Ian Riccaboni (born January 13, 1987) 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- ...
commentator, sports broadcaster, author, and politician. He is signed to
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 ...
(English commentator),
Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011; the promotion was subs ...
(as play-by-play commentator)
and
All Elite Wrestling
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. It is owned and operated by Shahid Khan, Shahid and Tony Khan, with the latter serving as President (corporate title), president an ...
(as back-up commentator).
Early life and education
Riccaboni was born January 13, 1987, in
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in eastern Pennsylvania, United States. The county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, it is the List o ...
. He graduated from
Salisbury High School in
Salisbury Township, Pennsylvania, in 2005. He graduated from
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
in May 2009 with a bachelor's degree in media and communications,
in May 2010 with a master's degree in education management from the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
and in February 2025 with a Master of Business Administration from
Lehigh University
Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...
Career
Riccaboni first appeared on television when he was cast in a 1996
KidsPeace commercial featuring former
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
pitcher
Jim Kaat
James Lee Kaat (; born November 7, 1938), nicknamed "Kitty", is an American former professional baseball player and television sports commentator. A left-handed pitcher, he played Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Senators / Minnes ...
.
Riccaboni spent his early summers as a batboy for the
Allentown Ambassadors of the independent
Northern League. A fan of
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- ...
from a young age, Riccaboni's mother would take him to professional events put on by
World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...
(WWF),
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), and
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) in his native Allentown.
During his first year at NYU, Riccaboni answered a casting call to be a part of a special to air on
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
called The Notorious BG, hosted by
Gideon Yago with special guest
Bill Gates
William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American businessman and philanthropist. A pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, he co-founded the software company Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend ...
. In early 2006, Riccaboni was cast for an
MTVU
MTVU (formerly stylized as MtvU and mtvU) is an American digital cable TV channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group, a unit of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. MTVU programming initially served 750 college and univ ...
commercial for their Best Music on Campus competition, competing on guitar, harmonica, and vocals.
While at NYU, Riccaboni played baseball and was a Dean's Scholar,
playing gigs around New York and NYU,
including a gig opening for the cast of ''
Spring Awakening'' at an NYU event in Gould Plaza.
Riccaboni graduated NYU as the Class of 2009 president
and received the President's Service Award.
After graduating NYU in May 2009, Riccaboni pursued and completed a master's degree from Penn in education management. During his time at Penn, he returned to television, playing bass guitar as lead singer for the house band on "Hump Night with Kris Fried" on
Service Electric TV 2.
Riccaboni has been married since October 6, 2012, to his wife Sarah, and they have two children.
He resides in Salisbury Township, Pennsylvania in the
Lehigh Valley
The Lehigh Valley () is a geography, geographic and urban area, metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh and Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a co ...
region of eastern
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
.
Phillies Nation TV (2012–2015)
Riccaboni began writing as a full-time contributor to ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
''-award-winning blog Phillies Nation
in November 2011.
In 2012, Phillies Nation began producing ''
Phillies Nation TV'' and Riccaboni began appearing on the show, interviewing minor leaguers and
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...
fans, including
Marc Summers and
Tony Luke.
In 2014, Riccaboni conducted a four-part interview with
Curt Simmons for the show and in 2015 interviewed
Brad Lidge and
Bobby Shantz.
In association with Phillies Nation, Riccaboni released a book, "The 100 Greatest Phillies of All Time" on September 15, 2015.
Ring of Honor (2014–present)
Riccaboni began his professional wrestling announcing career after a chance meeting with
The Blue Meanie, Brian Hefron. Riccaboni was to interview Hefron as part of his beat interviewing famous
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...
fans. The two were searching for a location, and Hefron suggested
Monster Factory
Monster Factory is a
professional wrestling school located in Paulsboro, New Jersey, owned and operated by Danny Cage. It is considered to be the first publicly available professional wrestling school. Larry Sharpe opened the Monster Factory ...
in
Paulsboro, New Jersey. While filming the segment, Riccaboni met Monster Factory owner
Danny Cage. Riccaboni phoned Cage about getting started in
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- ...
after the completion of the segment before beginning to work with the Monster Factory as an interviewer and commentator.
Through a camp with
Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011; the promotion was subs ...
(ROH) broadcaster
Kevin Kelly and wrestler
Bob Evans, Riccaboni discovered and asked to attend an ROH tryout camp.
Riccaboni started as a personality with Ring of Honor at Future of Honor 2 in July 2014.
Riccaboni called his first match with Ring of Honor on Saturday January 3, 2015, which featured
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 Chris LeRusso.
[ ]
In May 2015, Riccaboni made his debut as a ring announcer with Ring of Honor, announcing the first match at
Global Wars '15's television taping.
