AEW president Tony Khan announced at the start of this week’s AEW Dynamite that he was the new owner of Ring of Honor Wrestling, purchasing the company from Sinclair Broadcasting. A press release regarding the purchase dropped moments later, and multiple insider reports have since dropped online. Cassidy Haynes of BodySlam reported before the show ended that “internal plans” have AEW using Ring of Honor as a “developmental territory of sorts,” adding that AEW starts would be appearing in ROH from time to time.ย
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Sean Ross Sapp dropped a separate report on Fightful Select, stating wrestlers booked for ROH’s relaunch at Supercard of Honor XV didn’t know about the sale until Khan’s announcement on Dynamite. He also stated that there was initially concern about AEW talent possibly appearing on the show during WrestleMania weekend, but noted that’s no longer an issue.ย
Neither report was able to confirm how much Khan paid in order to buy the company, but given that Sinclair is publicly traded that information will eventually be made public. It’s also worth noting that, at the bottom of AEW’s press release, it was stated, “This acquisition will be completed through an entity that is wholly-owned by Tony Khan,” and not All Elite Westling LLC. With the sale, Khan has purchased ROH’s video library, brand assets, intellectual property, production equipment, PR representative and scheduled dates for television tapings through the end of the year (whether or not they’re used or syndicated on Sinclair is still up in the air according to Sapp).
Ring of Honor announced it would be taking a hiatus following December’s Final Battle pay-per-view. It was confirmed later that all of the company’s talent were now effectively free agents as none of their contracts would be extended past March. During the hiatus, its champions have continued to defend their championships in other companies, with one even changing hands (Rok-C dropping her ROH Women’s World Championship to Impact’s Deonna Purrazzo). As for Supercard, the only stars confirmed right now are Jonathan Gresham, Bandido (the two of whom will unify the two ROH World Championships), the Briscoe Brothers, Purrazzo, Sw3rve The Realest (rumored to be signing with AEW), Alex Zayne, Joe Hendry and Ninja Mack.
