Mid 20th Century
162-434: Brandon Silvestry (born September 6, 1979) is an American professional wrestler of Italian and Puerto Rican descent, better known by his ring name Low Ki . He is known for his time with TNA Wrestling , Ring of Honor and Major League Wrestling as Low Ki and Senshi and with WWE as Kaval . He is a one-time PWG World Champion , the inaugural ROH World Champion , one-time MLW World Heavyweight Champion and
324-402: A blizzard , however, the second half of the tournament did not take place until March 5, 2010, when Eddie Edwards defeated Davey Richards in the finals. On August 15, 2010, Ring of Honor fired head booker Adam Pearce and replaced him with Hunter Johnston , who wrestles for the company under the ring name Delirious. On September 8, 2010, Ring of Honor and Ohio Valley Wrestling announced
486-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
648-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
810-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
972-459: A three-time NWA World Tag Team Champion , and has won a number of tournaments and other championships on the independent circuit , and was the winner of the second season of NXT in 2010. Silvestry has also worked extensively in Japan , most notably for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was a three-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion , and Pro Wrestling Zero-One (Zero-One), where he
1134-653: A triple threat match between Christopher Daniels , Bryan Danielson , and Low Ki (who would become known as the "founding fathers of ROH"). In its first year of operation, Ring of Honor confined itself to staging live events in a limited number of venues and cities – primarily in the northeastern United States. Ten shows ran in Philadelphia, two in Wakefield, Massachusetts ; one in metro Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ; and, one in Queens, New York . In 2003, ROH expanded to other areas of
1296-532: A "ref bump", or with some other traditional heel scenario, the live audiences reacted much more negatively than rival promotions' live audiences. In ROH's early days, on-air commentators even suggested (within kayfabe ) that getting disqualified in a match may result in that wrestler never appearing in ROH again. In early 2004, ROH's booker at the time, Gabe Sapolsky , began to feel that the Code of Honor had run its course. As
1458-511: A 4-on-3 Handicap match, forcing The Rising to dissolve. On June 25, 2015, Low Ki announced that he had parted ways with the company. On the April 20 episode of Impact Wrestling , Low Ki made his return, debuting a Hitman / Agent 47 inspired gimmick. He defeated Trevor Lee , Andrew Everett , Sonjay Dutt , Dezmond Xavier and Suicide in a six-way match to win his fifth Impact Wrestling X Division Championship . As champion, he would make appearances in
1620-408: A Four Way Ironman match. On August 24, Low Ki successfully defended his title against A.J. Styles . On September 21, at Unscripted, he lost the title to Xavier, who, after winning the title, became a member of Daniels's faction The Prophecy. Low Ki then faced Samoa Joe on October 5 in what was Joe's official ROH debut in a " Fight Without Honor ". In what resembled more of an MMA fight, Low Ki won
1782-458: A Four-Way match to win the vacant X Division Championship, becoming a three-time champion. Then, he started a storyline with Austin Aries. On January 7, 2015, episode of Impact Wrestling Ki lost the title against Aries, turned heel and joining the newly formed, villainous stable led by MVP known as The Beat Down Clan . On the following episode of Impact Wrestling , Low Ki defeated Austin Aries in
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#17328869442201944-433: A Three Way match the following month to Homicide, with Xavier as the other competitor. Low Ki made his Ring of Honor (ROH) debut at its first show, The Era of Honor Begins, on February 23. In the show's main event, he defeated Bryan Danielson and "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels . On July 27, 2002, at Crowning a Champion, he became the first ever ROH Champion by defeating Daniels, Spanky and Doug Williams in
2106-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
2268-520: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
2430-513: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
2592-574: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
2754-675: A concussion during an October 26, 2019, event. Klein sought medical treatment after suffering post-concussion-syndrome symptoms. She would not be booked for the rest of the year and her contract would expire in December. In January 2020, Ring of Honor re-signed Marty Scurll ; the deal was said to be the most lucrative in ROH history. In addition to being a wrestler, Scurll was also made head booker , working with longtime booker Hunter "Delirious" Johnston. Scurll's deal allowed him to continue to make appearances in New Japan Pro-Wrestling and
2916-579: A contract with World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ). Initially, he wrestled under the name Kawal – "soldier" in the Tagalog language – in FCW, WWE's development territory , but later changed it to Kaval. In January 2009, he took a hiatus from FCW due to a leg injury, which would keep him sidelined until late October. On November 24, Kaval defeated Paul Burchill in a dark match prior to the SmackDown/ ECW tapings. At
