Tony Khan Buys Ring Of Honor…Now What?

In this edition of The Wrestling Estate roundtable, we discuss the future of Ring of Honor now that Tony Khan has purchased it.

Was this the best outcome instead of seeing what Sinclair’s new ROH would look like or someone outside of AEW or WWE purchasing the promotion?

Neal Wagner: Yes. Having Khan take control not only will expose the video library to eventual streaming, but also will keep the company alive. WWE has proven in the past that if companies are bought, WWE gets the library and all assets and intellectual property, but the company as an existing brand is done.

Juan Bautista: It would have been intriguing to see someone else buy ROH, but CM Punk said it best that his baby is being given to someone that will take care of it. Sinclair at no point in time made it a main priority and did as much as it could with it.

Steven Jackson: It’s definitely the best outcome from an economic perspective. However, having AEW owing ROH will affect the overall independence and identity of the promotion of the brand.

John Corrigan: Yes. I have no faith in Sinclair, and neither should anybody else. Even though it’s another step toward a monopoly, at least we know what Tony Khan brings to the table. If some outsider bought ROH, who knows what would happen?

How does this affect Impact in the grand scheme of things considering it launched an ROH invasion angle?

Wagner: I don’t think Impact should change course on its storyline because I don’t believe it affects the company at all. It’s a different argument if the Honor No More guys get rehired by ROH/AEW because then that talent is gone.

Bautista: It shouldn’t affect Impact too much, but it makes you wonder how much was actually planned for the supercard show in Dallas. It definitely shifts eyes to Impact for the moment and gives the company an opportunity as it’s currently what Ring Of Honor will be.

Jackson: I don’t think it’ll affect Impact. The added exposure might help, but Impact is hidden away in the grand world of wrestling, anyway.

Corrigan: Impact has no place in the grand scheme of things.

What is New Japan’s reaction to this and does this entice it to expand a working relationship?

Wagner: NJPW should keep its AEW relationship alive. It would make sense now for it to send graduating young lion talent to ROH/AEW for their excursions because it’s going to be a training ground for them to only get better and work with talent either at the same rate or who will make them better.

Bautista: I hope it lights a fire under NJPW to get involved immediately. ROH rebuilt the bridge for modern day New Japan in the States. As AEW plans to run on the West Coast, where NJPW has a heavy presence, it has to do something.

Jackson: It will make NJPW pull away from working with AEW. The relationship AAA has with AEW is very political.

Corrigan: Based on NJPW’s relationship with AEW, which seems to be rosy, I’m sure NJPW would be happy to work with Tony Khan again.

Will the positives and negatives cancel each other out in this acquisition as far as providing wrestlers to work?

Wagner: This is all positive because it’ll provide the wrestlers more work. While AEW has a large roster, it can’t use it all every week because there’s not enough TV time. Now you’ll need to expand a little more to accommodate a second brand.

Bautista: I hope that AEW finds ways to accommodate the wrestlers it wants to sign and it’s not another situation where a company closes causing some to fade away.

Jackson: I hope so. I just hope everyone has an opportunity to shine. There’s a lot of people who need to be given jobs.

Corrigan: If Tony Khan decides to keep Ring of Honor running, and more wrestlers have a place to work, that’s a positive.

Will buildings that ROH traditionally runs, like Hammerstein, still host pro wrestling?

Wagner: Hammerstein and 2300 Arena will always get shows. If it’s not ROH now because of this acquisition, then that’s where I see GCW and MLW taking more residencies.

Bautista: I hope that Hammerstein keeps a presence in wrestling because there’s a certain mystique.

Jackson: Both AEW and ROH are defined in the markets they produce shows in. I don’t think this is it for them. They can run in other markets, but they may not be lucrative as others.

Corrigan: Hammerstein just hosted GCW, so it should be fine.

Now that AEW has acquired the rights and properties of ROH, does that open the door for AEW to hold more special editions of Dynamite or a PPV? (For example, Best in the World, Final Battle, etc.)

Wagner: The door is blown wide open now for more content. Why not move up to six PPVs now and run June and December events named Best in the World and Final Battle? Keep those alive for your brand. Use them for either AEW or use them as your two big shows for the new ROH.

Bautista: The door is open for maybe six PPVs, possibly eight. AEW can run special events in Canada or England when possible using the Global Wars name. There is definitely an opportunity here.

Jackson: Run the big AEW PPVs with particular ROH PPVs as televised Supercards, which is better economically than PPVs. I don’t think we’ll get more episodes of Dynamite, but maybe some more variety.

Corrigan: Sure, why not?

Do we expect Ring Of Honor to continue as a separate entity or will it be slowly consolidated into AEW? If consolidated, is this the invasion angle that fans have been waiting for?

