Kevin Kelly on ROH/Sinclair Deal

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source: wrestlezone.com

Inside the ROH Deal
By Kevin Kelly

When I shook hands with Joe Koff, I finally knew it was real. And even then, I couldn’t believe it. But there was more…

Now with some time to have it digest… this ROH deal… I still don’t believe it. I can’t believe it. Ring of Honor owner Cary Silken sold the company to Sinclair Broadcast Group and Sinclair is going to air a weekly ROH television show starting this fall. They own 58 stations in 35 markets and the show is going to be available to out-of-market viewers on the internet.

But why would a broadcasting company like Sinclair buy Ring of Honor? What’s in it for them? When I shook hands with Joe Koff, the Chief Operating Officer of ROH, the pieces started to come together and a light went on.

You know the feeling when you meet somebody for the first time but you feel like you’ve known them a long time? That’s how I felt when I first saw Joe Koff. Turns out that I never met him before but I know his work. You see, in 1985, the coolest thing I ever saw was the “Battle for the Belts”, a syndicated wrestling special that not only had my favorite Championship Wrestling from Florida stars but also stars from other promotions all across the country. Joe Koff was the Executive Producer of that special and the two that followed as well.

Joe and I followed similar paths in life. Both born in New York, we grew up watching wresting on TV, moved to Florida, fell in love with the wrestling scene down there and then worked toward making a career in wrestling. No career path ever follows a straight line and the same held true for Joe and me.

One big difference? Joe’s a graduate of the University of Miami while I graduated from Florida State. I won’t hold it against him but I will give him points for this year’s game because “the U” ain’t what it “U”sed to be.

So Joe Koff, a lifelong wrestling fan and successful television executive, now heads up Ring of Honor. What’s the first thing he does? He keeps the same people in place who have been effectively running ROH and let them continue to run the show. Smart man…

What will change? Nothing really. The television show will be a new addition and eventually, live events will be run in those new markets. Internet Pay-per-views continue as will DVD releases. Does this mean ROH will start running major arenas in the next 12 months? Absolutely not. Everyone in leadership with Ring of Honor knows that would be a disaster. But, who knows what can happen down the road? I would say the safe bet is fans will find ROH in a number of mid-sized arenas all over the country over the next few years.

What’s the TV show going to look like? A big change is that I’ll be calling the play-by-play. This go-‘round, ROH is going to have a play-by-play announcer who knows how to call wrestling matches, cares about the product and industry and actually gives a f***. While some fans liked the folksy style of Mike Hogewood, he didn’t give a damn about ROH, sounded half-interested at best because he was heavily produced and only had the job because he was best friends with some suit at HDNet.

That said, the HDNet experience bodes well for immediate ROH TV success. The wrestlers had as much as two years of experience competing on TV and with Hunter Johnston and Jim Cornette at the helm of matchmaking, I feel good about September, when the ROH television show will start.

I am sure there will be growing pains and not everything will be perfect. What adjustments will be made as this year moves into next and beyond? Adversity brings out the best from the strong so we’ll see what happens.

It looks like ROH World Champion Eddie Edwards and his American Wolves tag team partner, Davey Richards are on a heavily-anticipated collision course for the World title. Edwards has proven to be tough and resilient as champion but he said to Davey this past Saturday that he needs to face Richards. He needs to know, said Edwards, who is the better man. Davey, who has been virtually unstoppable since coming up short for the gold last December, has trained harder than ever to prepare himself for another title shot.

But along the way, Eddie Edwards shocked the world with his upset victory over Roderick Strong and if Davey Richards would one day fulfill his title destiny, his road to the gold would intersect with his best friend, brother and tag team partner.

So how will Eddie Edwards vs Davey Richards unfold? Much like the new ownership for ROH, I can’t wait to see how this unfolds.