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Ring of Honor has built a great amount of momentum over the last several years. This past week alone, they were intimately involved for one of the most unique, fun and important PPV events of the last decade with “All In” and next year, will run a sold-out Madison Square Garden.
These things are mind-boggling if you were one of the lucky few hundred fans to have been there in attendance in South Philadelphia when Low KI, Bryan Danielson and Christopher Daniels headlined “The Era of Honor Begins” in February 2002. That show seems so long ago, yet I can pretty much remember the entire show off the top of my head as if I was still right there in the corner bleachers of the Murphy Rec Center.
That night was one of many small sparks that help to light the fire of independent, alternative, professional wrestling that has really, over the last several years, grabbed the imagination of fans wanting something different to call their own, something to embrace and something to rally behind.
Thus, I really think it’s time for ROH to institute their own Hall of Fame and I think the first induction ceremonies should take place as part of the Madison Square Garden show. They can hold them before the live broadcast and show a few clips or stills, then release the ceremony exclusively for Honor Club subscribers or even sprinkle clips on their TV show. How it seen doesn’t really matter to me as much as the idea that the company honors it’s past.
Ring of Honor is now 16 years old and heading into an era where they will be running large scale arenas. All of that is amazing, but just as WWE has paid tribute to the early stars who forged their company, I’d love to see Ring of Honor do the same. There are a number of talents whose legacies have been intertwined with the earliest day of ROH and who gave of themselves to grow that company.
I think it would really benefit ROH to spotlight those who helped pave the way, not just to say thank you, but to bridge back to those early days before Sinclair Broadcast bought the company, when it was really a struggling organization that lived and died on whether they could made enough to live on until the next show. It would be a celebration of the little engine that could and did and reinforce that what everyone worked for meant something – and it doesn’t hurt to spotlight all those “good old days” that are now available to stream on Honor Club.
It’s something I hope ROH does and honestly, it’s something that is overdue.
So, who should the company honor? Well, all these things are subjective, but I will give a few suggestions, with the caveat that anyone associated, contracted to or employed by WWE is automatically disqualified on my list, since, well, WWE isn’t going to allow anyone even remotely related to their company to appear in any way for Ring of Honor. I am also going to skip Cary Silkin, because anyone who is even remotely familiar with ROH knows of Silkin’s importance and he would probably be the first person to pass the opportunity up, in order for someone else deserving of recognition to receive it. While certainly there is no way ALL of these personalities can be honored at the same time, they would be my first class if it was within my power.
So, in no particular order….
THE BRISCOES
Come on, they have to be the first draft picks for anything Ring of Honor related! They have been with the company for its entire run, with only injuries forcing them to take breaks. They are the forefathers of the company given that tenure and have had incredible matches with just about everyone they ever faced, including each other. Jay is a multi-time ROH Champion and Mark has evolved from a quiet, younger brother to one of the most charismatic, crazy characters in modern day professional wrestling. The duo are wrestling machines and ROH blood pumps through their veins. Who else could be honored before them?
LOW KI
Without Low Ki, ROH would never have existed. His work, both in the APW King of Indies tournament against Samoa Joe and his feud with Xavier in NYC’s Impact Championship Wrestling were the inspiration that led to the formation of ROH in late 2001 before it had its debut show in 2002. Ki headlined the first event and many events that followed and he was the original star of the company. He suffered and boiled in a dangerously hot building to earn (and if you don’t believe me, watch the match) the ROH title in a 45-minute classic and for much of the company’s early existence, he defined what the promotion was and was the centerpiece. As time has gone on, Ki and the company have had their falling outs. No matter who or what was responsible, you don’t deny history and history will always tell the tale that Ki was the seed out of which Ring of Honor grew. I don’t know that ROH and Ki will ever be on the same page to where he would return to the company as a wrestler and that’s OK, but if you want to tell the tale of ROH, the first few chapters are about Low Ki. He’s the Rick Grimes of ROH. He introduced everyone to that world. Now, there is a narrative out there that Low Ki is hard to work with and certainly, he will always march to the beat of his own drummer, but he deserves to be honored.
CHRISTOPHER DANIELS & ALISON DANGER
Christopher Daniels headlined the first ROH event and for the fledgling days of the company’s existence, his Prophecy was the group that created the chaos. He set the tone for ROH on their first show by disrespecting the Code of Honor, which was a cornerstone story as Ring of Honor established its mythology. While many of the talents who worked that early ROH era have moved on to stardom in WWE, Daniels, despite being as deserving as any of them, is still with ROH and is a viable, important part of the ROH DNA. He’s a veteran who can be used to establish the next stars, he can be put into the position to steal the show and when it comes to putting together matches and big sequences, he’s considered a wizard in that regard. If Low Ki was the yin for the early days of ROH, Daniels was undeniably the yang.
Of course, every man has a great woman behind him and Alison Danger was not only involved in the very first segment in a Ring of Honor ring but became the ROH equivalent to Sherri Martel when she betrayed her brother Steve Corino and joined the Prophecy. Once aligned with Daniels, Danger played a hell of a villain, getting heat for the team, always improving on her promos and taking bumps that were as good as anyone on the roster at that point. Today, ROH celebrates that it has a Women of Honor division, but the first woman to be a definitive, long-term performer for that company was Alison Danger. She should be honored.
