Ring of Honor: One Year on From Takeover

Being far enough removed from Supercard of Honor I think it is time to discuss how Ring of Honor (ROH) has done since the takeover from Tony Khan. Supercard of Honor marked 1 year of shows since ROH was bought so it is a good marker on where the brand is. 

To begin with interest and money into the company seems to be up. Subscriber count for ROH Honor Club is on the rise and they are posting PPV numbers on the high end of ROH records which is always good. With interest higher it shows it is a product fans are interested in. If you compare this to where ROH was prior to takeover it is night and day. Interest was at its lowest and tickets couldn't be given away it felt like a company on its last legs and it did feel that coming out of the pandemic that ROH was a company on its last legs. To go from that to being a product that is has and holds fan interest is a good sign.

However, it is hard to see this constantly. With ROH being taped alongside AEW Dynamite or at Universal (which I think is largely for free) it is hard to determine how many people domestically would pay to see ROH weekly. It feels like it is a company which isn't sustainable if it isn't alongside AEW. This may be the most key point that this version of ROH does not function without AEW. I mean the majority of the roster are AEW contracted talents and with that I don't know how their contracts work but I mean it's less direct expense with the extra talent being bought in being paid per appearance. It does leave me wondering if this was just ROH separate with no roster members from AEW how it would function which is just a hypothetical. 

I think if you take ROH from where it was to where it is for the brand itself it can only be seen as a massive success. At the end of the day the company is selling more tickets when comparing to the end of the previous regime but maybe this is unfairly comparred. AEW has a core audience that would follow its product until the end of time and ROH falls into that. I think the year 2 to year 1 comparison will be more interesting if the interest in the product holds. 

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