The wrestling world is in mourning after the passing of former Ring of Honor COO Joe Koff. In August, he made the decision to discontinue treatment in order to enhance the quality of time he had left with his family. Mike Johnson of PW Insider reports that Koff had been privately battling cancer for some time. On behalf of SEScoops, we express our deepest condolences to Joe Koff’s family and friends.

Joe Koff Remembered

Koff became Senior VP of Training and Development for Sinclair Broadcast Group in 2003, and became ROH’s COO when the company was purchased by Sinclair in 2011. As COO, Koff oversaw several major developments, including announcing a streaming service for the promotion in November 2017. The service, later named Honor Club, was unveiled on February 2, 2018, and launch on February 19.

While Koff joined ROH as part of the Sinclair deal, his involvement in the wrestling world was not merely business. A lifelong fan, Koff attended WWWF events with his father in the original Madison Square Garden. Decades later, it’d be the efforts of Koff and others that would bring ROH to the World’s Most Famous Arena for the G1 Supercard in April 2019. The show became the first non-WWE entity to run the arena in decades, a claim that stands to this day.

Koff’s time with ROH came to an end in 2022 when the promotion changed hands and was acquired by Tony Khan, but his love of wrestling continued long after that.

ROH has sent out a statement in response to being acquired by AEW President Tony Khan.

On the March 2 episode of AEW Dynamite, Tony Khan announced that he purchased Ring of Honor from Sinclair Broadcast Group. In a statement released by AEW, they gushed over the promotion’s video library.

ROH Speaks On Acquisition

Here is ROH’s statement in full:

“An agreement has been reached for All Elite Wrestling CEO Tony Khan to acquire the assets of Ring of Honor Wrestling Entertainment, LLC from Sinclair Broadcast Group.

“Khan made the announcement during Wednesday night’s episode of AEW: Dynamite on TBS.

“’Ring of Honor’s influence on modern professional wrestling is etched permanently in the history books, and this acquisition ensures that its legacy will be kept alive and treated with the utmost respect,’ Khan said.

“ROH COO Joe Koff said: ‘Ring of Honor has produced some of the best professional wrestlers over the past 20 years, but more importantly, it created a family. I will be forever grateful to everyone in the ROH family who has worked tirelessly for the past two decades to take ROH to levels previously unimagined. Tony has the utmost appreciation and respect for Ring of Honor, and I’m truly excited to see how he continues the legacy.’

“ROH was founded in 2002 by a Philadelphia-based pro wrestling video production company and has gone on to become one of the most influential promotions in the industry.

“Emphasizing unparallelled in­-ring action and athleticism, ROH initially catered to a niche audience of disenfranchised hardcore wrestling fans, recording live events in Philadelphia and a few other cities in the Northeast and selling them on DVD and VHS. 

“From those humble beginnings, ROH steadily grew into a global brand that launched the careers of a number of top stars, including CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe, the Briscoes, Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens.

“In 2011, SBG acquired ROH from Cary Silkin, who had been ROH’s sole owner since 2004. Under SBG’s ownership, ROH became the only wrestling company in the U.S. with a major, multi­-market presence on broadcast TV. 

“The next chapter in ROH’s storied history will now be written by Khan, who described himself as ‘a huge fan of Ring of Honor’ when he made the announcement on Dynamite.

“’This deal adds thousands of hours of content to our rapidly growing library and creates new opportunities to expand our footprint on national and global scale, while having the potential to produce new content under the ROH banner,’ Khan said.”

There has been plenty of speculation regarding AEW’s plans for the Ring of Honor brand. We’ve already seen a report from Cassidy Haynes of Bodyslam.net that ROH will be used as a “developmental territory of sort.”

In late October, Ring of Honor announced that the promotion would be going on hiatus following Final Battle. They also noted they planned to return in April of 2022. It was further revealed that the company would no longer be using contracted talent moving forward. Some fans took this to mean ROH was shutting down. ROH COO Joe Koff recently appeared on the ROH Strong podcast to refute this.

