Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American
professional wrestling
Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...
promotion based in
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by
Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011; the promotion was subsequently sold to the
Sinclair Broadcast Group, and then sold to
Tony Khan.
Throughout the 2010s, ROH was considered the third largest wrestling promotion in the United States, behind
WWE and
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (abbreviated as TNA Wrestling or TNA) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, a Canadian media company owned by busines ...
, initially operating on an
internet
The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
distribution model. Under Sinclair's ownership, ROH began talent-sharing deals with wrestling companies outside the U.S., expanded their television visibility through Sinclair's broadcast stations, and eventually established its own streaming service in 2018 called
Honor Club.
As Sinclair was struggling with
debt
Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money Loan, borrowed or otherwise withheld from another party, the creditor. Debt may be owed by a sovereign state or country, local government, company, or an individual. Co ...
in the late 2010s, ROH went on a hiatus at the end of 2021.
In March 2022, the promotion was sold to
Tony Khan, also the co-owner of
All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The sale completed in May 2022. Currently, ROH operates as a sister promotion to AEW.
History
2002–2011: Formation and early years
In April 2001, the pro wrestling video-distribution company RF Video needed a new promotion to lead its video sales when its best-seller –
Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was an American professional wrestling promotion that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and operated by its parent company HHG Corporation. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as Nationa ...
(ECW) – went out of business and WWE purchased its assets. RF Video also videotaped events held by other, less-popular, regional wrestling promotions; it sold these through its catalog and website. After months of trying to join
Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), RF Video's owner, Rob Feinstein, decided to fill the ECW void by starting his own pro wrestling promotion, and distributing its made-for-DVD/VHS productions exclusively through RF Video.
The first event, titled ''The Era of Honor Begins'', took place on February 23, 2002, in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, the former home area of ECW. It featured nine matches, including a match between
Eddy Guerrero and
Super Crazy for the
IWA Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship and a
triple threat match between
Christopher Daniels,
Bryan Danielson
Bryan Lloyd Danielson (born May 22, 1981) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs on a part time basis. He is also known for his tenure in WWE, where he performed under t ...
, and
Low Ki (who would become known as the "founding fathers of ROH"). In its first year of operation, Ring of Honor confined itself to staging live events in a limited number of venues and cities – primarily in the northeastern United States. Ten shows ran in Philadelphia, two in
Wakefield, Massachusetts; one in metro
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
; and, one in
Queens, New York
Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...
.
In 2003, ROH expanded to other areas of the United States, including
Ohio
Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
,
Connecticut
Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
, and
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
.
In
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
, ROH supported
Full Impact Pro, which would serve as a sister promotion until 2009. It also began to build its international identity by co-promoting an event with
Frontier Wrestling Alliance in
London, England on May 17, 2003.
In 2004, Feinstein was caught in an internet-based sting operation, in which he allegedly tried to solicit sex on the internet from a person that he thought to be an underage boy (but was actually an adult, posing as a minor). After this was publicized by some news outlets, Feinstein resigned from ROH in March 2004.
In the aftermath of the scandal,
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (abbreviated as TNA Wrestling or TNA) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, a Canadian media company owned by busines ...
(TNA) ended its talent-sharing agreement with Ring of Honor, abruptly withdrawing all of its contracted wrestlers from their prior commitments to perform in ROH shows—including major ROH draws
A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels, who held and were about to hold
ROH championships, respectively. Doug Gentry eventually bought Feinstein's stake in ROH, and later sold it to Cary Silkin.
ROH then started its own mail-order and online store operations, which sold DVDs of its live events, plus
shoot interviews (dubbed The Straight Shootin' Series) with wrestlers and managers, DVDs of
SHIMMER (which would serve as a second sister promotion from 2005 to 2010) and even some merchandise from competitors, such as
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Los Angeles, California. As of 2024, it is on an extended hiatus. It was created by pro wrestlers Disco Machine, Excalibur, Scott Lost, Joey Ryan, Super ...
. Under Silkin, ROH branched out across the world.
On January 23, 2007, ROH announced plans for a Japanese tour, resulting in a show on July 16 in Tokyo called "Live In Tokyo", co-promoted with
Pro Wrestling Noah and a show on July 17 called "Live In Osaka" in
Osaka
is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...
co-promoted with
Dragon Gate.
