Ring Of Honor (ROH) COO Joe Koff recently spoke to Alfred Konuwa of Forbes to talk about several professional wrestling topics.
Koff first discussed a possible TV deal for ROH. He was asked if there are any streaming or TV deals on the table at the moment:
“I don’t have anyone specifically, but I know that there will be somebody because that’s how things work.
“I think there has to be a need, and there has to be a reason, and if I fulfill and can satisfy those reasons, then the benefits can exist and we can start having more serious conversations.”
He was then asked about the legal back-and-forth between ROH and WWE over Madison Square Garden:
“I think that it’s been probably blown up more than it is. There was conversation, and there was a back-and-forth and it got to a point where there was an impasse that had to be broken up.
“But the good news was there was continuous discussion [with MSG] throughout the process. And as long as people are in discussion and dialogue, and we can establish some kind of common ground as opposed to compromise, then things can happen. We just had to work through all those things.
“Obviously, it is their backyard, and it is their home arena. And I have to tell you, my love for wrestling began in that arena when it was on Eighth Avenue, and I saw my first match there.
“And I knew there was magic between those four posts and underneath those ring lights and it never left me. So to be able to fulfill this dream, not only for but for the fans and for the wrestlers was just penultimate. It was just fabulous.”
War With WWE?
Koff was then asked if he thinks a war between WWE and ROH is looming. Here’s what he had to say:
“It doesn’t. If you want me to say it does, it doesn’t. I’m focused on my business, and they have a business and they’re really, really good at it and if we were to look at the two battle sides, I would feel like maybe—I was just watching Braveheart, so I’m going to just use that analogy here—maybe we’re William Wallace in that first battle for the first time. But at the end of the day, they run a business, I run a business.
“There’s plenty of room in the space for both businesses, and I don’t consider this a war at all. And it would be a silly war to get into. I think we have to stay focused on what we believe in for our companies and follow that course.”