 “What seeped into the narrative … is that we were shutting down, when all we announced is that we were not doing any live events in the first quarter,” Koff said.  “We never used the words ‘shutting down.’”

According to a report from PW Insider, a venue for a Ring of Honor show in April during WrestleMania week in Dallas has been booked and paid for. It’s not clear what date the show will run or what venue has been booked, however.

With ROH returning in April but running with no contracted talent, they are likely looking at booking wrestlers much like independent promotions do, using whoever happens to be available on the date with no exclusive contracts. The ROH Championship titles are currently held by Jonathan Gresham (ROH World), The Briscoes (Tag-team), Rok-C (World women’s title) and Josh Woods (Pure).

H/T To PW Insider for the transcriptions.

The news that Ring of Honor would be going on hiatus until 2022 shocked many in the wrestling industry, with performers inside the company reportedly asking Joe Koff himself if the company was going out of business for good.

PWInsider recently confirmed that talent took the issue up directly with Koff on a recent Zoom call with talent.

“We are told by numerous Ring of Honor talents that on the Zoom call this week, numerous talents called upon Joe Koff to tell them that the promotion was over, if it was actually closing” PWInsider noted. 

Joe Koff Answers Talent Worries

It was also revealed by the site that “during the call, Koff repeatedly told them that the company would continue on and resume live events in April.”

The entire roster of ROH is also reportedly booked for the November TV tapings, as was to be expected.

We hope to provide more on the story and the future of the company as it develops. It is believed that ROH will still be running and get back to their live event schedule around April 2022, providing that the easing of restrictions following the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

Ring of Honor (ROH) COO Joe Koff has addressed how the promotion intends to look after its talents during the current coronavirus pandemic. He explained how ROH won’t be stopping their talent from taking independent bookings and that the process to do so remains the same. Joining The Wrestling Inc. Daily, Koff noted how ROH always wants to take care of its staff and wrestlers. 

“We always take care of our people. Should they be taking indie dates? They should be clearing that just as they would under normal circumstances. But who’s running? Are there promotions still running,” Joe Koff asked.

“That would be draconian but maybe that’s what’s necessary,” Koff said, referring to a potential lockdown forcing people indoors. “I would hope that in the spirit of humanity and social responsibility, but we’ll face that as it comes up. With certainly our contracted talent, we would have to know that anyway so we would find out. But [our talent taking indie bookings] has not been broached.”

Joe Koff On Sinclair’s Support

Joe Koff shared how ROH’s parent company, Sinclair, has allowed them to continue operating as usual so far. They are following all guidelines as needed, noting how “We’re taking the guidelines from the company in a corporate standpoint in all of the individual operations. The company is fantastic and have been nothing but supportive.”

COVID-19 has impacted several industries worldwide, including pro wrestling. Like other promotions including New Japan Pro-Wrestling, ROH has cancelled their events due to coronavirus concerns. They won’t be running any shows through to May 31.

H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

We have seen a number of wrestling shows getting new TV deals in recent times like NXT on USA, AEW Dynamite on TNT and Impact Wrestling moving to AXS TV.

This has made many wonder if other wrestling promotions such as ROH could also be looking to launch weekly episodic TV series anytime in the near future.

During a recent interview with WrestlingInc, ROH COO Joe Koff discussed these possibilities and confirmed that they have plans for a weekly series. Though he also explained that the ripple effects of coronavirus could force them to move their plans back:

“We are always looking at that and we have a plan on the table to look at a more weekly version. We don’t have a start date yet but it is this year,

Those rumors are not necessarily rumors as they’re closer to fact than not.” said Coff. “But we’ll have to see how [the ripple effect of COVID-19] transpires and if they affect us moving back that date. But it’s definitely one of our goals.”

• Also Read: Two WrestleMania Matches Cancelled Due To Coronavirus

The ROH COO also discussed their decision to cancel all ROH shows untill May 31 saying that it’s not just pro wrestling and the whole world is being affected right now.

He claimed that wrestling is his business and he loves it very much but the hindrance seems small compared to the bigger picture. You can check out his full interview at this link.

