During a recent appearance on the Inside The Ropes podcast, ROH COO Joe Koff commented on Ring of Honor’s upcoming Best in the World pay-per-view event, the challenges for ROH caused by the pandemic, and more. You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On the challenges for ROH caused by the pandemic: “Last year was an interesting year. It’s always going to be an anomaly here. We’re going to have to asterisk it. We’re going to have to put it in parenthesis at some point. Ring of Honor has always been home to great talent and our talent really wrestles to the brand and the brand’s style and over the years, you went through the history of Ring of Honor. You watched all of the people who have left Ring of Honor and gone to other promotions. I don’t want you to think for a second it’s going to stop because of covid. It’s not and we expect that.”
“We also have an incredible depth of people who want to wrestle in Ring of Honor. They understand that it is a stepping stone to other great promotions if they want to go there or as The Briscoes and people like Jay Lethal have found out, superstars like that, it’s a wonderful place to call home and home is where the heart is Liam and if their heart is here, then this is their home. I think that the way that we deal with the business and especially on the schedules that we run and the way we just handle everything I make, it’s very attractive to some talent and for those who want to go forward and go, go on, I thank them for the time I always have, no regrets about any of that. It’s just part of who we are as a company.”
On unexpected surprises for ROH Best in the world: “Well, if you’re not a Ring of Honor fan, you’re probably going to see some unexpected. So let’s say that, I don’t think you’ll see unexpected faces, perhaps, if that’s what you’re kind of angling for. I think what you’ll see is amazing wrestling and that show [Best in the World] is always had changes and there have always been surprises like you say, you know, it’s very interesting when you talk to someone like me, I really don’t know. I don’t know exactly what to expect.”
“I like to go to big shows as a fan, and I like to watch it for the first time as everyone is watching it, because that’s the real experience and Ring of Honor is such an experiential promotion and having the crowd back and having the chanting. That’s the one thing I missed in all of these 18 months is the spontaneity of that chanting. Because if you’ve been to our shows, you know that that doesn’t happen unless somebody’s expectation has been met and exceeded. It’s not a script. No one standing around going to chant at a sign that says this is wrestling chant. This happens because the fan has been pleased with what they’re seeing and I can’t wait to hear that first chant. It was that first chant almost 11 years ago that made me believe that Ring of Honor was the right promotion for our company and for me to run. And I can’t wait to hear that chant again. It just I get goosebumps thinking about it.”
