Ring Of Honor is ALL ELITE! AEW President Tony Khan's big announcement on this week's edition of AEW Dynamite was that he had signed on the dotted line and completed the purchase of the beloved wrestling promotion.
It all went down at Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida on Wednesday, March 2. The show opened with Tony Schiavone standing alongside his boss Tony Khan in the ring. Schiavone handed the mic over to TK, who finally made the announcement that he's been teasing since last week. Khan then introduced Ring Of Honor originals Christopher Daniels and Bryan Danielson, who went one-on-one in a match that was ultimately won by Danielson.
Shortly afterward, TK released a memo that contained more details about the deal. The memo revealed that Tony Khan's acquisition of ROH also included the promotion's coveted tape library.
The ROH tape library has added a lot of value to the as-yet-unannounced AEW streaming service. Interestingly, AEW broadcaster Tony Schiavone recently said that he expects AEW to launch its own streaming service at some point. "I think we're going to see a streaming service -- This is my thought, I don't know anything for sure. Just by talking to people, I think there's going to be a streaming service by the end of 2022," Schiavone said on the most recent edition of Ask Tony Live!. "So I think it's going to come up very, very soon," he added.
Ring of Honor was founded by Rob Feinstein in 2002 but was owned by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011. In 2011, the company was purchased by Sinclair Broadcast Group. From its inception, ROH was home to some of the most exciting independent talents in the United States. Huge WWE stars like Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and Seth Rollins cut their teeth in the promotion.
At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ring Of Honor ceased operations and canceled all of its upcoming shows, though it continued to pay its talent. The company resumed operations in August of 2020 but struggled to regain momentum. As we previously reported, Ring Of Honor recently released its entire roster as it begins to scale down its business ahead of a hiatus.