Ring of Honor has been the center of controversy as of late after Kelly Klein, Joey Mercury, and BJ Whitmer all spoke out about issues they have faced with company management. In response, ROH COO Joe Koff recently took part in an interview with SI.com.

Klein’s criticisms of ROH center around the company’s protocol regarding concussions. The 3x WOH Champion suffered a concussion recently and said that no medical personnel was at the event to diagnose her condition and ROH talent is not aware of any existing protocol regarding concussions.

• Kelly Klein & Joey Mercury Speak Out Regarding ROH Issues

“The issue is that no one received training or protocol to recognize what to do when something is wrong,” Klein said. “The problem is that no one has the protocol, no one has seen the protocol, and no one is in charge of making sure the protocol is followed.”

“No medical personnel were ringside,” said Klein regarding the night she suffered the concussion. “No medical personnel were in the immediate backstage area.”

ROH COO Joe Koff Responds To Kelly Klein’s Criticisms

Speaking with SI.com, Koff said that in contrast to Klein’s statements, a medic was backstage at the show.

“It is not posted, we don’t share documents like that publicly,” said Koff regarding the concussion protocol. “When [Klein suffered her concussion] on October 26, there was a medic there, hired by Ring of Honor, and she got immediate attention once it was known she was feeling anything.”

“The protocol is just this—we recognize the dangers that are inherent in professional wrestling,” Koff continued. “More specifically, the possibility exists of a wrestler suffering a concussion during a match, and we take all injuries very, very seriously. When we are alerted or when we feel there is an injury, we immediately defer to the medical professional on staff.”

The full interview with Joe Koff can be read here.

Ring of Honor COO Joe Koff recently spoke with Newsweek regarding ROH World Champion Matt Taven as well as ROH’s plans in attracting and securing future talent.

Referring to Taven as “a little bit arrogant,” Koff explained that despite not having a size advantage, the ROH World Champion isn’t afraid to take on bigger men.

“Matt is a really good ring technician, and he’s a really smart wrestler and a really good athlete,” Koff said. “[….] he has good instincts, and that’s what I think separates Ring of Honor from a lot of promotions. Just that tacit knowledge and the instincts that our wrestlers have inside the ring and how they respond and tell a story. Matt is really at the top of his game.”

ROH Culture

A lot of ROH talent are signed to contracts that permit them to wrestle for different promotions. Koff explained how this mindset applies at different levels, depending on the wrestler.

“[Exclusivity] is pretty standard in the industry right now, and there are different levels of contract,” Koff said. “But you protect your top stars because it’s your brand and you want them representing that brand. Journeymen wrestlers or guys breaking in who need work and want more work, we don’t mind that. But it’s at different levels.”

Regarding ROH’s future plans to attract and keep talent, Koff pointed to the culture that ROH wants to provide and whether talent wants to be a part of that.

“It’s your culture, it’s what you provide to that culture and what part they play in that culture,” said Koff. “Ring of Honor has traditionally been a collaborative culture where input from its wrestlers is greatly appreciated and accepted. It really matters what you want as a lifestyle.”

He continued, “Wrestling is a very hard business on the body. We don’t wrestle 200 nights a year, and obviously we have big stars who are happy with that. And I’d imagine that the money is good for them to maintain that life and their bodies. We look for people who are interested in that, because that’s what we provide. We provide a warm, stable atmosphere that’s serious, athletic has a ton of integrity… But there are people who still want more, and there are other promotions that can offer that.”

ROH’s next pay-per-view, Death Before Dishonor, airs tonight. The show takes place from Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall in Las Vegas, Nevada.

It’s no surprise now that many promotions are trying to lock down talent. With All Elite Wrestling becoming a major new player, both New Japan Pro Wrestling and WWE have become acutely aware that other viable options now exist. Another promotion that has been actively signing talent is Ring Of Honor.

ROH recently bade farewell to the majority of The Elite (bar Marty Scurll), as they left to begin their new venture with AEW. We’ve written before about ROH’s COO, Joe Koff’s positive attitude regarding ROH’s future.

Koff recently had an interview with WrestleZone where he was once again asked about AEW, and the impact that losing some of the major players on their roster could have on ROH.

