Ring Of Honor owner Tony Khan has hinted at what’s in store for the beloved promotion.
Ring Of Honor owner Tony Khan seems pretty adamant that he doesn’t expect ROH to play second fiddle to AEW, the other pro wrestling promotion he owns.
“Is Ring of Honor as big as AEW right now? No. Is it selling as many PPVs? No. But that was incredible growth for Ring of Honor, a company that has over 20 years of history now,” TK said during the May 26 media call to promote AEW Double or Nothing (h/t Wrestling Inc.) “And they sold a ton of PPVs over the years, and that was, of all the shows they’ve promoted, one of the biggest Ring of Honor shows. It was the biggest show by far in years. When we get all the final numbers in, it’s going to be probably 20 times or more than the recent Ring of Honor PPVs. So we’ve been able to rebuild and get Ring of Honor, I think, to a stronger place it’s been in many years.”
Tony Khan announced his acquisition of ROH in the opening segment of the March 2 edition of AEW Dynamite on TBS. During the post-AEW Revolution media scrum on Sunday, March 6, Khan confirmed that he will be booking Ring Of Honor when the beloved promotion returns from hiatus … an event that is yet to occur.
Aside from the Supercard of Honor event — which had been scheduled way before TK finalized his acquisition of the promotion and was referenced by the man himself in the above quote — ROH is yet to return. Ring Of Honor titles have been defended on AEW TV and at various independent shows, but we still don’t know when the company will return to producing weekly shows.
“I would love to get Ring of Honor weekly TV series, or streaming series, wherever it ends up going, very soon,” Khan said in response to a question regarding ROH’s future. “And it’s something I’m working on, and I think it would be awesome for the fans, in addition to the great shows they get from AEW. There are a lot of Ring of Honor fans around the world that can’t wait until the TV comes back. And I am hopeful we’ll have Ring of Honor TV and continue the great calendar of Ring of Honor PPV events. Supercard of Honor was a big success for us, and I’d like to bring Ring of Honor back to PPV as well and follow up on it. I don’t know when the TV will start back up on a weekly basis, but that is my goal, to get it going again. It’s something I’m working on.”
Last October, Purrazzo explained why she was eager to wrestle against or tag with Dr. Britt Baker, her best friend in real life.
“To have that crossover with women and possibly wrestle someone like Britt or tag with someone like Britt, who is my best friend in real life,” Purrazzo told Busted Open Radio. “It would just be very special for us, I think as friends, but for women’s wrestling too. And that’s the whole point of all this. It’s to grow and evolve women’s wrestling. We haven’t had a lot of those firsts yet, so any time you can kind of get your hands on that and claim it as your own, I think it’s important these days.”
For what it’s worth, Purrazzo signed a contract with IMPACT Wrestling in October 2020. At the time, Josh Mathews revealed via Impact Press Pass that Purrazzo had agreed to a long-term deal with the company.
ROH World Champion & PROGRESS Unified World Champion Jonathan Gresham has reportedly signed with AEW.
After weeks of speculation, a new report from Fightful Select confirms that Gresham has signed an AEW contract that will also see him perform for ROH.
Gresham will make his AEW TV debut at Battle of The Belts II this Saturday night on TNT as he defends the Ring of Honor strap against ROH veteran Dalton Castle.
AEW has also signed “Gates of Agony” Kaun and Toa Liona to similar contracts, as reported earlier this week. Word is that there are other talents who are signed to these AEW/ROH contracts, and names should be confirmed soon.
Gresham became the Undisputed ROH World Champion by defeating Bandido in the main event of ROH Supercard of Honor on April 1, which was the first show booked by new ROH owner Tony Khan.
Gresham has worked for Impact Wrestling in recent months, and will face Eddie Edwards in a non-title match at the Rebellion pay-per-view on April 23. There’s no word yet on if this will be his final date for Impact.
Gresham has also worked several indie dates in recent months, but there’s no word on if this new AEW/ROH contract will allow him to continue taking those bookings. Gresham captured the PROGRESS Wrestling Unified World Title on March 20 at Chapter 130 by defeating Cara Noir. Since then he has retained over Malik and Warren Banks, but there’s no word on how the AEW/ROH contract will impact his PROGRESS run.
The former WWE Superstar debuted at the end of the event, and Khan made it clear that he’s excited to have him on the roster for both of his promotions.