3078-529: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . Fight Without Honor Ring of Honor ( ROH ) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida . The promotion
3240-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
3402-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
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#17328869442203564-481: A feel similar to Japanese professional wrestling . When the promotion began, the Code of Honor included five "Laws" mentioned at some point during each ROH production. ROH considered it a moral requirement to follow these rules, which usually appeared in the following order: This initial Code of Honor (COH) (especially its first three rules) helped heels get over more quickly than in other promotions. The first rule applied especially to Christopher Daniels , whom
3726-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
3888-754: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
4050-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
4212-686: A new ROH Women's World Championship , following the deactivation of the Women of Honor World Championship title. However, in response to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic , Ring of Honor would postpone live events beginning in March. Television tapings for Ring of Honor Wrestling would resume in August at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena (formerly known as the UMBC Event Center) from
4374-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
4536-532: A new title, the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship . The inaugural champions were crowned in December. On November 9, 2017, ROH COO Joe Koff announced that ROH would be developing an OTT streaming service , similar to WWE Network and Impact Wrestling's Global Wrestling Network . The service, Honor Club , would be unveiled on February 2, 2018, and launch on February 19. At Final Battle 2017 , on December 15, 2017, ROH announced
4698-414: A number one contender's match to determine who would face ROH Champion Samoa Joe for the title. The match ended in a draw. Officials extended the match, but Low Ki refused to wrestle, so Aries was declared the winner. Instead of facing Joe at Final Battle 2004, Low Ki wrestled Danielson, but got himself disqualified and then attacked the referee. This was enough for ROH officials to suspend him indefinitely as
4860-460: A reduced live show attendance that year. According to Dave Meltzer , ROH's average live show attendance in 2019 was 1,082—lower than its averages in 2018 and 2017. In October 2019, ROH producer/road agent Joey Mercury resigned in protest, criticizing ROH for a lack of creative direction as well as having no concussion protocol for wrestlers. Mercury would reveal that ROH allowed then- Women of Honor Champion Kelly Klein to wrestle after suffering
5022-577: A rematch on November 23, where Ki ripped out a piece of Strickland's hair before pinning him. He would hold the title 205 days, losing it to Tom Lawlor at SuperFight on February 2, 2019. Low Ki was announced as part of the MLW roster that would be present at the company's relaunch following their hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Low Ki has also made an appearance in the TNA Impact video game, where he also did
Low Ki - Misplaced Pages Continue
5184-546: A rematch on the November 4 episode of WWE Superstars . On the November 11 episode of Superstars , Kaval lost to Drew McIntyre. Kaval won his first match on the November 19 episode of SmackDown , by defeating the Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler in a non-title match. Following his victory, Kaval announced that he would be using his guaranteed title opportunity that he earned by winning NXT at
5346-463: A rematch to reclaim the X Division title, with help from interference of The Beat Down Clan. On the March 20 episode of Impact Wrestling , Low Ki lost the title to Rockstar Spud . In April, The Beat Down Clan started a feud with The Rising ( Drew Galloway , Eli Drake and Micah ) culminating in a match between both stables on the July 1 episode of Impact Wrestling , The Beat Down Clan defeated The Rising in
5508-593: A result, wrestlers no longer had to follow it. The Code of Honor eventually re-appeared – revamped – as the following three rules: Future of Honor (FOH) is a series of events featuring the promotion's young wrestlers and trainees from the ROH Dojo . The term "Future of Honor" is additionally used by the promotion to refer to their young wrestlers and graduates from the dojo system (regardless of gender). The ROH Women of Honor (WOH) division began in 2002, with women's wrestlers sporadically appearing on ROH events until
5670-486: A result. Low Ki returned on May 7, 2005, and immediately attacked Jay Lethal and Samoa Joe at Manhattan Mayhem with his fellow Rottweilers, Homicide, Julius Smokes, Monsta Mack and Rocky Romero. The impromptu tag team match was made: The Rottweilers vs. Samoa Joe and Jay Lethal. Low Ki and Homicide won the match and injured Lethal with a Ghetto Stomp / Cop Killa combination. The feud continued on June 18 at Death Before Dishonor III, where he and Lethal faced each other in
