To help ring in their 20th Anniversary later this year, Ring of Honor announced that they will be establishing a Hall of Fame, with the first class to be enshrined and inducted in 2022. The first inductee will be announced on Monday, February 1st, with subsequent inductees to be announced weekly after that, on February 7th, 14th, and 21st.
🔹🔸RING OF HONOR ANNOUNCES ESTABLISHMENT OF ROH HALL OF FAME🔸🔹
To coincide with Ring of Honor’s 20th anniversary, the company is proud to announce the establishment of the ROH Hall of Fame.
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— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) January 26, 2022
On February 23, 2002, a new independent wrestling promotion debuted in Philadelphia at the old ECW Arena. It wasn’t all that uncommon for wrestling promotions to rise to prominence but no one could have guessed the impact the newly named Ring of Honor would have on the scene. Now, nearly 20 years later, ROH has established itself as perhaps the premier breeding ground for top wrestling stars. Once considered a super indie, ROH grew from a local promotion to a traveling one. It went from holding shows with small audiences to a TV contract, allowing viewers worldwide to see the magic that was being created in South Philly and beyond. Over 20 years, not only did ROH grow to become one of America’s top-known independents, but it also did so while establishing some of pro wrestling’s greatest stars. Look no further than the rosters in both WWE and AEW, both of which have been littered with wrestlers who cut their teeth in ROH. It is for that reason, that when it comes to building a new Hall of Fame, one meant to honor the company’s past and celebrate its future, there is no shortage of names to choose from. In fact, it almost begs to question why Ring of Honor hasn’t had its own Hall of Fame sooner.
As ROH noted in their official announcement, “Since its inception, ROH has created excellence in professional wrestling by giving the best wrestlers on the planet a platform to showcase their talent. Now ROH will honor the outstanding athletes who have contributed greatly to making it one of the most influential pro wrestling promotions in the industry.”
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With a new Hall of Fame, ROH has the opportunity to truly make its first-class truly meaningful. They could induct the Founding Fathers, guys like Low-Ki, Christopher Daniels, and Bryan Danielson, all of whom worked the first-ever ROH show and whose impact with the promotion helped elevate its status. There are other great choices as well. Jay Lethal was an ROH mainstay for most of his career and is considered one of their top wrestlers of all-time having held multiple championships with record-breaking reigns. There are also guys like Samoa Joe, CM Punk, and Kevin Steen, all former champs who presided over various periods of success for the company. And of course, the Briscoes, Jay, and Mark, who individually achieved success, but, who as a team, set high bars not just in ROH but for tag team wrestling around the world. The Briscoes are one of the most decorated teams of all time and they seem like no-brainers to be part of this first-class.
Time will tell who ROH feels worthy to be part of this historic class. You can follow along with the announcements on their website and social media as well as their weekly TV. Each week in February, ROH TV will dedicate an episode of programming to showing highlights and matches from that week’s inductee. There will also be special YouTube features on the inductees celebrating their ROH accomplishments.
To see where you can watch ROH on TV or see the latest episode of ROH TV click here. For all things ROH, check out Honor Club. or their YouTube channel for WOH Wednesday and ROH Week by Week.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world. As well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.