“They Will Always Be A Part Of The ROH Family”

“Talent leaving Ring of Honor is not new to us. Like many of the other stars that have gone onto other promotions, we thank Cody, Hangman and the Young Bucks for their contributions. They, like all of the ROH Alumni will always be part of the ROH family.”

Those names Joe Koff mentioned, and Bullet Club as a whole, helped to bolster ROH during recent years, being a known promotion to feature the group. This was during a time where Bullet Club’s popularity was noticeably growing worldwide.

“Changes Are A Natural Process Of Wrestling”

“Throughout the years, ROH has provided our wrestlers a unique platform to showcase their talents to a worldwide audience,” Koff said. “We are proud of the wrestlers who have not only gone on to enjoy successful careers outside of ROH but, most importantly, the ones who continue to make ROH the most forward-thinking promotion in the industry.

Changes are a natural process of wrestling and any organization, but there has never been a shortage of exceptional and deserving men and women willing to take advantage of those opportunities.  Our incredibly talented roster will continue to move this company forward as we continue to aggressively expand globally and be on the forefront of content distribution through HonorClub and broadcast affiliates across this country.”

ROH has been a proving ground for many wrestlers over the years, and their alumni section is stacked with people who have gone on to achieve great things in other promotions. Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, Samoa Joe, Seth Rollins, and many more grew and honed their abilities in ROH.

Koff has a good attitude towards this situation. Rather than pine over what they’ve lost, he seems to want to actively grow their roster and develop new stars to grab that proverbial brass ring. This is evidenced in their signings of Mark Haskins, RUSH, Bandido, PCO, Brody King, and more.

With The Elite looking to try and shake up the pro wrestling landscape, it may leave many companies suddenly lacking in star power. This is especially true of promotions who have leaned on the draw of Bullet Club/The Elite as a cornerstone of their show.

Ring Of Honor (ROH) has utilized members of The Elite for years on their programming, but with the advent of All Elite Wrestling on the horizon, things could change pretty quickly as many of their main event players may no longer be available.

Speaking to Nick Hausman for the WINCLY podcast, Koff addressed the rumors of All Elite Wrestling and the relative impact it may have on ROH.

“I read what you read,” Koff said. “I wish I could say I had the inside on that. They’ve [The Elite] had great success in working together and I only hope that they continue to have that success because they deserve that kind of success.

He goes on to express that because nothing has been officially announced as of yet, “to speculate on that [AEW] would be senseless.”

Looking To The Future

With the risk of his main event roster being ransacked effecting ROH, Koff rebuffed the sentiment by highlighting wrestlers he feels could step up during 2019.

“Marty [Scurll] is up in there. Jay Lethal is up in there. Jeff Cobb is an extremely exciting performer, I love watching him. Flip Gordon. Matt Taven. I could probably go deeper than five,” he said.

Koff is clearly confident in ROH and its future, stating that they have “no shortage of talent, which is why ROH is so exciting to me and we always deliver a product. We wrestle a brand. We wrestle a style. Regardless of who’s wrestling that brand or style, the fans’ expectations have always been met.”

Ring Of Honor’s December event, Final Battle, goes down December 14th at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.

Ring of Honor COO, Joe Koff, is not expecting the Young Bucks, Cody, or the rest of the Elite back in ROH next year. Koff spoke to Wrestling Inc recently regarding what the future holds for ROH in 2019.

“I don’t think (the Elite will return), and I don’t think that’s new news either,” Koff said regarding the pending departures. “They definitely have something in mind… and I’m very thankful for Cody and The Young Bucks and Page and their contributions to ROH.”

Members of the Elite played a pivotal role in ROH’s 2018. The promotion is used to talent making a splash and leaving, however.

“They were part of our great year,” Koff continued. “They’ll always be a part of the ROH family and I’m always excited when people choose to take a different direction or go in a different direction because it’s exciting for them as they embark on the next chapter of their lives.”

What Is Next For ROH? What Is Next For The Elite?

