Unlimited Wrestling: Ring of Honor




Acronym	ROH
Established	2002
Style	Professional wrestling
Location	Bristol, Pennsylvania
Founder(s)	Rob Feinstein
Owner(s)	Cary Silkin
Parent	RF Video (former)
Sister	Full Impact Pro SHIMMER Women Athletes
Website	ROHwrestling.com

Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American independent professional wrestling promotion. It was founded 2002 by Rob Feinstein and is currently owned by Cary Silkin. ROH usually holds several shows each month, sometimes as many as six. Annual shows include the Anniversary Show(s), Death Before Dishonor, Survival of the Fittest, Glory by Honor, and Final Battle (the last show of the calendar year).

ROH records all its shows and sells them on DVD through mail-order and its online store, which has developed a loyal fanbase for the promotion in America and internationally. Ring of Honor broadcasts on The Fight Network to viewers in Canada, on TWC Fight! to viewers in Great Britain and Ireland, and select shows on Pay Per View in America and Canada .

History

In April 2001, professional wrestling video distribution company RF Video was in need of a new promotion to lead its video sales after Extreme Championship Wrestling (its best seller) went out of business. At the time, RF Video also filmed events held by other, less-popular, regional wrestling promotions; it sold these through its catalog and website. RF Video owner Rob Feinstein decided to fill the ECW void by starting his own promotion, then distributing its made-for-DVD and VHS productions exclusively through RF Video. The first event, titled The Era of Honor Begins, was held on February 23, 2002. It featured nine matches, including a match between Eddy Guerrero and Super Crazy for the IWA Intercontinental Championship, and a triple threat match between Christopher Daniels, Bryan Danielson and Low Ki, who would become known as the "founding fathers of ROH". In its first year of operation, ROH confined itself to a limited number of venues and cities (in the northeastern U.S.). Ten shows were run in Philadelphia, PA; two in Greater Boston, Massachusetts; one in metro Pittsburgh, PA; and, one in Queens, NY. In 2003, ROH expanded to other areas of the United States, including Ohio, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Maryland. It also began to build its international identity by co-promoting an event with Frontier Wrestling Alliance in London, England.

In 2004, Feinstein was caught in a sting operation in which he tried to solicit sex from an adult posing as a minor; as a result, left the company in June 2004. The scandal garnered bad publicity for ROH, resulting in a decline in business for a period of time. Also as a result of this, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling pulled its contracted wrestlers (most notably AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels) from all Ring of Honor shows. This was also a factor in the decline, as both performers were marquee names for ROH. Feinstein's stake was eventually sold to Doug Gentry, who later sold it to Cary Silkin. Ring of Honor would start its own mail-order and online store, which sells DVDs of its live events and shoot interviews with wrestlers and managers, along with wrestling-related merchandise of other companies, including some competing promotions.

Wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer has given full five-star ratings to several ROH matches, including the Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk sixty-minute bout from Joe vs. Punk II on October 16, 2004; Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi from Joe vs. Kobashi on October 1, 2005; and Do FIXER (Dragon Kid, Genki Horiguchi and Ryo Saito) vs. Blood Generation (CIMA, Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino) from Supercard of Honor on March 31, 2006. At the time of Joe vs. Punk II, Meltzer had not rated any wrestling match in the US the full five-stars since 1997. The Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk feud brought revived interest in ROH, but it took a year before the company would become self-sufficient (in November 2005). Until this point, since the split from RF Video, ROH had not made a profit. The strong DVD sales of the October 1, 2005 Joe vs. Kobashi event helped turn the tide.

On January 23, 2007, Ring of Honor announced plans for a Japanese tour, resulting in a July 16 show in Tokyo co-promoted with Pro Wrestling NOAH and a July 17 show in Osaka co-promoted with Dragon Gate. In 2007, ROH became the 1st U.S.-based promotion to have its titles held entirely by non-American wrestlers: the Japanese Dragon Gate team of Naruki Doi and Shingo held the ROH World Tag-Team Championship at the same time as their fellow countryman, Pro Wrestling NOAH star Takeshi Morishima, who was holding the ROH World Championship.

On May 2, 2007, Ring of Honor announced that is had signed a PPV and VOD deal with G-Funk Sports & Entertainment to bring ROH into homes with iN DEMAND Networks, TVN, and the DISH Network. The deal calls for ROH to do a PPV at least once every 60 days in both the U.S. and abroad. Because of the move to pay-per-view, TNA Wrestling immediately pulled its contracted stars (Austin Aries and Homicide) from Ring of Honor shows. The first show, titled Respect is Earned, was taped on May 12 and was first aired on July 1 on DISH Network. ROH would tape their second pay-per-view, Driven, the following month.

Code of Honor

Ring of Honor was initially targeted at "smart mark" fans who had tired of the "sports entertainment" style that had come to dominate comtemporary U.S. pro wrestling. The primary way of setting ROH apart was the "Code of Honor": a set of rules dictating how wrestlers were supposed to conduct themselves during matches. The Code of Honor was intended to infuse Ring of Honor's matches with a feel similar to Japanese professional wrestling. Initially, there were five "Laws" in the Code of Honor, which were mentioned at some point during each ROH home release. It was considered a "moral requirement" to follow these rules. They were (usually in this order):

You must shake hands before and after every match.
No outside interference -- no interfering in others' matches or having others interfere on your behalf.
No sneak attacks
No harming the officials.
Do not get yourself disqualified

The Code of Honor (especially its first three rules) was used principally to help heels get over quickly. The first rule was especially applicable to Daniels, who was pushed as the promotion's first major heel. Daniels and his faction, The Prophecy, did not believe in the Code of Honor, refusing to shake anyone's hand. The fourth and fifth rules were to emphasize ROH's match finishes, the vast majority of which resulted in 'honest' pins, submissions, or knockouts. On the rare occasion that a match did end with outside interference, a "ref bump", or some other traditional heel scenario, it was met with a much more visceral (negative) fan reaction than would be seen elsewhere in the wrestling world. In the early days of the promotion, it was even suggested that getting disqualified in a match may result in that wrestler never appearing in ROH again.