On May 2, 2007, Ring of Honor announced the signing of a
PPV and
VOD deal with G-Funk Sports & Entertainment to bring ROH into homes with
In Demand Networks,
TVN, and the
Dish Network. The deal called for six taped pay-per-view events to air every 60 days. Because of the move to pay-per-view, TNA Wrestling immediately pulled its contracted stars (
Austin Aries,
Christopher Daniels, and
Homicide
Homicide is an act in which a person causes the death of another person. A homicide requires only a Volition (psychology), volitional act, or an omission, that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from Accident, accidenta ...
) from ROH shows. The first pay-per-view, titled
"Respect is Earned", taped on May 12, first aired on July 1 on Dish Network.
Ring of Honor continued to expand throughout 2008, debuting in Orlando, Florida on March 28 for Dragon Gate Challenge II, in Manassas, Virginia on May 9 for Southern Navigation and in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, Ontario on July 25 for Northern Navigation. On May 10, 2008, Ring of Honor set an attendance record in its debut show, A New Level, from the
Hammerstein Ballroom in the
Manhattan Center in New York City. It had plans for shows in
St. Louis, Missouri,
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
, and
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
before the end of 2008. On October 26, 2008, the company announced the departure of head
booker Gabe Sapolsky
Gabe Sapolsky (born September 26, 1972) is an American professional wrestling promoter and booker. He is signed to WWE, where he oversees WWE ID and WWE NIL, WWE ID (Independent Development), a talent identification and development initiative.
S ...
, and his replacement by
Adam Pearce.
On January 26, 2009, Ring of Honor announced that it had signed an agreement with
HDNet Fights for a weekly television program.
The first tapings for ''
Ring of Honor Wrestling'' took place on February 28 and March 1, 2009, at
The Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and series premiered on
HDNet on March 21, 2009. After nearly a year of producing weekly television broadcasts, RoH announced on January 20, 2010, that it would commission a new title, the
ROH World Television Championship, to be decided in an eight-man tournament beginning February 5, 2010, and ending February 6, 2010, on its ''Ring of Honor Wrestling'' program.
Due to a
blizzard
A blizzard is a severe Winter storm, snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow th ...
, however, the second half of the tournament did not take place until March 5, 2010, when
Eddie Edwards defeated
Davey Richards in the finals.
On August 15, 2010, Ring of Honor fired head booker Adam Pearce and replaced him with
Hunter Johnston, who wrestles for the company under the ring name Delirious. On September 8, 2010, Ring of Honor and
Ohio Valley Wrestling announced a working relationship between the two companies.
On January 11, 2011, Ring of Honor announced the ending of ''Ring of Honor Wrestling'', after the completion of the promotion's two-year contract with HDNet. The final tapings of the show would be taking place on January 21 and 22, with the final episode airing on April 4, 2011.
2011–2019: Acquisition by Sinclair and expansion
On May 21, 2011, Ring of Honor and
Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that the broadcast carrier had purchased ROH, with former owner Cary Silkin remaining with the company in an executive role. The promotion's programming began airing the weekend of September 24, 2011, with a relaunched ''
Ring of Honor Wrestling'' airing on several Sinclair owned-or-operated stations; the show aired primarily on Saturday or Sunday afternoons or late nights, or on prime time on some of Sinclair's
CW and
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV (stylized as mynetworkTV; unofficially abbreviated MNT or MNTV) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its Fox Television Stations ...
affiliates (as those networks do not run programming on weekend evenings).
On June 22, Ring of Honor held their first live pay-per-view event,
Best in the World, from the Nashville State Fairgrounds in Nashville, Tennessee. In September, Sinclair began
syndicating ROH to other stations; the first deal was reached with
WATL, a
Gannett
Gannett Co., Inc. ( ) is an American mass media holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation.
It owns the national newspaper ''USA Today'', as well as several ...
-owned
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
station, which began airing ROH on September 13, 2014.
On October 27, 2014, ROH announced a toy licensing deal with Figures Toy Company, which would see the distribution of
action figures
An action figure is a poseable character (arts), character model figure made most commonly of plastic, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, military, video game, television program, or sport; fictional or historical. These fig ...
based on the Ring of Honor wrestlers, replica title belts and more.
On May 27, 2015, ROH announced a 26-week television deal with
Destination America, beginning on June 3.
On December 13, 2015, ROH announced a partnership with Southern California promotion
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Los Angeles, California. As of 2024, it is on an extended hiatus. It was created by pro wrestlers Disco Machine, Excalibur, Scott Lost, Joey Ryan, Super ...
(PWG), which would allow ROH contracted wrestlers to continue working for PWG. On August 30, 2016, ROH announced the creation of a new title, the
ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship. The inaugural champions were crowned in December.