5832-565: A second sister promotion from 2005 to 2010) and even some merchandise from competitors, such as Pro Wrestling Guerrilla . Under Silkin, ROH branched out across the world. On January 23, 2007, ROH announced plans for a Japanese tour, resulting in a show on July 16 in Tokyo called "Live In Tokyo", co-promoted with Pro Wrestling Noah and a show on July 17 called "Live In Osaka" in Osaka co-promoted with Dragon Gate . On May 2, 2007, Ring of Honor announced
5994-421: A singles match, but it ended in a no contest. They had a rematch on August 12 at Redemption, but the ending was the same and Rottweilers beat Lethal down after the match. Finally, on September 17 at Glory By Honor IV, a "Fight Without Honor" between the two ended with Low Ki getting a pinfall victory over Lethal. After Samoa Joe went on to save Colt Cabana from a beatdown by The Rottweilers, Lethal came out to even
6156-497: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
6318-575: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
6480-622: A weekly television program. The first tapings for Ring of Honor Wrestling took place on February 28 and March 1, 2009, at The Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and series premiered on HDNet on March 21, 2009. After nearly a year of producing weekly television broadcasts, RoH announced on January 20, 2010, that it would commission a new title, the ROH World Television Championship, to be decided in an eight-man tournament beginning February 5, 2010, and ending February 6, 2010, on its Ring of Honor Wrestling program. Due to
6642-411: A working relationship between the two companies. On January 11, 2011, Ring of Honor announced the ending of Ring of Honor Wrestling , after the completion of the promotion's two-year contract with HDNet. The final tapings of the show would be taking place on January 21 and 22, with the final episode airing on April 4, 2011. On May 21, 2011, Ring of Honor and Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that
Low Ki - Misplaced Pages Continue
6804-649: A working relationship which would see talent exchanges and dual events between the two promotions. The first co-promoted shows Global Wars and War of the Worlds, took place in May 2014, in Toronto and New York City respectively, with the two companies again co-promoting these events in May 2015 – with the War of the Worlds '15 taking place at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia on May 12 and 13, and
6966-553: Is Earned" , taped on May 12, first aired on July 1 on Dish Network. Ring of Honor continued to expand throughout 2008, debuting in Orlando, Florida on March 28 for Dragon Gate Challenge II, in Manassas, Virginia on May 9 for Southern Navigation and in Toronto , Ontario on July 25 for Northern Navigation. On May 10, 2008, Ring of Honor set an attendance record in its debut show, A New Level, from
7128-436: Is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which
7290-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
7452-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
7614-470: Is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to
7776-566: The 2012 Super Jr. Tag Tournament as "Chaos World Wrestling Warriors". However, the team was eliminated from the tournament in the first round by Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi). On November 11 at Power Struggle , Low Ki lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship to Prince Devitt in his first title defense. On January 4, 2013, at Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome , Low Ki unsuccessfully challenged Devitt for
7938-517: The Asylum Arena . Afterwards, it was announced that Low Ki had joined both Evolve and Dragon Gate USA full-time. Low Ki made his debut for Dragon Gate USA on January 27, when he defeated BxB Hulk in a singles match. Among speculations regarding his retirement from wrestling, Low Ki worked for Right Coast Pro's July 13, 2013, "Festivus" event, defeating Billy Bax in a singles match. On March 30, 2014, Pro Wrestling Syndicate (PWS) announced that Low Ki
8100-637: The Hammerstein Ballroom in the Manhattan Center in New York City. It had plans for shows in St. Louis, Missouri , Nashville, Tennessee , and Montreal before the end of 2008. On October 26, 2008, the company announced the departure of head booker Gabe Sapolsky , and his replacement by Adam Pearce . On January 26, 2009, Ring of Honor announced that it had signed an agreement with HDNet Fights for
8262-583: The International Junior Heavyweight Championship from him. He held the championship until August 31, 2003, when he lost it to Wataru Sakata . During 2003, Low Ki also made several appearances for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). Low Ki left Zero-One in mid-2004 to join Pro Wrestling Noah , where he was instantly given a title shot against Global Honored Crown (GHC) Junior Heavyweight Champion Yoshinobu Kanemaru , which he
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#17328869442208424-537: The International Wrestling Grand Prix (IWGP) Junior Heavyweight Championship from Tiger Mask on September 21, 2008, on NJPW's Circuit 2008 New Japan Generation tour. He subsequently lost it back to Tiger Mask on NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom III show in Tokyo on January 4, 2009. After losing the championship, Low Ki made several appearances for Hustle . At Lockdown , Christopher Daniels's mystery opponent
