On June 13, Ring of Honor (ROH) announced plans for the first ROH International Cup, a tournament featuring US wrestlers against UK wrestlers, to take part during their ROH Honor Re-United tour this August. There are three dates announced for the tour, starting August 16 in Edinburgh, Scotland, August 18 in Doncaster, England, and winding up August 19 in London. There will be eight competitors for each “side”, competing over the first two nights, with the tournament winner getting a shot at the ROH World Champion in London on night three.
BREAKING: #ROH officials announced the inaugural #ROHInternationalCup to take place during the #HonorReUnited UK Tour!
Learn More: https://t.co/RulaZ8MuLC
8/16 Edinburghhttps://t.co/pHfE4JwYcu
8/18 Doncasterhttps://t.co/KPolYzvmRt
8/19 Londonhttps://t.co/3QdB1ERLwa pic.twitter.com/QW6zOhWOu3
— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) June 13, 2018
Ring of Honor Announces ROH International Cup, First 2 UK Entrants
The first announced entrant (of the tournament and the UK side) was announced yesterday and it’s none other than UK veteran Jimmy Havoc. A deathmatch specialist, Havoc is also one of Britain’s most gifted storytellers – his run as PROGRESS World Champion (for a record 609 days) was one of the UK’s best angles ever, and he’s also run amok in IPW:UK (where he was IPW World Champion for 770 days), Defiant Wrestling (where he’s currently the reigning Defiant Hardcore Champion and 2x Defiant Tag Team Champion with Mark Haskins), plus stops in North America with Major League Wrestling (MLW), Smash Wrestling, and Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), where he won last year’s Tournament of Death 16.
The second UK entrant, announced today, is Scotland’s “Prestigious One”, Joe Hendry. Hendry appeared for ROH earlier this year on the ROH Honor United tour (challenging Silas Young for the ROH World Television title), and is a former Defiant (WCPW) World Champion. Interestingly, Hendry recently signed with Impact Wrestling (he made his debut at last month’s tapings in Windsor, Ontario), which will continue to fuel rumors of a possible alliance between Impact and the IWGP Conception.
There are still six more UK names to be announced for the ROH International Cup, as well as the eight representing the US, but one can assume that names contracted with the NXT UK will be ineligible. With ROH’s IWGP Conception partnership with NJPW, it opens the door for potential UK stars like Zack Sabre Jr. or Will Ospreay to step in, as well as other RevPro stars like Chris Brookes (not to mention Bullet Club/ROH’s own Marty Scurll).
