Backstage Notes On Tony Khan's ROH Purchase: Another Bidder, What The Wrestlers Know
AEW's Tony Khan wasn't the only party interested in buying Ring of Honor...
Last night's episode of AEW Dynamite saw company founder and president Tony Khan confirm his purchase of Ring of Honor from Sinclair Broadcasting Group - but he wasn't the only party interested in buying the promotion.
Per Fightful Select, one source has stated that Sinclair and ROH Chief Operating Officer Joe Koff received an offer from another party and "wanted to go in that direction" prior to Khan's purchase. Ultimately, this didn't happen.
The report notes that talk of an ROH buyout started picking up steam on Tuesday. Higher-ups from another American promotion had heard ROH was being purchased. Meanwhile, in WWE, there was talk that Khan had actually purchased a non-NJPW Japanese tape library, which wasn't the case.
As far as talent go, they learned of the purchase when Khan made his announcement on Dynamite, without being informed in advance. Wrestlers booked for ROH's 1 April Supercard of Honor have not yet been brief on the situation. Though the company began the process of releasing most contracted employees in December, some were retained, particularly in the PR department.
Whether or not ROH will retain its Sinclair syndicate (the promotion broadcasts a weekly show on the network) remains to be seen. ROH had several television tapings lined up for after Supercard of Honor, so it'll be interesting to see if those end up being fulfilled.
ROH had been owned by Sinclair since 2011, running as a full-time concern with contracted wrestlers until December 2021, when it embarked upon a four-month hiatus.