AEW President Tony Khan spoke with Marc Raimondi for ESPN this week about the future of Ring of Honor. Khan shocked the wrestling world last month by announcing he was purchasing the company’s video library, brand assets and intellectual property.
Last weekend’s Supercard of Honor pay-per-view from Dallas, TX was the first ROH show under Khan’s control. The event was well received by wrestling fans and critics. He really tried to make it an ROH show, including cameos from ROH alums like Samoa Joe and The Young Bucks.
AEW, ROH & WarnerMedia
When asked about the short-term plans for Ring of Honor, Khan expressed uncertainty. “It’s hard to say,” he told ESPN.
Due to Tony Khan’s business relationship with WarnerMedia, AEW’s media partner in the United States, he had to get an ‘exemption’ from Warner in order to promote the Supercard PPV.
Khan says there’s great potential in continuing ROH as a weekly series, along with occasional special events.
He did not answer whether or not ROH would serve as a developmental system for AEW, but did reveal he’s had talks with WarnerMedia about what can be done with ROH.
“I think the success of Supercard, critically and commercially, will bode very well for WarnerMedia really taking an interest in Ring of Honor, as well as AEW,” he said. “I think there’s great potential to have a complementary wrestling brand.”
Booking ROH
Tony Khan has stated that he plans to be the booker of Ring Honor. However, he already has a lot of responsibilities with AEW, the Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham FC.
There is a risk that he is spreading himself too thin, but Khan said it was “very natural” for him to handle the booking for the Supercard PPV.
Visit ESPN to read the full interview with Tony Khan.