On November 9, 2017, ROH COO
Joe Koff announced that ROH would be developing an
OTT streaming service, similar to
WWE Network and Impact Wrestling's
Global Wrestling Network. The service,
Honor Club, would be unveiled on February 2, 2018, and launch on February 19. At
Final Battle 2017, on December 15, 2017, ROH announced the creation of the
Women of Honor Championship, adding its fifth championship and the first for
its female roster.
On September 1, 2018, ROH wrestlers
Cody Rhodes and
The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) promoted and wrestled at
All In – an event that was produced in collaboration with ROH, featuring wrestlers from numerous promotions that drew over 11,000 fans in suburban
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. This was the first U.S. pro wrestling event not promoted by
WWE or the defunct
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...
(WCW) to reach the 10,000 attendance mark since the 1990s. Also in 2018, ROH and longtime partner
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
(NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...
(NJPW) announced a joint event at
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
called
G1 Supercard, which was held on April 6, 2019. The event quickly sold out, and became the biggest and most attended event in ROH history.
2019–2021: Departures, effects of COVID-19, debt and hiatus
In early 2019, Rhodes, the Bucks, and several other talents left the company to start their own promotion –
All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The departure of Ring of Honor's top talent for AEW was viewed by many wrestling journalists and commenters as the beginning of a decline for the promotion in 2019.
Much of the criticism focused on the reign of then-ROH World Champion
Matt Taven.
ROH had fewer PPV buys and a reduced live show attendance that year. According to
Dave Meltzer, ROH's average live show attendance in 2019 was 1,082—lower than its averages in 2018 and 2017.
In October 2019, ROH producer/road agent
Joey Mercury resigned, criticizing ROH for a lack of creative direction as well as having no concussion protocol for wrestlers. Mercury would reveal that ROH allowed then-
Women of Honor Champion Kelly Klein to wrestle after suffering a concussion during an October 26, 2019, event. Klein sought medical treatment after suffering post-concussion-syndrome symptoms. She would not be booked for the rest of the year and her contract would expire in December.
In January 2020, Ring of Honor re-signed
Marty Scurll; the deal was said to be the most lucrative in ROH history. In addition to being a wrestler, Scurll was also made head
booker, working with longtime booker Hunter "Delirious" Johnston. Scurll's deal allowed him to continue to make appearances in New Japan Pro-Wrestling and the
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc.
Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...
, where he began a cross-promotional feud with
NWA World Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis.
However, during the
Speaking Out Movement, Scurll was accused of taking advantage of a 16-year-old girl who was inebriated. Scurll would release two statements in which he did not deny the allegations, but claimed the encounter was consensual. On June 25, the promotion announced that they launched an investigation concerning the allegations, and Scurll was removed from his position as booker. By January 2021, Ring of Honor announced that Marty Scurll was no longer under contract after the two parties mutually agreed to part ways.
On January 31, 2020, Ring of Honor announced the return of the
ROH Pure Championship, with a tournament to crown the first Pure champion since 2006. The following month, the promotion announced another tournament to crown a new
ROH Women's World Championship, following the deactivation of the
Women of Honor World Championship title. However, in response to the 2020
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, Ring of Honor would postpone live events beginning in March.
Television tapings for ''
Ring of Honor Wrestling'' would resume in August at the
Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena (formerly known as the UMBC Event Center) from the promotion's homebase in Maryland but without fans in attendance.
New episodes would begin syndication on September 12, with a revamped format, and the beginning of the Pure title tournament. Ten days prior, Ring of Honor launched a Free ad-supported television (FAST) channel on the Sinclair-owned streaming service
Stirr called "ROH Best On The Planet".
Final Battle would be the promotion's sole pay-per-view event in 2020, while live audiences would return on July 11, 2021, at
Best in the World.
It was revealed during their 2021 Q3 financial results that Sinclair had $12,530,000 USD in
debt
Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money Loan, borrowed or otherwise withheld from another party, the creditor. Debt may be owed by a sovereign state or country, local government, company, or an individual. Co ...
, largely due to the
Diamond Sports Group (the subsidiary that operates the
Bally Sports networks). On October 27, 2021, Ring of Honor announced that it would go on a hiatus after
Final Battle in December, with a return tentatively scheduled for April 2022. All personnel would also be released from their contracts as part of plans to "reimagine" the company as a "fan-focused product".
In the interim, the men's and woman's championships were defended at events held by various other promotions, including
Impact Wrestling and Jonathan Gresham's new Terminus promotion.