“These guys are very good marketers and very strong,” Koff said regarding the Elite. “Throughout the years, we’ve provided wrestlers a unique platform to showcase their talents to worldwide audiences. We’re so proud of our wrestlers, who’ve not only gone on to successful careers outside of ROH, but [also] the ones who have continued to stay here because they understand what ROH represents.”

Another big question remains for Ring of Honor as they approach Final Battle, however. What happens if Cody defeats Jay Lethal and regains the ROH World Championship.

“If he does it, then we’ll have to deal with it,” Koff answered. “I think Jay’s a formidable competitor. He’s been a great champion and I don’t think it will be a walk in the park for either. But as always, the best man will win and that speaks to itself.”

ROH COO Joe Koff has reacted to some encouraging comments made by Sinclair Broadcast Group President and CEO, Christopher Ripley. We noted earlier on the site that Ripley talked about the business including ROH during its third-quarter earnings that were was held for a stockholders call on Wednesday.

In this call, Ripley stated that ROH “an unpolished gem that ultimately should be something in the same light as WWE.”

Koff spoke with PWInsider about the comments where he noted that Sinclair has been incredibly supportive as they continue to grow the brand of the Baltimore-based promotion.

“In just a few years, they have invested significant time and energy in expanding the scope and reach of Ring of Honor to a global audience. What makes Ring of Honor unique is our investment into our fans to help grow the massive grassroots support that has been the backbone of Ring of Honor since the very beginning.”

Koff continued by stating that they’re focused on continuing to improve the product by creating better programming and content. Whether this is through exciting live events and streaming service, HonorClub.

Ring of Honor is slated to hold their Final Battle pay-per-view event on December 14, 2018 in Manhattan, New York at the Hammerstein Ballroom. This will be the final PPV event for them of 2018.

Ring of Honor COO Joe Koff spoke with Paste Magazine about various topics heading into last week’s Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view event.

A few excerpts from this interview were not about the show. One of those topics was about Will Ospreay’s role in ROH and the reason for him being limited in the company. It should be noted that Ospreay lost to ROH World Champion Jay Lethal at this show.

“He was originally signed with Ring of Honor in conjunction with New Japan,” Koff said of Ospreay. “But the travel got to Will so he asked if he could work specific and selective dates, which we accommodated.”

All In took place last month and was a big success for Cody and The Young Bucks. Although it wasn’t under the ROH banner, the promotion did offer to help with the show that includes having their talent and production staff work. When asked how it was received by Sinclair Broadcast Group officials, Koff stated that he doesn’t think one show would ever have that kind of impact and that this show, as well as the event at MSG, showed the capability and where they are in the short period of time that they owned.  

“There’s a lot of validation inside of a company when good things happen. It’d be on different than buying a new syndicated show and all of a sudden it’s the number one show in the market. “Koff continued by stating that they put the same disciplines and the same foundational logic to every event but All In was just special because there was a specialness to it.

“All In was an unbelievable success not because of Ring of Honor; if there was any success attributable to Ring of Honor, it’s just that these were wrestlers contracted to us, and we saw the potential of this event and how important it is for the industry, for them, for what they were trying to put forth, and we were very supportive of that. That’s very indicative and very much a part of who we are.”

ROH COO Joe Koff continues to discuss the upcoming G1 Supercard event is being co-promoted by Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling at Madison Square Garden in New York City next year during WrestleMania 35 weekend.

Koff spoke to Newsday.com to promote the event, which he noted was a big decision to book it as they had to take a look at the risks and the reward of making it happen. It all came down to if they going to run that weekend and would they want it to be in NYC because it’s hard to find a building that can hold  6,000 to 10,000 fans.

“WWE wasn’t even thinking of using (the Garden on that night). I can’t speak for other organizations and why they do or they don’t use it. It was the right venue for us on that day.” He continued to state that the people who bought tickets to MSG would have bought tickets to ROH no matter where they hold the show.

Koff also discussed if the promotion is concerned about WWE potentially WWE retaliating against ROH.

