Ring of Honor will soon be under new ownership. With that transfer comes a major shake-up for the company’s operations.
Back in October 2021, ROH announced it would undergo a “reconceptualization” period after December’s Final Battle pay-per-view. All contracted wrestlers were also let go at this time. The company planned to relaunch in April 2022 with a mission to provide a new and unique fan-focused product.
Fast forward to the March 2nd episode of AEW Dynamite, which saw AEW President Tony Khan announce that he has an agreement in place to buy Ring of Honor’s video library, brand assets, and intellectual property.
The wrestling community largely embraced the deal, but a number of ROH employees will soon be out of work.
Winding Down of The Old ROH
SEScoops has learned Ring of Honor execs expect the deal with Tony Khan to close around the first week of April. It could be finalized sooner than that, but that is the timeframe they are working with.
There is a feeling that the deal went “in reverse” and “backwards” because it came together quickly and now a lot of details are being hammered out.
Trusted sources say ROH employees were told the company doesn’t get the impression the ‘new regime’ is interested in hiring them after the sale goes through. Staff has been encouraged to explore new career opportunities, including speaking to Sinclair Broadcast Group’s HR department about transferring elsewhere in the company. Severance packages are being considered but nothing is decided on yet.
Management is still unsure if they will issue a statement to let fans know that a new team will be bringing them the product they’ve followed for years.
The HonorClub streaming service is in limbo. ROH has a call scheduled with AEW to review the technical setup behind HonorClub and determine if that asset will be included as part of the sale. Otherwise, ROH will have to “unwind” everything related to that service. Subscribers will be notified of changes to the service and where they can get video content going forward at some point.
The general message to ROH staff has been described to us as, “We’re fighting for you and exploring how to help everyone. If you want to stay in the wrestling business, we’re doing our best, but there is no formal transition planned and no guarantee that anybody will stay on.”
For more on the sale of Ring of Honor, listen to the latest episode of the Business of the Business podcast, the official business podcast of SEScoops:
Listen to “Episode 67 – AEW buying Ring Of Honor” on Spreaker.