2022–present: Acquisition by Tony Khan

On January 10, 2022, ROH announced that
Supercard of Honor XV would take place at the
Curtis Culwell Center in
Garland, Texas
Garland is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located within Dallas County, Texas, Dallas County with portions extending into Collin County, Texas, Collin and Rockwall County, Texas, Rockwall counties. It is located northeast of Dallas and is a ...
, on April 1. These matches were also seen on ''Ring of Honor Wrestling''. In addition, it was reported that Ring of Honor would operate "like an indie", using non-contracted talent.
On the March 2 episode of
All Elite Wrestling's live weekly series ''
Dynamite
Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern German ...
'', president and co-founder
Tony Khan announced that he had purchased Ring of Honor from Sinclair Broadcast Group, including its brand assets, intellectual property, and video library. Khan also announced that he intends to make the ROH library available to the public in its entirety. It was clarified through a press release issued that night that the acquisition was made through an entity separate from AEW and wholly-owned by Khan.
In a media scrum following AEW's ''
Revolution
In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...
'' PPV on March 6, Khan revealed that he eventually planned to run ROH separately from AEW, and also indicated that ROH could be used as a developmental brand for AEW.

On April 1 at
Supercard of Honor XV, the first ROH event after the hiatus,
Jonathan Gresham defeated
Bandido in the main event to unify the
ROH World Championship, and numerous other ROH titles changed hands.
The event also saw the return of former ROH champion, and recently inducted
ROH Hall of Famer,
Samoa Joe.
On May 4, the sale of ROH to Tony Khan was officially completed. ROH matches began appearing on
AEW programs, and
Death Before Dishonor was the first ROH PPV under the new ownership. On December 10, after
Final Battle, Khan announced that ROH's weekly televised program will be aired on the relaunched Honor Club streaming platform, starting in 2023.
On January 18, 2023, a one-off special tribute show to ROH mainstay
Jay Briscoe, who had been killed in a car accident the day before, was taped for
Honor Club.
On February 25 and 26, new episodes of the relaunched ''
Ring of Honor Wrestling'' program were taped at
Soundstage 19 in
Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. On March 2, the weekly series began to air exclusively through
Honor Club.
Features
Code of Honor

ROH distinguishes its image from other wrestling promotions through the "Code of Honor", a set of rules dictating how wrestlers should conduct themselves during matches. The Code of Honor aimed to infuse Ring of Honor's matches with a feel similar to
Japanese professional wrestling.
When the promotion began, the Code of Honor included five "Laws" mentioned at some point during each ROH production. ROH considered it a moral requirement to follow these rules, which usually appeared in the following order:
# You must shake hands before and after every match
# No outside interference
# No sneak attacks
# No harming the
officials
# Any action resulting in a disqualification violates the Code of Honor
This initial Code of Honor (COH) (especially its first three rules) helped
heels get over more quickly than in other promotions. The first rule applied especially to
Christopher Daniels, whom the promotion pushed as its first major heel. Daniels and his faction, The Prophecy, rejected the Code of Honor and refused to shake anyone's hand. The fourth and fifth rules emphasized the finishes of ROH matches – the vast majority of which ended decisively (with clean
pinfalls, submissions, or knockouts) – unlike what most rival promotions at the time did. On the rare occasion that a match did end with outside interference, with a "ref bump", or with some other traditional heel scenario, the live audiences reacted much more negatively than rival promotions' live audiences. In ROH's early days, on-air commentators even suggested (within
kayfabe) that getting disqualified in a match may result in that wrestler never appearing in ROH again.
In early 2004, ROH's
booker at the time,
Gabe Sapolsky
Gabe Sapolsky (born September 26, 1972) is an American professional wrestling promoter and booker. He is signed to WWE, where he oversees WWE ID and WWE NIL, WWE ID (Independent Development), a talent identification and development initiative.
S ...
, began to feel that the Code of Honor had run its course. As a result, wrestlers no longer had to follow it.
The Code of Honor eventually re-appeared – revamped – as the following three rules:
# Shake hands before and after the match if you respect your opponent
# Keep the playing-field level
# Respect the officials
Future of Honor
Future of Honor (FOH) is a series of events featuring the promotion's young wrestlers and trainees from the
ROH Dojo. The term "Future of Honor" is additionally used by the promotion to refer to their young wrestlers and graduates from the dojo system (regardless of gender).
