7 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (2 Mar)

2. Tony Khan's Big Announcement

Whether or not Tony Khan's purchase of Ring Of Honor qualifies as a "major announcement" is a boring debate that won't be indulged here, but the AEW president delivered his promised news at the top of the show, leading into the Danielson vs. Daniels match.

While TK's onscreen delivery is often awkward, he looked, sounded, and felt delighted. The joy that purchasing a promotion he has held in high esteem for a long, long time was tangible. Rather than coming off like a crony businessman, he felt sincere and passionate because that's what he is. Yes, he's a billionaire, but he's a hardcore wrestling dork at the same time. His referencing February 2002's Era of Honor Begins main event means more because he probably still owns the DVD.

Only time will tell if this proves to be a good deal for the involved parties. Regardless, for a nostalgic ROH nerd like your writer here, this is fun and exciting. ROH's business had been tanked by poor booking in the wake of (and at) 2019's historic G1 Supercard and the draining COVID-19 pandemic, throughout which it endeavoured to look after its staff by paying them throughout. The unfortunate result of this was that the promotion became a cash sink. Then, with Sinclair announcing ROH's end as a full-time concern, it became unsalvageable under the previous regime.

Here, ROH at least has a chance to live on as more than a garden variety indie with an incredible tape library.