8586-768: The JAPW Tag Team Championship . The following year he challenged for the JAPW Light Heavyweight Championship twice, unsuccessfully, but defeated Crazy Ivan and Judas Young to win the second Best of the Light Heavyweights tournament. In 2000, he began making several appearances in the World Wrestling Federation on their programs Metal and Jakked , where he competed against the likes of Raven , Crash Holly , Christian and Essa Ríos . The following year he made it through to
8748-718: The NWA World Tag Team Championship three times under the " Freebird Rule ". Low Ki wrestled beside Skipper when Triple X defeated America's Most Wanted ( Chris Harris and James Storm ) for the title on January 22, 2003. When Daniels's greed for the X Division Championship initially forced Low Ki out of Triple X, Low Ki would go on to battle Daniels in Ultimate X , but his pursuit was unsuccessful. He left NWA TNA in July 2004 and made his return to ROH. Low Ki made his first trip to Japan with Pro Wrestling Zero-One in 2002. On September 16, he defeated Leonardo Spanky for
8910-523: The National Wrestling Alliance , where he began a cross-promotional feud with NWA World Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis . However, during the Speaking Out Movement , Scurll was accused of taking advantage of a 16-year-old girl who was inebriated. Scurll would release two statements in which he did not deny the allegations, but claimed the encounter was consensual. On June 25, the promotion announced that they launched an investigation concerning
9072-609: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
9234-759: The PWG World Championship after defeating Bryan Danielson in an unannounced match. He had one successful title defense against El Generico , before a knee injury forced him to forfeit the championship just a month later. Low Ki returned to PWG at All Star Weekend 7 – Night One on August 30, 2008, where he was a part of a four-way match for the World Championship; the bout also featured Eddie Kingston , Necro Butcher , and defending champion Chris Hero , who retained by pinning Kingston. On November 1 and 2 in Burbank, California , Low Ki defeated Roderick Strong in
9396-458: The ROH Hall of Fame (HOF) was introduced inducting the company's first four Hall of Famers plus one due to one induction being a ROH tag team. As part of ROH's re-launch the promotion added a new contest: the "Proving Ground" match. The match features an up-and-coming star against a seasoned professional who is a title-holder. If the up-and-coming star can defeat, or at least last 10 minutes with,
9558-614: The Survivor Series pay-per-view against Ziggler for the Intercontinental Championship . At the pay-per-view, Kaval was unsuccessful in his attempt to win the Intercontinental Championship. On the December 3 episode of Smackdown , Kaval and MVP lost to Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre. He and MVP were attacked by Kane On the December 10 episode of Smackdown , Kaval lost to Jack Swagger by submission. On
9720-649: The Women of Honor World Championship , the Shimmer Championship , and the Shimmer Tag Team Championship . ROH also runs a professional wrestling school . Originally named the "ROH Wrestling Academy", and based in Bristol, Pennsylvania , ROH announced in July 2016 that the following month it was re-opening the school as the "ROH Dojo" in Baltimore, Maryland. Delirious operates as the head trainer of
9882-543: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
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#173288694422010044-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
10206-577: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
10368-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
10530-506: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
10692-641: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
10854-510: The December 17 episode of Smackdown , Kaval and Kofi Kingston defeated Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler. Kaval's final appearance in WWE was a loss to Drew McIntyre on the live December 21 episode of SmackDown , and he was released from his contract on December 23. On May 13, 2011, Silvestry, under the name Low Ki, made his return to NJPW, during the Invasion Tour 2011 , the promotion's first tour of
11016-577: The December 8 tapings, he was defeated by Goldust in another dark match. On the February 7 episode of FCW , he defeated Bryan Danielson, for whom this was a debut match, after hitting him with Warrior's Way , and on February 8 won a fatal four-way match against Alberto Banderas , Wade Barrett and Michael Tarver to become the number one contender for the Florida Heavyweight Championship . Kaval received his title shot two weeks later, but
11178-549: The ECW void by starting his own pro wrestling promotion, and distributing its made-for-DVD/VHS productions exclusively through RF Video. The first event, titled The Era of Honor Begins , took place on February 23, 2002, in Philadelphia , the former home area of ECW. It featured nine matches, including a match between Eddy Guerrero and Super Crazy for the IWA Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship and