This is where he stated, “If I’m in their crosshairs, I don’t feel that I’ve ever not been in their crosshairs, but not for anything more than the talent that I have and the opportunity that they see in taking our talent. But I don’t feel any strain on our relationship.”

Discussion: What are your thoughts on Koff’s comments and how WWE will handle this situation? Sound off in the comment section.

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.”

Don’t tell Ring of Honor’s Joe Koff he is in the sports entertainment business. According to ROH’s Chief Operating Officer, his promotion is an “entertaining sport” but not “sports entertainment.”

“I think people are seeing something that they’ve longed for, and didn’t realize they longed for, which is unbelievable good wrestling,” Koff said to Forbes recently. “We are not sports entertainment, we are an entertaining sport.”

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Joe Koff On Ring of Honor’s Future

It’s been a remarkable year for the 16-year old promotion. Koff does not want to take any credit of All In’s success away from Cody and the Bucks, however. He was quick to say All In is their event and not ROH’s.

“All In was Cody and the Young Bucks and their vision,” Koff said. “How Ring of Honor played into that, is we supported them in doing this. So, they sold out the 10,000-seat arena. We didn’t. They did.”

The promotion sold out Madison Square Garden for next year’s G1 Supercard of Honor in conjunction with NJPW as well.

“Our people, the New Japan people, these men and women are athletes,” Koff continued. “And both of our platforms give them this opportunity to show their best. And I think what people are beginning to realize is that this is the best.”

ROH COO Joe Koff is gearing up for the promotion’s next pay-per-view event.

The executive of the Baltimore-based promotion recently spoke with CageSideSeats to promote their Best in the World PPV event on Friday night in Maryland, Baltimore at the UMBC Event Center.

In this interview, he was asked about the main event of the show, which will see Dalton Castle defending his ROH World Title against Cody Rhodes and Marty Scurll in a Triple Threat Match. Some could say that this could be one of the bigger main events of the year so far for ROH and Koff would agree.

“I think it’s a big event. Every time we do a show, I always feel like the main event is the main event — that’s why it’s called that. We have two actually with the tag team titles, the Briscoes versus The Young Bucks. I think what’s interesting about this title defense this Friday night is both Cody and Marty have defeated Dalton Castle previously. And we’re not quite sure quite frankly about Dalton’s physical condition. He’s wrestling, he says he’s fine. Don’t want to doubt him. But I’ve watched him wrestle in Japan, I’ve watched him wrestle in England. I’ve seen title defenses here in America. He’s definitely laboring a little bit. I’m hoping he’s had enough rest, so he can be our champion and can compete like a champion.

So yeah, I think this is a big main event, because so many outcomes can come from it. Especially side stories with Marty an Cody. I think a good story will be told in that match.”

Exciting prospect Flip Gordon has a big match on this card as he is slated to take on Bully Ray. Koff sees Gordon as someone to keep an eye on going forward despite starting in the business just three years ago.

“I’m not sure I can say it better than you just said it. I probably would have said the same things. I think there is no cap on how good this guy can be. He is a natural. He’s a naturally gifted talent and very, very tough. And very, very eager to learn and better himself and I think his military background is very helpful, because I think they learn discipline and I think they learn structure and I think all of those things are important to anyone’s success. So, I really have high hopes and I think we all do.

I think the fans, they acknowledge it already. This is a tough, tough wrestler. And very, very skilled and very, very fast. I think he’s got a very big match on his hands this Friday and I’m interested to see how that plays out.”

What are your thoughts on Koff’s comments? Sound off in the comment section.

Ring Of Honor (ROH) is gearing up for their Best In The World pay-per-view (PPV) tomorrow night (Fri. June 29, 2018), which will feature some of the promotion’s biggest names.

ROH COO Joe Joff recently took part in a media call to promote the event, and was asked about the ROH dojo which is grooming the promotion’s stars of tomorrow. When asked for the long-term plans for the dojo, Koff said that he’s more focused on the short-term.

Koff explained the promotion’s priority is identifying talent in order to bring them over to TV or their digital network:

“I’d like to look ten years ahead but I think we’ll just focus on the next twelve to eighteen months,” Koff said. “What I’m hoping for what our expectation is identifying talent that we can bring pretty quickly to over the air TV or our digital network.