LARRY SWEENEY
The story of Larry Sweeney’s life is that he was too talented to be gone before he became the 21st century’s version of Bobby Heenan. Certainly had he not passed away so young, he would have eventually returned to ROH, either as a manager or announcer and been one of the talents by which everyone else would have been measured. During his time in ROH, he was certainly the top manager and one of the best antagonists in company history, whether it was leading Sweet N’ Sour Inc. into battle or trying to attempt a hostile takeover of the company. Sweeney energized ROH audiences into hating him but loving him at the same time. To this day, he’s still loved. What better way to solidify his legacy then by enshrining him forever?
HOMICIDE
I noted earlier that Low Ki was the Rick Grimes of ROH and if that is the case, Homicide is the Morgan. As the trainer of so many talents that came though ROH, including Low Ki, Da Hit Squad and more, Homicide was very much the Mafia Don that watched over all of them in the early days of the company. His rise through the company and his chase of the ROH title was an incredibly important storyline and he was a defining factor in Ring of Honor finding and solidifying its fan base in NYC because of his roots and established credibility there. His feud with Steve Corino was one of the most brutal in ROH history from a physical standpoint and he entered the first barbed wire match in company history. He’s still wrestling and if there is any justice, he’ll not only be honored but booked to wrestle on this show, because he was one of the original locker room leaders that blazed the path for the company.
CM PUNK
Throwing out all of his WWE accomplishments, CM Punk was one of two men that in a sixty-minute span, saved Ring of Honor from certain doom. In the wake of the Rob Feinstein situation, Punk and Samoa Joe took to the ring in Dayton, Ohio and put one an amazing bout that not only took the attention away from the doom and gloom of what appeared to be the beginning of ROH’s death throes, but raised the credibility of themselves, the company and the ROH World title in the process. In many ways, that was the night that the belt became a world title and Punk vs. Joe was the bridge that carried the company through the night until dark broke and Cary Silkin had officially purchased the promotion. Punk drew money for the company, he created a character that was massively successful, he cut emotional, scathing promos and even after he left for WWE, he returned to make one last surprise appearance to wrestle and help ROH out, something that got him obvious heat with WWE management at the time. Punk didn’t care, because he loved ROH and in another universe somewhere, he probably bought it himself to run it. ROH wouldn’t exist today without CM Punk. He deserves to be honored.
DOUG GENTRY
This will undoubtedly be a controversial pick due to his relationship with Rob Feinstein and the events that led to Feinstein exiting ROH, but the reality is that while Gabe Sapolsky will always be celebrated as the original ROH booker, Gentry’s fingerprints were all over the company as well. He was editing and producing the tapes/DVDs, he was creating acts like Special K, he had forged relationships with international promotions that brought in talent and he was considered the good cop to everyone else’s bad cop behind the scenes in management. Had he not passed away at a young age, he certainly would have ended up in a major position in the wrestling business. While certainly one could knock the argument that he deserves to be in, anyone who was around in that early era knows that Gentry was one of three men who helped create and define what the promotion was going to be and was a massive part of that execution. Even if ROH took the WWE Hall of Fame Legacy wing approach and just mentioned Gentry (as well as the two others I suggest who are no longer with us), that would be enough, but Gentry deserves to have his part in ROH’s DNA remembered.
DA HIT SQUAD
They were so important to the early days of ROH, they were in the very first segment of the first ROH event (a promo film on a bus trip I promoted to the show) AND the first in-ring segment where they laid out the Christopher Street Connection and Alison Danger in a segment designed to set forth that ROH was going to be something different and something special, not just a knock-off of ECW or WCW or WWE. They were an important team when it came to the foundation of the company and after they split up, Maff had a nice run with BJ Whitmer. I’ve always been amazed that ROH didn’t bring them back in after their independent resurgence with promotions like Beyond Wrestling. It’s unfortunate that the team never had a chance a true national run, but they were certainly two of the important players who carried ROH on their backs as it grew and if anyone deserves to stand in MSG and be honored, it’s Dan Maff and Steve Mack.
PAUL LONDON
While Low Ki was the first star of ROH, Paul London was the first hero who ROH fans lived or died by. He was the first homegrown babyface to come from nothing as part of the Texas Alliance crew and grow into a massive star for the company. Whether it was the feud with Michael Shane that put him on the map, the “Please don’t die” chant that followed his insane style, his pure babyface charisma at the time, his 43-minute Epic Encounter with Bryan Danielson that birthed the back and forth chanting that we see every week on every major broadcast, or the fact that he was the first ROH main eventer to get tapped for national TV. For an important period of time, Paul London was the Ricky Steamboat of Ring of Honor. While it’s a shame that time can never be recaptured, he was one of many who helped build ROH.
TRENT ACID
In my book (and while this isn’t my book, it is my article), I would selfishly want Trent Acid to be inducted. Michael Verdi was my friend and he wasn’t perfect and he died way too young because of the demons he lived with, but he was also the representative of that Philadelphia independent spirit that birthed Ring of Honor. He headlined as one half of the Backseat Boys, who still get regular mentions on Ian Riccaboni’s commentary and he had a hell of a main event feud with Homicide in the first years of the company. He should have gone on to national acclaim, but life isn’t fair and sometimes, people are their own worst enemy, but if any one talent carried the flame of pro wrestling and tried to overachieve, it was Trent Acid. His time in the company was short, but it was meaningful, and I’d love to see him honored in some way.
Mike Johnson has been covering ROH from the first Murphy Rec event on. He can be reached at MikeJohnsonPWInsider@gmail.com.
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