11340-480: The June 8 episode of NXT , but did not compete in a match. On the June 15 episode of NXT , he was defeated by Alex Riley in his debut, and the following week he was defeated by Eli Cottonwood. On the June 29 episode of NXT , Kaval teamed with Michael McGillicutty and Lucky Cannon against Riley, Cottonwood and Titus O'Neil , which his team won when he pinned Riley, giving Kaval his first win on NXT . Later that night, he
11502-429: The March 2 episode of All Elite Wrestling 's live weekly series Dynamite , president and co-founder Tony Khan announced that he had purchased Ring of Honor from Sinclair Broadcast Group, including its brand assets, intellectual property, and video library. Khan also announced that he intends to make the ROH library available to the public in its entirety. It was clarified through a press release issued that night that
11664-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
11826-477: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
11988-463: The ROH commissioner Jim Cornette ban Low Ki from Ring of Honor for life after it was discovered that he was the one who knocked Cornette's tooth out at that show. He was also used as a focus point (in name only) in the Cornette/Homicide feud in the summer of 2006, with Cornette refusing to reinstate Low Ki as Homicide's "third wish." Low Ki's first stint with NWA Total Nonstop Action (NWA TNA)
12150-458: The Ring of Honor wrestlers, replica title belts and more. On May 27, 2015, ROH announced a 26-week television deal with Destination America , beginning on June 3. On December 13, 2015, ROH announced a partnership with Southern California promotion Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), which would allow ROH contracted wrestlers to continue working for PWG. On August 30, 2016, ROH announced the creation of
12312-409: The U.S., expanded their television visibility through Sinclair's broadcast stations, and eventually established its own streaming service in 2018 called Honor Club . As Sinclair was struggling with debt in the late 2010s, ROH went on a hiatus at the end of 2021. The promotion would later be sold to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) founder, co-owner, president and CEO Tony Khan in March 2022, with
12474-617: The United Kingdom, defeating Mark Haskins for 4 Front Wrestling and Ultimo Tiger for Pro Wrestling Pride . At the Impact Wrestling taping that occurred in Mumbai, India, on May 30 Dutt pinned then X Division Champion Low Ki to win his championship. At the July 6 Impact Wrestling tapings, Low Ki turned heel again by attacking Dutt during his Championship celebration, leading to a two out of three falls match at Slammiversary XV in which Ki
12636-495: The United States, including Ohio , New Jersey , Connecticut , and Maryland . In Florida , ROH supported Full Impact Pro , which would serve as a sister promotion until 2009. It also began to build its international identity by co-promoting an event with Frontier Wrestling Alliance in London, England on May 17, 2003. In 2004, Feinstein was caught in an internet-based sting operation, in which he allegedly tried to solicit sex on
12798-625: The United States, teaming with Homicide in a tag team match, where they defeated Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask. The following day, Low Ki unsuccessfully challenged Prince Devitt for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. On the third and final day of the tour in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , Low Ki and Homicide unsuccessfully challenged Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship . On June 27, 2011, Low Ki returned to TNA at
12960-451: The WK7 match in the suit in protest. NJPW was reportedly "furious" over Low Ki wrestling a title match in a suit without clearing it with them first to the point that even years later, the company was said to be open to bringing anyone back "with the exception of Low Ki". On January 14, 2012, Low Ki made his unadvertised debut for Evolve , defeating Ahtu at the final professional wrestling event in
13122-579: The World , from the Nashville State Fairgrounds in Nashville, Tennessee. In September, Sinclair began syndicating ROH to other stations; the first deal was reached with WATL , a Gannett -owned Atlanta station, which began airing ROH on September 13, 2014. On October 27, 2014, ROH announced a toy licensing deal with Figures Toy Company, which would see the distribution of action figures based on
13284-583: The World . It was revealed during their 2021 Q3 financial results that Sinclair had $ 12,530,000 USD in debt , largely due to the Diamond Sports Group (the subsidiary that operates the Bally Sports networks). On October 27, 2021, Ring of Honor announced that it would go on a hiatus after Final Battle in December, with a return tentatively scheduled for April 2022. All personnel would also be released from their contracts as part of plans to "reimagine"
13446-423: The X Division Championship. On the August 7 episode of Impact Wrestling , Low Ki was defeated by Samoa Joe in the finals of a tournament for the vacant title, which also included Sanada . Ki would face Joe again at Hardcore Justice in a losing effort. However, on September 19, Joe vacated the title due medical issues. On the November 12 episode of Impact Wrestling , Low Ki defeated Tigre Uno , Manik and DJ Z in