Wagner: Keep it separate. Rumors say it’ll be a training area of sorts like NXT 2.0, but if that’s the case, I’d argue eliminating one of the two AEW Dark shows. We don’t need three squash shows on YouTube every week.

Bautista: If ROH is used as a proving ground for trainees and developmental talent, it would be great and would allow AEW to get rid of one, if not both YouTube shows. In a crazy scenario, Tony Khan could create a modern day NWA layout by having ROH run shows in certain markets.

Jackson: ROH will stay a separate entity. AEW may use ROH as a developmental hub.

Corrigan: I haven’t been waiting for an invasion angle. I’ve seen enough. But I do expect ROH to continue as a separate entity, considering that Tony Khan and not AEW acquired the company.

What will your expectations be for the eventual AEW streaming service?

Wagner: End of the year, AEW needs to have a streaming service running. I bet contractually it’s hard to do based on PPVs and TNT/TBS deals, but why not sell to HBO Max for a couple years until you’re in a spot where you can stream those PPVs on your own network and have replays of Dynamite up next day? Have something set up soon or you’re just sitting on money by not doing anything with your content/the ROH tape library.

Bautista: I expect the best wrestling streaming service on the market. HBO Max is not the answer right now. I believe the app will be on the level of ESPN+. You will be able to watch all AEW content on demand. You may have to wait until the morning for television. The Ring of Honor library will be on there and the PPVs will be on there and after a week you will be able to watch it with no charge like UFC. It will be very organized and state of the art.

Jackson: The AEW streaming service isn’t of interest to me. FITE has the whole back catalogue available of AEW with lots of ROH.

Corrigan: I hope it’s easier to use than Peacock!

What titles will carry over? Do the 6-man tags come over and is the Television Title rebranded?

Wagner: Carry the belts over but to only unify them with the AEW titles. Have the Briscoes take on Jurassic Express. Have Rhett Titus face Sammy Guevara and Gresham vs. Page. I’d keep the 6-man titles and just rebrand them. AEW has talked about 6-man trios titles for a while and now you physically own a set of belts.

Bautista: Some titles’ lineage will end with the purchase. I would carry over the 6 man titles due to the amount of factions. The three main titles will definitely carry over.

Jackson: The Heavyweight, Tag Team and Women’s Titles will come across. I’d like the Pure Title to come across, too, as I love the concept. Six-Man and TV Titles I’d like, but I’d be conscious of oversaturation.

Corrigan: Only the ROH World, Tag Team and Women’s Titles will be carried over.

What does your commentary team look like now if you were choosing?

Wagner: Bring back Riccaboni and Coleman. Unless you can land Kevin Kelly along with them, I won’t settle for less.

Bautista: I would be calling Mauro Ranallo. Get Ian Riccaboni to balance out Mauro’s enthusiasm and have your pick if you want a third person. You can also save Jim Ross for PPVs and make it special.

Jackson: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana and Caprice Coleman. Great trio who are a ton of fun!

Corrigan: Ian Riccaboni and one of AEW’s dozen commentators. Take your pick (not Excalibur, though).

What talent do you immediately bring over and at what rate?

Wagner: Get the guys you know are valuable for a relaunch of ROH but can also be players in AEW down the road. Just send the main roster over and progressively bring in new stars, but it doesn’t need to be a brand new roster out the shoot.

Bautista: I’m bringing the top tag teams over and having the best tag team tournament that has ever been put on. Bandido is also on the top of that list along with Jonathan Gresham.

Jackson: Bandido, Dragon Lee, Rush and the Briscoes after Supercard of Honor. The rest of the roster between April and next year.

Corrigan: Briscoes vs. FTR. Immediately.

What will the Sinclair era of Ring Of Honor’s legacy be?

Wagner: The legacy will be the talent created during the run. ROH was the home of the Young Bucks, Hangman and Cody. It also exposed Kenny Omega to the U.S. audience (to some extent). ROH wouldn’t have survived shy of 20 years if it wasn’t for Sinclair, but it was the talent that came through that made it run longer than it should have.

Bautista: The lasting legacy of Sinclair’s Ring Of Honor will be for about 2-3 years, it didn’t get in ROH’s way, but for eight years, it did everything it could to get in the way. Sinclair kept ROH going and allowed talent to polish their craft.

Jackson: The ROH SBG era will always (sadly) be seen as inferior to the golden era of ROH’s early days. But those who watched the SBG era got to see the legacy continued in ROH as producing the best technical wrestling on the planet. Plus, producing the best wrestlers in the world and the pool that inspired AEW to be formed, that’s here today!

Corrigan: Sinclair kept the lights on for another decade, but never truly invested in the promotion. The Elite caught lightning in a bottle, and once they left, it was only a matter of time before ROH as we knew it was gone.