Riccaboni served as an in-arena host for Ring of Honor live events and a commentator for ''Future of Honor'' and ''Women of Honor'' matches
before assuming the role of lead announcer starting with the February 25, 2017, episode.
Riccaboni called his first
Pay Per View with ROH at
ROH 15th Anniversary Show alongside Kelly and
Colt Cabana
Scott Colton (born May 6, 1980), better known by the ring name Colt Cabana, is an American professional wrestler, color commentator, and podcaster. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a wrestler and as a coach, and he performs the same ...
.
He and Cabana hold the distinction of being the first duo to ever call a
Minoru Suzuki
(born June 17, 1968) is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, known for his tenure in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former one-time IWGP Intercontinental Ch ...
match on American soil when they did so at the
Death Before Dishonor XV Pay Per View event.
In 2018, Riccaboni was commentator for the
ALL IN broadcast with
Don Callis
Donald Callis (born October 13, 1963) is a Canadian professional wrestling manager (wrestling), manager, color commentator, actor, and former professional wrestler and business executive. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he works a ...
,
Sean Mooney,
Excalibur
Excalibur is the mythical sword of King Arthur that may possess magical powers or be associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. Its first reliably datable appearance is found in Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. E ...
, Alicia Atout,
Justin Roberts, and
Bobby Cruise Riccaboni served as the lead play-by-play announcer with Excalibur, Callis, and others joining throughout the night. On December 15, 2018, Riccaboni and Cabana were presented with the 2018 Broadcast Team of the Year Award by veteran wrestling writer, photographer, and editor
Bill Apter
William Stanley Apter (born October 22, 1945) is an American journalist and photographer specializing in professional wrestling. He was an editorial staff member and photographer for several magazines during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, notably ''P ...
.
On April 6, 2019, Riccaboni, Kelly, and Cabana called
G1 Supercard, the first non-
WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...
wrestling event in
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 ...
since 1960.
In November 2019 at the Ring of Honor event "Unauthorized", Riccaboni wrestled the first match of his career, teaming with Camera Man Gator,
Colt Cabana
Scott Colton (born May 6, 1980), better known by the ring name Colt Cabana, is an American professional wrestler, color commentator, and podcaster. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a wrestler and as a coach, and he performs the same ...
, Gary Juster (Ring of Honor's Director of Operation), and Todd Sinclair (a referee) to defeat Brian Johnson and
Shane Taylor Promotions in a
ten-man tag team match.
On December 23, 2019, RetroSoft Studios announced Riccaboni and Cabana would be providing commentary for the sequel to the 1991 arcade game ''
WWF WrestleFest'', ''
RetroMania Wrestling'', on
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...
,
Nintendo Switch
The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...
,
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...
, and
PC.
Riccaboni represented Ring of Honor at
Impact 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 busine ...
's
Hard To Kill (2022) calling the
ROH World Championship
The ROH World Championship is a professional wrestling Championship (professional wrestling)#World championships, world championship created and promoted by Ring of Honor (ROH). It is considered the most prestigious title in the promotion. The cu ...
bout between
Jonathan Gresham and
Chris Sabin
Joshua Harter (born February 4, 1982), better known by the ring name Chris Sabin, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand.
After being trained by Scott D'Amore, Sabin debuted in 2000 f ...
. Riccaboni became the first commentator to appear on both a ROH Pay Per View and an Impact Pay Per View and did so within 28 days between Hard to Kill and
Final Battle (2021).
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2022–present)
On a Lehigh Valley with Love broadcast, Riccaboni announced he was still under contract with ROH but would begin on a tryout basis with
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 ...
’s
NJPW Strong
NJPW Strong is a brand name utilized by Japanese professional wrestling promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and its New Japan Pro-Wrestling of America (NJoA) subsidiary.
In its original incarnation, ''NJPW Strong'' was the name of a weekly ...
on their January tapings in Seattle. It was reported in August 2022 that Riccaboni would be continuing with New Japan as the voice of Strong through at least the remainder of 2022.
All Elite Wrestling (2022–present)
Following
Tony Khan's purchase of Ring of Honor, Riccaboni would appear to commentate during Ring of Honor matches on
All Elite Wrestling
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. It is owned and operated by Shahid Khan, Shahid and Tony Khan, with the latter serving as President (corporate title), president an ...
, notably on April 29, 2022, during
Samoa Joe
Nuufolau Joel Seanoa (born March 17, 1979), better known by the ring name Samoa Joe, is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of the Opps, and is one-third of the AEW Worl ...
's victory over
Trent Beretta on
''Rampage''.
