Ring of Honor Will Reportedly Release All Wrestlers From Contracts, Enter Hiatus At End of 2021
Ring of Honor Wrestling released a statement on Wednesday confirming that the Baltimore-based promotion will be entering a hiatus following December's Final Battle 2021 pay-per-view. The statement read, "Throughout the pandemic, our top priority was to keep everyone healthy and safe, and despite not producing any live events over 18 months, we were able to keep everyone fully contracted. We now find ourselves at a time where we need to make changes to our business operations and are planning a pivot for Ring of Honor, with a new mission and strategy. The year will culminate with a Final Battle in December, and we will be taking the first quarter of 2022 to work internally to reimagine ROH. ROH has the most dedicated fans in the industry, and we appreciate their loyalty and patience as we reconceptualize ROH.
"We anticipate returning to live events in April for the Super Card of Honor with a new fan-focused product and provide a unique experience for wrestling fans," it concluded. The Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer, Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp and PWInsider's Mike Johnson all then reported that all of ROH's wrestlers will have their contracts expire by the end of the year.
ROH released everyone from contracts, more to come.
— Dave Meltzer (@davemeltzerWON) October 27, 2021
Based on who I've spoken with, ROH releases are effective at the end of the year. If a contract goes beyond that, they're paid until March 31.
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) October 27, 2021
"PWInsider.com has confirmed with multiple talents who were on today's Ring of Honor Zoom call that they were informed that if their contracts were expiring at the end of the year, they will not be renewed. Talents who have deals beyond 1/1/22 will remain under contract for at least a certain period of time," Johnson wrote. He also noted that the promotion already has a venue locked in for the aforementioned Supercard of Honor event during WrestleMania 38 weekend. Final Battle is set to take place at the UMBC Event Center in Baltimore on Dec. 11.
In an update, Sapp noted that wrestlers currently under contracts can start negotiating on working elsewhere.
ROH talent was told to contact Greg Gilleland if they want to work elsewhere, and if they're under a deal they'll work on making that happen.
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) October 27, 2021
ROH was founded by Rob Feinstein in February 2002 and was sold to the Sinclair Broadcast Group in 2011. The company helped promote countless stars over the years that now define the pro wrestling landscape including CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, The Young Bucks, Jay Lethal, Cesaro, Sami Zayn, Colt Cabana, The Briscoe Brothers and Cody Rhodes. It's current champions include ROH World Champion Bandido, ROH World Television Champion Dragon Lee (who also holds the ROH World Tag Team Championships with Kenny King), ROH Pure Champion Josh Woods, ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions Shane Taylor Productions and ROH Women's World Champion Rok-C.