ROH Was Set For Complete Reboot Before Tony Khan's Takeover
A new ROH logo and more were on the agenda before AEW boss Tony Khan bought the company.
Ring Of Honor was due to be rebranded and relaunched prior to Tony Khan's takeover of the cult promotion earlier this year.
This is according to ROH commentator Ian Riccaboni. Speaking with Dennis Farrell and Lars Frederiksen of the Wrestling Perspective Podcast, Riccaboni stated that 1 April's Supercard of Honor event was intended to host the rebranding, with a new logo, merchandise, and more all in the works (h/t Wrestling Inc.):-
“I’ll give you a scoop that was kind of out there but it kind of unintentionally faded away on purpose. This event was intended to rebrand and relaunch before being purchased by Tony Khan. There was a logo that I have seen, that I like, but I don’t like it as much as the logo we have now and I don’t like it as much as the logo that I have on my shirt here. But there’s a new logo out there that was intended to launch at the new Supercard. That didn’t happen. And there was some merchandise that went with it. So those are interesting. I’ve asked the previous owner if I can get some of that merch before they donate it or whatever they do with it. I’ve been told that I cannot have it, so I’m a little disappointed. It is one of the rare pieces of merch. So that’s just a scoop there. That was the intent before the sale."
Khan announced his purchase of Ring Of Honor live on the 2 March 2022 episode of AEW Dynamite, having teased a big reveal for several weeks. Acquiring the group's assets, video library, intellectual property, and more, he later confirmed his intention to keep ROH going as a wrestling brand, which commenced with the already-announced Supercard Of Honor show over WrestleMania 38 weekend.
Amongst other things, Supercard Of Honor saw rumoured AEW signing Jonathan Gresham become undisputed ROH World Champion by defeating Bandido, AEW's Wheeler Yuta become ROH Pure Champion, FTR win the company's World Tag Team Titles, Samoa Joe's debut, and more.
Although Khan is yet to make his full intentions for ROH as a regular product known, running it as a developmental-style brand has been rumoured.