“I am very excited to have Samoa Joe in both Ring Of Honor and All Elite Wrestling,” he exclaimed. “I think his timing was impeccable, and I’m sure the champ (Jonathan Gresham) agrees. But I am very excited, and we are going to hear from him shortly, and you’ll get to hear from him as well. But I know I am very excited about having Samoa Joe in AEW. Samoa Joe is going to be on Dynamite on Wednesday, and it was great to have him here on Supercard.
“I thought it made a great night of great wrestling a bit more special. And it was a really cool moment to see Samoa Joe in the ring. I think with Jonathan Gresham and Lee Moriarity. A few different generations of great wrestlers, and great Ring Of Honor stars. All people that potentially could be competing also in AEW. I am very excited about a great championship match to end a great PPV tonight.”
Jonathan Gresham joined Tony Khan in being pleased about the situation. He admitted that there are people on the roster that he sees as originals, with Joe being one of those. He is also pleased to have these veterans passing on their knowledge to the next generation of talent.
“For me, I am just very excited,” Gresham said. “From the locker room to people that are making special appearances. Like tonight, Samoa Joe. Christopher Daniels is in this locker room, Jay Lethal is here, B.J. Whitmer is here. To me when I became conscious to how wrestling can be, in my mind, how wrestling should be, I call these men, these great men, the originals. They still possess the fire and the spirit of what I believe wrestling is built upon.
“Having them here in this company, to teach the next generation, to help us understand how to be pro wrestlers, it means the world to me. I am exactly where I am supposed to be, and I am very happy these guys are coming back to an umbrella that has someone who cares so passionately about the sports and the essence of this business. Tony Khan, and Samoa Joe, Bryan Danielson, and all these guys are keeping the business of pro wrestling alive, and I am happy to be part of it.”
Joe made his surprise return to ROH at the end of Friday’s Supercard of Honor XV event. The main event saw Jonathan Gresham defeat Bandido to become the Undisputed ROH World Champion, but Gresham and Lee Moriarty were attacked by Sonjay Dutt and Jay Lethal after the bout.
Lethal, who turned on longtime friend Matt Sydal earlier in the night after defeating Moriarty, challenged Gresham to an immediate title match but Gresham denied him because of his earlier actions. This led to Dutt hitting Gresham and Gresham getting beat down. Moriarty tried to help Gresham but he failed, and that’s when Joe came out. Joe faced off with Lethal, then choked Dutt out.
In an update, ROH announcer Ian Riccaboni noted on commentary that Joe would be appearing on AEW Dynamite this Wednesday.
Furthermore, AEW President and new ROH owner Tony Khan took to Twitter to declare that Joe is All Elite. Khan confirmed Wednesday’s Dynamite appearance for The Samoan Submission Machine, who has the longest ROH World Title reign of all-time at 645 days when he held the strap from March 22, 2003 – December 26, 2004.
Supercard of Honor XV marked Joe’s first ROH appearance since June 2015. He is a one-time ROH World Champion, a one-time ROH Pure Champion, and was inducted into the inaugural class of the ROH Hall of Fame earlier this year.
WWE released Joe from his contract back on January 6. He was believed to be under the standard 30-day non-compete clauses that most WWE NXT talents have, which would’ve made him a free agent on February 5 when the clause expired.
* Gates of Agony (Kaun & Toa Liona, managed by Tully Blanchard) def. Cheeseburger & Eli Isom
* Dalton Castle def. Joe Hendry
Main show
Tully Blanchard introduces “The Machine” Brian Cage as his new client
Brian Cage defeated Ninja Mack
Jay Lethal defeated Lee Moriarty
After delivering a low blow to Moriarty, Jay Lethal connected with the Lethal Injection to score the victory
After the match, Lethal kicked the crutch away from Matt Sydal in the middle of the ring and began to attack him. He was eventually pulled away by Sonjay Dutt
INTERIM ROH WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH Mercedes Martinez defeated Willow Nightingale
ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) defeated The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe) (c) (**TITLE CHANGE**)
After the match, The Young Bucks attack The Briscoes. FTR made the save and challenged The Young Bucks to a Tag Team Title match there and then. The Young Bucks refused and said the match will take place on AEW Dynamite this Wednesday.
