROH, featuring wrestlers from numerous promotions that drew over 11,000 fans in suburban Chicago. This was the first U.S. pro wrestling event not promoted by WWE or the defunct World Championship Wrestling to reach the 10,000 attendance mark since the 1990s. Also in 2018, ROH and longtime partner New Japan Pro-Wrestling announced a joint event at Madison Square Garden in New York City called G1 Supercard, which was held on April 6, 2019. The event quickly sold out, and became the biggest and most attended event in ROH history.
2019–2021: Departures, effects of COVID-19, debt and hiatus
In early 2019, Rhodes, the Bucks, and several other talents left the company to start their own promotion – All Elite Wrestling. The departure of Ring of Honor's top talent for AEW was viewed by many wrestling journalists and commenters as the beginning of a decline for the promotion in 2019. Much of the criticism focused on the reign of then-ROH World Champion Matt Taven. ROH had fewer PPV buys and a reduced live show attendance that year. According to Dave Meltzer, ROH's average live show attendance in 2019 was 1,082—lower than its averages in 2018 and 2017.In October 2019, ROH producer/road agent Joey Mercury resigned, criticizing ROH for a lack of creative direction as well as having no concussion protocol for wrestlers. Mercury would reveal that ROH allowed then-Women of Honor Champion Kelly Klein to wrestle after suffering a concussion during an October 26, 2019, event. Klein sought medical treatment after suffering post-concussion-syndrome symptoms. She would not be booked for the rest of the year and her contract would expire in December.
In January 2020, Ring of Honor re-signed Marty Scurll; the deal was said to be the most lucrative in ROH history. In addition to being a wrestler, Scurll was also made head booker, working with longtime booker Hunter "Delirious" Johnston. Scurll's deal allowed him to continue to make appearances in New Japan Pro-Wrestling and the National Wrestling Alliance, where he began a cross-promotional feud with NWA World Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis. However, during the Speaking Out Movement, Scurll was accused of taking advantage of a 16-year-old girl who was inebriated. Scurll would release two statements in which he did not deny the allegations, but claimed the encounter was consensual. On June 25, the promotion announced that they launched an investigation concerning the allegations, and Scurll was removed from his position as booker. By January 2021, Ring of Honor announced that Marty Scurll was no longer under contract after the two parties mutually agreed to part ways.
On January 31, 2020, Ring of Honor announced the return of the ROH Pure Championship, with a tournament to crown the first Pure champion since 2006. The following month, the promotion announced another tournament to crown a new ROH Women's World Championship, following the deactivation of the Women of Honor World Championship title. However, in response to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Ring of Honor would postpone live events beginning in March.
Television tapings for Ring of Honor Wrestling would resume in August at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena from the promotion's homebase in Maryland but without fans in attendance. New episodes would begin syndication on September 12, with a revamped format, and the beginning of the Pure title tournament. Ten days prior, Ring of Honor launched a Free ad-supported television channel on the Sinclair-owned streaming service Stirr called "ROH Best On The Planet". Final Battle would be the promotion's sole pay-per-view event in 2020, while live audiences would return on July 11, 2021, at Best in the World.
It was revealed during their 2021 Q3 financial results that Sinclair had $12,530,000 USD in debt, largely due to the Diamond Sports Group. On October 27, 2021, Ring of Honor announced that it would go on a hiatus after Final Battle in December, with a return tentatively scheduled for April 2022. All personnel would also be released from their contracts as part of plans to "reimagine" the company as a "fan-focused product". In the interim, the men's and woman's championships were defended at events held by various other promotions, including Impact Wrestling and Jonathan Gresham's new Terminus promotion.