Women of Honor
The ROH
Women of Honor (WOH) division began in 2002, with women's wrestlers sporadically appearing on ROH events until the division was reformed into a permanent feature of the promotion in 2015. The term "Women of Honor" is additionally used by the promotion to refer to their female wrestlers and other female talent. The current top championship in the Women of Honor division is the
ROH Women's World Championship and their other women's title is the
ROH Women's World Television Championship. Previous women's championships used by ROH include the
Women of Honor World Championship, the
Shimmer Championship, and the
Shimmer Tag Team Championship.
ROH Dojo
ROH also runs a
professional wrestling school. Originally named the "ROH Wrestling Academy", and based in
Bristol, Pennsylvania, ROH announced in July 2016 that the following month it was re-opening the school as the "ROH Dojo" in Baltimore, Maryland.
Delirious operates as the head trainer of the school with
Cheeseburger
A cheeseburger is a hamburger with one or more slices of melted cheese on top of the meat patty, added near the end of the cooking time. Cheeseburgers can include variations in structure, ingredients and composition. As with other hamburgers, ...
and
Will Ferrara as his assistants.
[ Previous head trainers of the academy include former ROH World Champions CM Punk, Austin Aries, and Bryan Danielson. From 2005 to 2008, ROH used a "Top of the Class" trophy to promote the students on the main show; while wrestlers win and lose the Trophy in matches, the School's head trainer chooses the winners.
]
ROH Hall of Fame
On January 26, 2022, the ROH Hall of Fame (HOF) was introduced inducting the company's first four Hall of Famers plus one due to one induction being a ROH tag team.
"Proving Ground" matches
As part of ROH's re-launch the promotion added a new contest: the "Proving Ground" match. The match features an up-and-coming star against a seasoned professional who is a title-holder. If the up-and-coming star can defeat, or at least last 10 minutes with, the seasoned professional, the newcomer would earn a future title shot. To date, only 1 newcomer has earned a title shot from a proving ground match, that being Lee Moriarty, who lasted 10 minutes against then- ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta, earning a title shot against Yuta at Death Before Dishonor 2024, where Moriarty would defeat Yuta to become the new ROH Pure Champion.
"Proving Ground" matches were also relevant for new coming talent in Ring of Honor (ROH) back in 2011 as well.
Partnerships
Throughout its history, Ring of Honor has had working agreements with various domestic and international wrestling promotions at different times.
ROH shows have had outside championships defended on them and on some occasions, wrestlers have held both ROH and outside championships simultaneously.
In February 2014, ROH and NJPW announced a working relationship which would see talent exchanges and dual events between the two promotions. The first co-promoted shows Global Wars and War of the Worlds, took place in May 2014, in Toronto and New York City respectively, with the two companies again co-promoting these events in May 2015 – with the War of the Worlds '15 taking place at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
on May 12 and 13, and the Global Wars '15 event in Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
on May 15 and 16. As part of the relationship with NJPW, ROH announced it would promote two shows, entitled Honor Rising: Japan 2016, in Tokyo in February 2016.
On August 10, 2016, Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) officially announced a working relationship with ROH. The two promotions were linked through their separate partnerships with NJPW. Their alliance ended on April 27, 2021.
In February 2017, ROH began a partnership with Japanese women's promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom.
In August 2017, ROH partnered with United Kingdom promotion Revolution Pro Wrestling
Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro/RPW) is a British professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on 26 August 2012 by Andy Quildan after separating from International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom.
Revolution Pro Wre ...
(RPW), producing joint events such as War of the Worlds UK.
In 2018, ROH entered into a partnership with the independent promotion Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Los Angeles, California. As of 2024, it is on an extended hiatus. It was created by pro wrestlers Disco Machine, Excalibur, Scott Lost, Joey Ryan, Super ...
(PWG).
In 2019, Maryland based independent promotion MCW Pro Wrestling was made an affiliate of ROH, serving as an additional training ground for ROH recruits.
Championships and accomplishments
Current champions
Retired championships
Other accomplishments
See also
* List of Ring of Honor pay-per-view events
* List of Ring of Honor personnel
* ROH Alumni
*'' Ring of Honor Wrestling''
References
External links
Official ROH website
Official ROH Roster website
Ring of Honor (ROH)
at Cagematch.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ring Of Honor
American professional wrestling promotions
American independent professional wrestling promotions based in Pennsylvania
American independent professional wrestling promotions based in Maryland
Entertainment companies established in 2002
Sinclair Broadcast Group
2002 establishments in Pennsylvania
Professional wrestling in Florida
Professional wrestling shows in Baltimore
Professional wrestling in Philadelphia
Companies based in Baltimore
Companies based in Jacksonville, Florida
2011 mergers and acquisitions
2022 mergers and acquisitions
All Elite Wrestling