13608-422: The acquisition was made through an entity separate from AEW and wholly-owned by Khan. In a media scrum following AEW's Revolution PPV on March 6, Khan revealed that he eventually planned to run ROH separately from AEW, and also indicated that ROH could be used as a developmental brand for AEW. On April 1 at Supercard of Honor XV , the first ROH event after the hiatus, Jonathan Gresham defeated Bandido in
13770-500: The allegations, and Scurll was removed from his position as booker. By January 2021, Ring of Honor announced that Marty Scurll was no longer under contract after the two parties mutually agreed to part ways. On January 31, 2020, Ring of Honor announced the return of the ROH Pure Championship , with a tournament to crown the first Pure champion since 2006. The following month, the promotion announced another tournament to crown
13932-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
14094-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
14256-550: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
14418-519: The biggest and most attended event in ROH history. In early 2019, Rhodes, the Bucks, and several other talents left the company to start their own promotion – All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The departure of Ring of Honor's top talent for AEW was viewed by many wrestling journalists and commenters as the beginning of a decline for the promotion in 2019. Much of the criticism focused on the reign of then-ROH World Champion Matt Taven . ROH had fewer PPV buys and
14580-588: The broadcast carrier had purchased ROH, with former owner Cary Silkin remaining with the company in an executive role. The promotion's programming began airing the weekend of September 24, 2011, with a relaunched Ring of Honor Wrestling airing on several Sinclair owned-or-operated stations; the show airs primarily on Saturday or Sunday afternoons or late nights, or on prime time on some of Sinclair's CW and MyNetworkTV affiliates (as those networks do not run programming on weekend evenings). On June 22, Ring of Honor held their first live pay-per-view event, Best in
14742-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
14904-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
15066-465: The challenger at Bound for Glory. On August 23, it was reported that Silvestry had parted ways with Impact. Sources agreed that Silvestry had made the decision to leave, but disagreed whether the departure was over financial or creative differences. Low Ki debuted in Major League Wrestling (MLW) in 2018 as a heel, where Salina de la Renta became his manager. His first match for the promotion
15228-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
15390-461: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
15552-669: The company as a "fan-focused product". In the interim, the men's and woman's championships were defended at events held by various other promotions, including Impact Wrestling and Jonathan Gresham's new Terminus promotion. On January 10, 2022, ROH announced that Supercard of Honor XV would take place at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas , on April 1. These matches will also be seen on Ring of Honor Wrestling . In addition, it's been said that Ring of Honor would operate "like an indie", using non-contracted talent. On
15714-410: The creation of the Women of Honor Championship , adding its fifth championship and the first for its female roster . On September 1, 2018, ROH wrestlers Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) promoted and wrestled at All In – an event that was produced in collaboration with ROH, featuring wrestlers from numerous promotions that drew over 11,000 fans in suburban Chicago . This
15876-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
16038-532: The division was reformed into a permanent feature of the promotion in 2015. The term "Women of Honor" is additionally used by the promotion to refer to their female wrestlers and other female talent. The current top championship in the Women of Honor division is the ROH Women's World Championship and their other women's title is the ROH Women's World Television Championship . Previous women's championships used by ROH include
16200-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
16362-597: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
16524-524: The finals of All Pro Wrestling 's King of the Indies tournament, losing the crown to American Dragon . It was also during 2001 that he defeated Nick Berk and Homicide in separate matches on the same evening to win both the JAPW Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight Titles; he would successfully defend both titles in separate matches at their Fourth Anniversary Show later that month in July. He lost both titles in
16686-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
16848-584: The following episode of Impact , it was revealed that Senshi's case contained a pink slip which meant he was fired. In December 2007, it was reported that Senshi had submitted his resignation to TNA and he left the promotion shortly after. In 2008, Silvestry helped TNA during the development of its first ever video game by providing both voicing and motion capture for the game's protagonist, Suicide . Low Ki made his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) on April 7, 2007, defeating Davey Richards at All Star Weekend V – Night One . On January 5, 2008, Low Ki won