“We’re just looking to just bring talent through. Identify them from their local promotions or other places give them training and give them the opportunities. Understand the Ring Of Honor brand, understand the Ring Of Honor style so they get better before they’re seen in the bigger matches on TV or pay-per-view.”

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

Ring of Honor COO Joe Koff believes Supercard of Honor XII will be a sellout.

Supercard of Honor XII takes place on April 7 live from the UNO Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. In the main event, Kenny Omega will take on Cody in a bout that may give us some clarity on the direction of Bullet Club. Also set for the card, ROH World champion Dalton Castle will defend his title against Marty Scurll.

The card is also stacked with New Japan Pro Wrestling talent such as Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, and Tomohiro Ishii. The first Women of Honor champion will also be crowned following semi-finals matches and of course the finals in the Women of Honor tournament.

Speaking to Cageside Seats, Koff said the event will sell out:

“We’re getting prepared. It’s our biggest crowd to date. We’re trying to anticipate the crowd and be ready for them in every way we can. The building is set up for roughly about 6,000. We’re coming up on that number. It’s pretty exciting. It will be a sellout. It’s amazing, too, considering last year when we ran Lakeland, which was a good hour to hour-and-a-half from Orlando for WrestleMania week. The number escapes me, but it was well over 3,000. And I said, Oh my god, that was amazing. One year later, we’ve now almost doubled our crowd. It’s pretty exciting.”

Ring of Honor COO Joe Koff recently spoke with Chuck Carroll of CBS Sports to talk about various topics. Here are the highlights:

The Young Bucks cease and desist situation with WWE:

“To be really honest with you, that was between them and WWE. I think they handled it perfectly. If they were to ask me my advice, I would probably have advised them to do it the way they did it. This is beyond Ring of Honor. It’s nothing that happened under our watch. We didn’t have anything to do with it. They acted very responsibly. They are very, very good businessmen. Not only are they gifted performers, they are very good businessmen, and they’re smart about how they do business. I think in their minds — I don’t speak for them — it probably wasn’t worth a war.”

Ring of Honor’s new streaming service:

“Yeah, we have an app coming out in the first quarter. It really became developmentally the right time to do it. We saw an opportunity. We had a long discussion about it. We looked at the business model and how it impacts our business. We just felt that this was the time to create our own Ring of Honor stream. … Well we might continue [PPVs on] both. I would like to migrate personally to stream model, because a lot of people are watching on those devices anyway. And the quality is so good. And you know a lot of those boxes are hooked up to big sets and smart TVs and stuff like that. I’m not ruling out traditional pay-per-views, but the world is going that way.”

Ring Of Honor (ROH) COO Joe Koff recently spoke with AV Club to talk about a variety of professional wrestling topics. Koff talked about whether or not he finds the term “indie wrestling” as a pejorative, if he thinks Daniel Bryan would ever return to ROH, and the ROH streaming service. You can check out the highlights below:

If he finds the term “indie wrestling” as a pejorative:

“I don’t see it as pejorative at all. When we bought the company from Cary Silkin back in 2011, Ring Of Honor was considered one of the top independents in the country. We’ll always be labeled as that because that’s how we’re remembered, and sometimes memories are much stronger than present tense. But I hardly look at us as an independent promotion.

“We’re in the middle of a four-day, four-city tour. We have weekly television. We have incredibly distribution. We’re on internationally. I don’t think we’ll ever get that [indie connotation] out of the hardcore fan’s mind. I’m not insulted by it by any means. But when you lump everything into that category, then we’re either at the top of that category or we shouldn’t be included in it at all.”

Does he think Daniel Bryan will ever return to ROH:

“I’m not gonna give you odds, I wouldn’t even know how to set those. Bryan’s under contract with the WWE, from what I understand, until September 2018. If he chooses not to renew that contract, and he is able to wrestle from a health standpoint, I would welcome him. It would be a triumphant return.