Riccaboni became the target of
Chris Jericho
Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler, rock musician, and actor. As a wrestler, he has been signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) , where he ...
and the
Jericho Appreciation Society following Jericho's
ROH World Championship
The ROH World Championship is a professional wrestling Championship (professional wrestling)#World championships, world championship created and promoted by Ring of Honor (ROH). It is considered the most prestigious title in the promotion. The cu ...
victory over
Claudio Castagnoli
Claudio Castagnoli ( ; born 27 December 1980) is a Swiss professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of the Death Riders and a former AEW World Trios Championship, AEW World Trios Champion. He also per ...
at
AEW Grand Slam (2022). Riccaboni would call all of Jericho's World Title defenses, including Jericho's defense at
Full Gear (2022),
making Riccaboni the first-ever to call Pay Per View bouts for ROH, Impact, GCW, NJPW, and AEW, doing so all in the same calendar year.
In July 2023, it was reported that Riccaboni signed a multi-year contract with AEW.
Riccaboni has since served as a backup commentator for AEW.
Community involvement
Riccaboni was a member of the
Upper Dublin Historical Commission
and teaches at
Holy Family University
Holy Family University is a Private university, private Catholic university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1954 and has four schools: Arts & Sciences, Business & Technology, Education, and Nursing & Health Scie ...
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 ...
.
As a writer with Phillies Nation, Riccaboni worked to coordinate Wiffadelphia,
Quizzo,
and wrestling events
events that raised food and money for
Philabundance and Food Bank of South Jersey.
With ROH, Riccaboni has led the ROH Cares initiative to encourage ROH wrestlers, crew, and staff to improve the communities they are in as well as the ones that host ROH events. In 2017, Riccaboni and Cabana partnered with
Rocky Romero
John Raymond Rivera (born October 28, 1982), better known by his ring name Rocky Romero (ロッキー・ロメロ, ''Rokkī Romero''), is a Cuban-American professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and All Elite Wrest ...
, Bobby Cruise, and
Cody Rhodes
Cody Garrett Runnels Rhodes (born June 30, 1985) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. As of April 2022, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown brand. He is also known for co-fou ...
to raise $1550 across two nights to support victims of
Hurricane Irma
Hurricane Irma was an extremely powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record, followed by Hurricane Maria, Maria two weeks later. At the time, it was considered ...
and
Hurricane Maria
Hurricane Maria was an extremely powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that affected the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which accounted for 2,975 of the 3,059 deaths. It is the ...
.
In 2019, Riccaboni and ROH ambassador
Cary Silkin represented ROH at a WXW-C4 event co-promoted by WWE and coordinated by Lance Anoa'i to benefit
Samu (wrestler)
Samuel Fred Anoaʻi (born May 29, 1963) is an American retired professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Samu. He is signed to WWE on a Legends contract. He is best known for his appearances with World Champions ...
.
Following
Final Battle (2019), Riccaboni and
Caprice Coleman
Caprice Coleman (born 20 March 1977) is an American professional wrestler who has competed in Mid-Atlantic and Southern independent promotions including Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, NWA Wildside, Ring of Honor and, in recent years, Live Acti ...
conducted a book drive for the
United Way
United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit organization, nonprofit fundraising affiliates. Prior to 2015, United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public. Individual Un ...
and
WLVT-TV's Lehigh Valley Reads organization and the pair raised 526 books to donate.
Riccaboni has been involved in multiple efforts to raise money for LGBTQ causes. In 2019, ROH offered a redesigned Pride Edition of the t-shirt featuring his signature sign-off "Happy Wrestling" with the
Pride Flag
A pride flag is any flag that represents a segment or part of the LGBTQ community. ''Pride'' in this case refers to the notion of LGBTQ pride. The terms ''LGBTQ flag'' and ''queer flag'' are often used interchangeably.
Pride flags can represen ...
with proceeds going to the Bradbury-Sullivan
LGBT
LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...
community center in his hometown of Allentown.
In 2020, Pro Wrestling Tees and ROH released a MicroBrawler in Riccaboni's likeness with the proceeds once again being donated to Bradbury-Sullivan.
In 2021, Riccaboni and Bradbury-Sullivan partnered with Cameo on a campaign to once again raise money for the center in his hometown.
On July 31, 2023, Riccaboni was appointed as a member of the
Salisbury Township School District School Board, filling a vacant seat created by a resignation.
References
External links
Ian Riccaboniat
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riccaboni, Ian
1987 births
All Elite Wrestling personnel
American sports announcers
Holy Family University
Lehigh University alumni
Living people
People from Allentown, Pennsylvania
American professional wrestling announcers
Salisbury High School (Pennsylvania) alumni
Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development alumni
University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education alumni