New ownership, New Roster, and New Beginnings for Ring of Honor.
Ring of Honor, better known as ROH, is set to re-launch its new product this Thursday, March 2, 2023. ROH has not run since late 2022 when they shut down to reinforce the promotion.
Ring Of Honor is Back With a Whole New Look
How We Got Here
Under the new management of AEW CEO Tony Kahn, ROH is looking different this time around. Before the shutdown, the product was young stars showcasing their talents to the world in hopes of bigger things. Now, it will be more mixed with the hopes of developing new talent soon.
The ROH promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein and operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011. In 2011, Sinclair Broadcast Group bought ROH. After years went by, the promotion sold again. This time, a deal was struck on March 22, 2022, with AEW founder and CEO Tony Khan. The sale was official on May 4, 2022. Khan then announced that the ROH product is re-launching coming in early 2023
Ring Of Honor had a big following. The promotion had many fans and promoted superstars to higher levels. Then, everything died down, and things got rough. The sale to Kahn was to reinvent the product to what it once was. Before the shutdown, ROH had one final show.
The last par-per-view was titled “ROH Final Battle” and was held on December 10, 2022, at the College Park Center in Harland, Texas. During that event, three new champions were crowned. Samoa Joe defeated Juice Robinson to become the new World TV Champion. Athena became the new ROH Women’s Champion, defeating Mercedes Martinez. And Ring Of Honor had a new World Champion as Claudio Castagnoli defeated Chris Jericho.
As mentioned, Ring Of Honor is debuting on March 2nd with the debut of the ROH Honor Club. ROH Champion Claudio Castagnoli will defend his title against the man who costs him $100,000 on Christmas 2022, AR Fox. Mark Briscoe will take on Slim J, Lady Frost will take on Willow Nightingale, and the NJPW World TV Championship is on the line as Zach Sabre Jr takes on Blake Christian. Finally, Konosuke Takeshita will face former ROH Pure Champion Josh Woods.
The matches can be viewed at Ring of Honor (watchroh.com).
The roster, as stated above, looks much different. Below is the roster for ROH as we head into the first show of the new Ring Of Honor.
ROH Roster and Personal
Ring announcer – Bobby Cruise
Commentators- Caprice Coleman, Chris Jericho, and Ian Riccaboni
Managers- Jose the Assistant, Maria Kanellis-Bennett, Prince Nana, and Sonjay Dutt
Coaches- Ari Daivari, Colt Cabana, and Serena Deeb
Male Roster: Anthony Henry, Bandido, Balek Christian, Brandon Tate, Brent Tate, Brian Cage, Cash Wheeler, Cheeseburger, Dalton Castle, Daniel Garcia, Dax Harwood, Dralistico, Eli Isom, JD Drake, Jay Lethal, Lee Moriarty, Kaun, Matt Sydel, Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, Preston Vance, Rhett Titus, Rush, Shane Taylor, Silas Young, Swerve Strickland, and Toa Liona.
Female roster: Deonna Purrazzo, Mercedes Martinez, Miranda Alize, Trish Adora, and Willow Nightingale.
Ring Of Honor has its first event after the debut of the ROH Honor Club. This event will be called Supercard of Honor 2023. The event will be taking place on March 31, 2023, at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, California. The event will sell out as the anticipation grows for fans excited to have ROH back in the fold.
Header photo credit – ROH. For all things, ROH check out Honor Club and their YouTube channel. 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.
