Ring of Honor
From Ring of Honor Wiki
| Ring of Honor | |
|---|---|
| Promotion information | |
| Acronym |
ROH |
| Established |
2002 |
| Founded by | |
| Style |
Professional wrestling |
| Management information | |
| Current owner(s) | |
| Previous owner(s) |
Rob Feinstein (2002 – 2004) |
| Current booker | |
| Previous booker(s) |
Gabe Sapolsky (2002 - 2008) |
| Availability | |
| Television |
HDNet |
| Pay-Per-View |
Bi-monthly |
| DVDs | |
| Website | |
Ring of Honor is an independent American professional wrestling promotion. Founded by Rob Feinstein in 2002, ROH is currently owned by Cary Silkin.
Contents |
[edit] History
In April 2001, professional wrestling video distribution company RF Video was in need of a new promotion to lead its video sales after Extreme Championship Wrestling, their best seller, went out of business. At the time, RF Video also filmed events held by other less popular regional wrestling promotions and sold them through their catalog and website. RF Video owner Rob Feinstein decided he would fill the void left by ECW by starting his own promotion and distributing the DVD and VHS productions exclusively through RF Video. The first event, title The Era of Honor Begins, was held on February 23, 2002, featured nine matches, including a match between Eddie Guerrero and Super Crazy, and a triple threat match between Christopher Daniels, Bryan Danielson and Low Ki.
In its first year of operation, from February 2002 to February 2003, ROH confined itself to a limited amount of venues and cities in the northeast United States. Ten shows were run in Philadelphia, two in the Boston, one in the Pittsburgh, and one in Queens, New York.
In 2003, ROH expanded to other areas of the United States, including Ohio, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Maryland and began to build its international identity by co-holding an event with Frontier Wrestling Alliance in London, England.
ROH has continually expanded its presence on the United States and international independent wrestling scenes, holding events in more mid-western states, revitalizing its UK connections and routinely importing stars with international appeal.
In 2004, the primary owner of ROH and RF Video, Rob Feinstein, was caught in a sting operation when he tried to solicit sex from a minor. It was announced that Feinstein and ROH had severed their ties, but Feinstein was still involved with the company until June 2004. This garnered bad publicity for the company, which resulted in a decline in business for a period of time. As a result, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling pulled their contracted wrestlers, most notably AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels, from all Ring of Honor shows. This was also a factor in the decline as both wrestlers were marquee names for the company.
Feinstein's ownership was eventually sold to Doug Gentry, who would then sell it to Cary Silkin. Ring of Honor would start its own mail and online order store which sells DVD's of its live events, as well as shoot interviews with wrestlers and managers. They also sell other wrestling related merchandise not limited to products created by their company. As such, it continues the function RF Video had for the company.
Wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer has given five-star ratings to several ROH matches, including the Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk sixty-minute bout from Joe vs. Punk II, Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi from Joe vs. Kobashi, and Do FIXER (Genki Horiguchi, Dragon Kid & Ryo Saito) vs. Blood Generation (CIMA, Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino) from Supercard of Honor. At the time of Joe vs. Punk II, Meltzer had not rated any wrestling match in the US the full five-stars since 1997.
The Joe vs. Punk feud brought back interest in the company, but it took a year before the company would become self sufficient in November 2005. Up until this point, since the split from RF Video, the company had not made profit. The strong sales of the DVD of the October 1, 2005 event Joe vs. Kobashi is attributed to this.
On January 23, 2007, Ring of Honor announced in their Newswire that they would be running two shows in Japan in July. The first show they will be working with Pro Wrestling NOAH, and the second with Dragon Gate, both of which they have had a strong working relationship with. ROH has become the 1st US-based promotion to have its titles held entirely by non-American wrestlers with the Japanese Dragon Gate team of Naruki Doi and Shingo holding the ROH World Tag-Team Championship, whilst their fellow countryman and Pro Wrestling NOAH star Takeshi Morishima holds the ROH World Championship.
[edit] Contenders for Championships
Originally, Ring of Honor had no formal way to determine challengers for the World Championship. When Xavier, a heel champion, began to avoid challengers, Ring of Honor instated a Top Five Ranking system to establish contenders to the title. Wrestlers were ranked based on their general win-loss record and the win-loss record against other ranked competitors. The World Champion was automatically placed at the top of the rankings. Wrestlers ranked two through five would face each other in the ring to determine the number one contender. The top contender held the Number One Contender Trophy, which was viewed as a second title at the time and defended as such.
The ranking system was abolished at the same time as the creation of the new Code of Honor. The ranking system was replaced by the Contenders Ring, a more complex polling system where ROH officials would submit rankings after each show. Wrestlers who appeared on more than 75% of the ballots were considered to be in the Contenders Ring, which earned them title shots for both the World Championship and the Pure Championship.
In January 2005, Ring of Honor did away with the Contenders Ring. Instead, wrestlers who wanted a title shot had to submit a petition to ROH officials. After a petition was filed, ROH officials kept track of the petitioner's record, quality of opposition, respect shown towards the Code of Honor and inherent skill. These factors determined who would receive a title shot. Despite the petition system, ROH officials retained the ability to determine #1 contenders.
Upon the naming of Jim Cornette as ROH Commissioner in October 2005, Ring of Honor Management confirmed the return of the Top Five Ranking system. The "Top 5" was voted on by Cornette and other ROH officials during the first week of every month only. Voting was based on won/lost record and quality of opposition with a heavy emphasis on the previous month.
In July of 2006, Ring of Honor again put the Top 5 Ranking system on hiatus as the system had not been used to determine challengers to the ROH World Title on a consistent basis. The champion, Bryan Danielson, had instead been sending open contracts to wrestlers in other promotions around the world, with ROH officials also choosing contenders from within the company.
[edit] Championships
| Championship | Champion(s) | Defeated | Event | Date Won | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROH World Championship | Austin Aries | April 3, 2009 | Houston, Texas | ||
| ROH World Tag Team Championship | Kevin Steen & El Generico | Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black | September 20, 2008 | Boston, Massachusetts | Driven 2008 |
| Top of the Class Trophy | Rhett Titus | Ernie Osiris | June 7, 2008 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Respect Is Earned II |
Inactive championships
[edit] Roster
[edit] Events
[edit] Specialty matches
- Fight Without Honor
- Four Corner Survival match
- Pure Wrestling match
- Scramble Cage match
- Scramble Cage Melee
- Six Man Mayhem match
- Steel Cage Warfare match
- Tag Team Scramble match
- Ultimate Endurance match
[edit] See also
[edit] Videos
| Welcome to Ring of Honor (2005) | Welcome to Ring of Honor (2006) | 2006 ROH Video Roster: Part 1 | 2006 ROH Video Roster: Part 2 |
| 2006 ROH Video Roster: Part 3 | 2006 ROH Video Roster: Part 4 | 2006 ROH Video Roster: Part 5 | 2006 ROH Video Roster: Part 6 |
| Welcome to Ring of Honor (2007) | 2007 ROH Video Roster |
