ROH has reportedly released multiple wrestlers following today’s announcement on the company changing their business plan.
As noted, ROH announced today that they are going on a hiatus during the first quarter of 2022. The Final Battle pay-per-view in December will be their final show until they return in April 2022 for the Supercard of Honor event. It was noted that they plan to reimagine the company and return with a fan-focused product. You can click here for the full statement issued this afternoon and our original report.
In an update, Dave Meltzer reports that ROH released “everyone” from their contracts. PWInsider adds that multiple wrestlers who were on ROH’s company Zoom call today were informed that if their contracts were expiring at the end of this year, then they will not be renewed. The wrestlers would then become free agents. Wrestlers who have contracts that go beyond January 1 will remain under contract for at least a certain period of time, rumored to be March 2022 and/or April 2022.
The statement is as follows:
Throughout the pandemic, our top priority was to keep everyone healthy and safe, and despite not producing any live events over 18 months, we were able to keep everyone fully contracted. We now find ourselves at a time where we need to make changes to our business operations and are planning a pivot for Ring of Honor, with a new mission and strategy.
The year will culminate with Final Battle in December, and we will be taking the first quarter of 2022 to work internally to reimagine ROH. ROH has the most dedicated fans in the industry, and we appreciate their loyalty and patience as we reconceptualize ROH.
We anticipate returning to live events in April for the Super Card of Honor with a new fan-focused product and provide a unique experience for wrestling fans.
It was noted by Bryan Alvarez that wrestlers are free to work anywhere they want immediately, despite their ROH contract status. Alvarez also said that there is no truth to the rumors on Sinclair canceling the ROH show.
ROH is still scheduled to tape episodes of their weekly ROH TV series this weekend in Baltimore, and as noted before, the December 11 Final Battle pay-per-view is also still on for the UMBC Event Center in Baltimore. It was noted by PWInsider that Final Battle will very much be an end-point chapter in ROH history because whatever they end up being after the hiatus will be a very different product.
ROH reportedly still has a venue locked in for a WrestleMania 38 Weekend event in Dallas next year, which would be the announced Supercard of Honor event that was mentioned for their return from hiatus in April 2022.
Regarding the future of the weekly ROH TV show, it was noted that the series will continue to air during the hiatus, using a mix of archived footage and other content.
While it was indicated that most of the company was on today’s Zoom call with officials, Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso reports that there are a number of top ROH stars on the roster that were never informed of the company’s plans, and only learned of the hiatus when friends texted about them.