ROH WORLD TV CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH Minoru Suzuki defeated Rhett Titus (c) (**TITLE CHANGE**)
ROH PURE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH Wheeler Yuta defeated Josh Woods (c) (**TITLE CHANGE**)
UNDISPUTED ROH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH Jonathan Gresham (c) defeated Bandido (c) (**TITLE CHANGE**)
– Gresham took to the microphone after the match, but he was interrupted by Jay Lethal. Lethal wanted to be the first person to challenge Gresham for the championship. Gresham responds by saying Lethal’s actions earlier tonight have shown that he’s changed. Sonjay Dutt tries to separate the pair, but Dutt punches Gresham in the face. Lee Moriarty comes down to help, but Jay Lethal delivers a Lethal Injection. Samoa Joe then made his entrance and got in the face of Jay Lethal. Joe then choked out Sonjay Dutt.
UNDISPUTED ROH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Jonathan Gresham (c) vs. Bandido (c) w/Chavo Guerrero Jr.
ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP The Briscoes (c) vs. FTR
ROH PURE CHAMPIONSHIP Josh Woods (c) vs. Wheeler Yuta
INTERIM ROH WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (Winner will face ROH Women’s World ChampionDeonna Purrazzo at a later date) Willow Nightingale vs. Mercedes Martinez
ROH WORLD TV CHAMPIONSHIP Rhett Titus (c) vs. Minoru Suzuki
Jay Lethal vs. Lee Moriarty
Alex Zayne vs. Swerve Strickland
Ninja Mack vs. TBA (*Tully Blanchard’s new client)
Tony Khan says he may have a trick up his sleeve for Ring of Honor’s Supercard of Honor pay-per-view.
It’s the first ROH show since AEW’s President, CEO, General Manager & Head Of Creative announced earlier this month that he has agreed to purchase the company.
“I promise to work hard to make ROH Supercard a great ppv + a show to carry on the incredible 20 year legacy of @ringofhonor,” Khan tweeted Wednesday. “I’ll continue to make announcements on the card; I might even have a trick up my sleeve (which I wouldn’t announce).”
Four matches have been announced for Supercard of Honor. Jonathan Gresham and Bandido will meet to decide the undisputed ROH World Champion. The Briscoes will defend the ROH World Tag Team Championship against FTR. Also, Jay Lethal will face Lee Moriarty and Alex Zayne is set to square off against Swerve Strickland.
Other talents announced for the show are Joe Hendry and Ninja Mack.
“I had not scheduled this pay-per-view, the Ring of Honor Supercard, but I really think that is important for me because they’ve sold tickets and made a commitment to the fans to still do the show,” Tony Khan said last week. “I see it as a transitional show in many ways, and I’m really excited about it because it is the first show under the new management, and it’s also a transition show before I will relaunch what I hope to be a really great, new Ring of Honor television product. A weekly series, wherever it does air or stream.”
Supercard of Honor will be held on Friday, April 1 at the Curtis Culwell Center in Dallas, Texas. The show will be available to purchase on FITE TV and PPV.com, as well as via InDemand Cable and Satellite providers. The show will also be streamed for members of Ring of Honor’s HonorClub service.
The Supercard of Honor pay-per-view broadcast is scheduled to begin at 8 PM Easter/7 PM Central. A pre-show on Ring of Honor’s YouTube channel will begin one hour earlier.
This year’s Supercard of Honor is the fifteenth installment of the annual event. It will also be the first Ring of Honor since the start of a self-imposed hiatus for the company last December.
Impact Wrestling announced the first match for their Multiverse of Matches event at WrestleCon. The match is Impact World Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers vs. ROH World Tag Team Champions The Briscoes.
The promotion tweeted, “BREAKING! @IMPACTWRESTLING presents Multiverse of Matches Friday, April 1st from @wrestlecon! Featuring @IMPACTWRESTLING World Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers vs The Briscoe Brothers! @ringofhonor”
Deonna Purrazzo, Matt Cardona, Chelsea Green, Ace Austin, Eric Young, Jordynne Grace, Rhino, Rich Swann, Steve Maclin, and Tasha Steelz are also scheduled to be at the Multiverse Of Matches event.
Impact Wrestling will also be doing an Impact Provincial Wrestling Federation (IPWF) special at WrestleCon. At the last throwback special, Santa Claus (Willie Mack) defeated Sex Ferguson (Doc Gallows) in a North Pole Street Fight Match to win the International Commonwealth TV Championship.
On the same night of Multiverse of Matches, The Briscoes are set to defend the ROH Tag Team titles at ROH Supercard of Honor in Garland, Texas. The event starts at 8 p.m. ET.
Multiverse Of Matches will take place at the Fairmont Hotel in Dallas, Texas. The start time for the event is 10 p.m. ET.
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