In early 2004, ROH's booker, Gabe Sapolsky, began to feel that the Code of Honor had run its course. Wrestlers were no longer required to follow it, allowing for more dramatic, explosive, and over-the-top match endings. This was accepted at that point due to the stars the promotion had already established, and the trust of the loyal fans it had won. The Code of Honor eventually re-appeared -- revamped -- as three rules:

Shake hands before and after the match -- if you respect your opponent.
Keep the playing field level.
Respect the officials.

Contenders for Championships

Originally, Ring of Honor had no formal way to determine challengers for its World Championship. When Xavier, a heel champion, began to avoid challengers, Ring of Honor instated a Top Five Ranking system to establish contenders to the title. Wrestlers were ranked based on their general win-loss record, and their win-loss record against other ranked competitors. The top contender held the Number One Contender Trophy, which was treated as a second championship at the time, and defended as such.

The ranking system was abolished with the creation of the new Code of Honor. The ranking system was replaced by the Contenders Ring, a more complex polling system whereby ROH officials would submit rankings after each show. Wrestlers who appeared on more than 75% of the ballots were considered to be in the Contenders Ring, which earned them title shots for both the World and Pure Championships.

In January 2005, Ring of Honor did away with the Contenders Ring. Instead, wrestlers who wanted a title shot had to submit a petition to ROH officials. After a petition was filed, ROH officials kept track of the petitioner's record, quality of opposition, respect shown towards the Code of Honor, and inherent skill. These factors determined who would receive a title shot. Despite the petition system, ROH officials retained the ability to determine #1 contenders.

Upon the naming of Jim Cornette as ROH Commissioner in October 2005, Ring of Honor Management confirmed the return of the Top Five Ranking system. The "Top 5" was voted on by Cornette and other ROH officials during the first week of every month, only. Voting was based on won/lost record and quality of opposition, with a heavy emphasis on the previous month.

In July of 2006, Ring of Honor again dropped the Top 5 concept, as it had not consistently been used to determine ROH World Title challengers. The champion at the time, Bryan Danielson, had instead been sending open contracts to wrestlers in other promotions around the world, with ROH officials also choosing contenders from within the company. This was also done when Homicide won the title from him -- who, ironically, lost it to one of those challengers: Takeshi Morishima from Pro Wrestling NOAH. After Morishima won the belt, it seemed that he could choose his challengers, as he defended it (with ROH and NOAH approval) at NOAH's March 4th, 2007 Budoukan Hall show against KENTA.

Titles

Championship	Champion(s)	Defeated	Date Won	Location	Event
ROH World Championship	Nigel McGuinness	Takeshi Morishima	October 6, 2007	Edison, New Jersey	Undeniable
ROH World Tag Team Championship	The Briscoe Brothers	Naruki Doi & Shingo	March 30, 2007	Detroit, Michigan	All–Star Extravaganza III
Top of the Class Trophy	Ernie Osiris	Mitch Franklin	November 2, 2007	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Glory by Honor VI: Night 1

Previous championships

Championship	Final Champion(s)	Defeated	Date Won	Location	Event
ROH Pure Championship	Bryan Danielson	Nigel McGuinness	August 12, 2006	Liverpool, England	Unified

Specialty matches

Four Corner Survival Match and Six Man Mayhem
Scramble Tag Match
Scramble Cage Match, Scramble Cage Melee and Steel Cage Warfare
Ultimate Endurance Match
Fight Without Honor

This match does not require participants to adhere to the Code of Honor, and usually involves no disqualifications and the use of weapons. The match is typically used to end the more violent feuds in ROH.

Pure Wrestling Match

Each wrestler has three rope breaks that he can use to break a pin or submission. Submission maneuvers that involve use of the ropes are legal once all three rope breaks have been used. Closed fists are illegal; the first time a wrestler uses a closed fist he is given a warning, the second time he loses one of his rope breaks, and if the wrestler has already used all his rope breaks he is disqualified. While most ROH matches to do not have a countout, Pure Wrestling Matches have a strict 20 second count on the floor.

Round Robin Challenge

3 wrestlers/tag teams compete with each other in a round robin tournament. They each wrestle two different matches (making a total of three matches), with the one(s) with the most victories winning the challenge. Christopher Daniels is the only person to win a Round Robin Challenge, as all others have ended in a draw with each participant(s) winning one match and losing the other. Round-robin tournament is a common league system employed in many sports, such as soccer and ice hockey. It was popularized in wrestling by All Japan Pro Wrestling with their Champion Carnival tournament.

ROH wrestling school

The ROH promotion also runs a professional wrestling school called the ROH Wrestling School in Bristol, Pennsylvania. The current head trainer of the school is Delirious with previous head trainers of the academy including former ROH World Champions CM Punk, Austin Aries, and Bryan Danielson. The first three classes of students have already graduated and currently wrestle on the US independent circuit, including preliminary and exhibition matches at Ring of Honor events. Top Graduates include Davey Andrews, Pelle Primeau and Shane Hagadorn. The ROH has a "Top of the Class" trophy to promote the students on the main show, while the Trophy is won and lost in matches, the winners are chosen by the School's head trainer.

Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of_Honor