“I think we would be the right place for him, the right fan appreciation, the right respect from the industry plus management plus everybody. But there’s so many variables in that. Even though it’s not far away, a year in wrestling is a long period of time. But he is more than welcomed to come back and I would love to have him on our roster.”

The ROH streaming service:

“It’s in development right now. I would expect it to be around the first of the year or a little bit after.”

You can check out Koff’s full interview with the AV Club here.

Sinclair Broadcast Group / Ring of Honor COO Joe Koff recently spoke with the Baltimore Sun to promote Saturday night’s ROH Charm City Excellence TV tapings (Results). Koff was asked once again about reports that WWE was negotiating to buy Ring of Honor and says there’s “no story” thre.

“It was not a story. It was not a story when it came out. I think people want to make a story out of nothing. I’m very open in conversations with very many different wrestling promotions. And I think sometimes because I don’t share a lot of stuff, we’re very private about what we do. I think it raises speculation.”

Koff admits that he has talked with WWE several times, but it’s usually been about WWE wanting to license footage from ROH’s vast tape library. With so many ROH veterans under contract with WWE (Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Cesaro, Daniel Bryan, etc.), it makes sense that WWE would want access to that footage for WWE Network specials and DVD offerings.

“I think this thing with the WWE really started because we were in conversations about content for Kevin Owens’ DVD. There was a lot of back and forth between the two companies. I think that was the seed that drove that story.”

Other topics discussed include Matt and Jeff Hardy’s time in ROH, Christopher Daniels winning the ROH World title, Bully Ray and the success of ROH’s Supercard of Honor show during WrestleMania weekend. Head over to the Baltimore Sun to read the full interview.

Ring Of Honor COO Joe Koff recently appeared as a guest on Against The Mat radio to discuss a number of topics. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.

On ROH’s deal with Destination America: “It actually began sometime late last year, I can’t remember if it was November or December… it was right around the time that Spike decided not to carry Impact Wrestling anymore, and they ended up moving over to Destination America, and around that time, once that was announced, because we’re [Sinclair Broadcasting] a broadcasting company, and we’re in the television business, we have a lot of contacts at other broadcasting companies, and one of my colleagues high in the organization made a contact over at Discovery, which owns Destination America, which turned into a lunch with the Destination America people, from there we conversed about the possibility of making Destination America the destination for wrestling in America. That’s really how it all started.”

On how the deal was kept under wraps: “Well, good question, good point. I think I have a little bit of experience in this, in that, when we [Sinclair] bought Ring of Honor that also was not leaked until it was announced when we bought it. I’m from a business background and we are a big company that does lots of deals and transactions and we just know how to keep things to a minimum, and keep people to a minimum as far as their involvement and I think we’re pretty good at it and I think this bears that out.”

On his view on wrestling’s reputation with advertisers: “I think the answer is really apparent. So I’m just going to put it into terms for our community, the wrestling world, which we’re a part of. It’s a really small world. It’s big to us because we’re living in it, and we’re thriving in it, and we’re enjoying in it, and we can have this conversation and talk about the business so openly and get excited about it, and talk about the excitement of what we do in the ring, but if you were at a party, and you tried to engage somebody in this conversation, they would probably, maybe walk away and go get a drink and probably talk to somebody else. We have a niche audience. We have a very loyal audience. I love our Ring of Honor fans. They come to the events, they buy the t-shirts, they buy the DVD’s, they come up to me and thank me, they say hello, they take a picture with me, etcetera, etcetera. But they’re comfortable, it’s our environment, they’re safe in there. There’s going to be an advertiser, and there’s some advertisers that seek out that male 18-24, 18-34 audience… but it’s professional wrestling. We’re not going to change some of that stigma that exists with being in professional wrestling or what the sport might represent. So, I just don’t think it’s high on the list of advertisers’ wants or needs. But the advertisers’ who do, and have the foresight to go after this demographic nail 18-24, and I don’t want to be too technical, but this is a gold mine for an advertiser. So if there’s any advertiser’s listening, or of a national scope, who I know that there are because there fans everywhere… this is a chance to reach these audiences…”

Check out the complete interview at AgainstTheMat.WordPress.com.

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