17010-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
17172-455: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
17334-513: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
17496-471: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
17658-487: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
17820-892: The internet from a person that he thought to be an underage boy (but was actually an adult, posing as a minor). After this was publicized by some news outlets, Feinstein resigned from ROH in March 2004. In the aftermath of the scandal, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) ended its talent-sharing agreement with Ring of Honor, abruptly withdrawing all of its contracted wrestlers from their prior commitments to perform in ROH shows—including major ROH draws A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels, who held and were about to hold ROH championships, respectively. Doug Gentry eventually bought Feinstein's stake in ROH, and later sold it to Cary Silkin. ROH then started its own mail-order and online store operations, which sold DVDs of its live events, plus shoot interviews (dubbed The Straight Shootin' Series) with wrestlers and managers, DVDs of SHIMMER (which would serve as
17982-570: The main event to unify the ROH World Championship , and numerous other ROH titles changed hands. The event also saw the return of former ROH champion, and recently inducted ROH Hall of Famer , Samoa Joe . On May 4, the sale of ROH to Tony Khan was officially completed. ROH matches began appearing on AEW programs , and Death Before Dishonor was the first ROH PPV under the new ownership. On December 10, after Final Battle , Khan announced that ROH's weekly televised program will be aired on
18144-636: The match and they shook hands after the match. Low Ki left the promotion in 2004 due to the Feinstein incident , but he returned on July 17, 2004, during a match, where Samoa Joe and the Briscoe Brothers fought against The Rottweilers ( Homicide and the Havana Pitbulls ). It looked like Low Ki would save Samoa Joe from a beatdown by The Rottweilers, but instead he spat on the ROH Championship, which
18306-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
18468-447: The number one contender to the X Division Championship. Senshi went on to become X Division Champion again on the June 22, 2006, episode of Impact! , defeating Joe and Dutt after he pinned Dutt. He remained undefeated for six months, successfully defending the X Division Championship against Kazarian at Victory Road , Jay Lethal and Petey Williams in a three-way match at Hard Justice , and Chris Sabin at No Surrender , before losing
18630-502: The odds and said that he wanted yet another rematch with Low Ki, which Lethal won this time, ending the feud. Later in the year, Low Ki helped Homicide in his feud against Colt Cabana. On December 17, 2005, at Final Battle 2005, he challenged Kenta for his GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship , but came up short. Low Ki left ROH once again in January 2006 due to a "disagreement in business arrangements". He won his last match on January 28 against Jack Evans . ROH covered his leaving by having
18792-521: The opening round, Masato Yoshino in the quarterfinals, Nigel McGuinness in the semifinals, and Chris Hero in a non-title final match to win the 2008 Battle of Los Angeles tournament. After his World Wrestling Entertainment tenure, Low Ki returned to PWG on January 29, 2011, during the WrestleReunion 5 weekend, in a rematch from 2007, where he defeated Davey Richards. In his next appearance on April 9, Low Ki defeated Akira Tozawa . On May 28, during
18954-757: The people working there are satanic pedophiles ), weather modification , the LGBT+ groomer theory (including a reference to LGBT+ people as "perverts"), and a desire to execute doctors who promoted the COVID-19 vaccine. Silvestry is fluent in Spanish . Low Ki defended the title with either Daniels or Skipper under the Freebird Rule . Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
19116-437: The platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
19278-434: The poll later that night, Kaval regained the number one ranking. On the August 30 episode of Raw , Kaval and Daniel Bryan lost a triple threat tag team match to The Miz and Alex Riley. On August 31, Kaval won the second season of NXT , with McGillicutty ranked second and Riley in third place. Following the announcement of his victory, he was attacked by all the former season two rookies. Following his NXT victory, Kaval
19440-437: The promotion pushed as its first major heel. Daniels and his faction, The Prophecy, rejected the Code of Honor and refused to shake anyone's hand. The fourth and fifth rules emphasized the finishes of ROH matches – the vast majority of which ended decisively (with clean pinfalls , submissions, or knockouts) – unlike what most rival promotions at the time did. On the rare occasion that a match did end with outside interference, with
19602-714: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
19764-658: The promotion's homebase in Maryland but without fans in attendance. New episodes would begin syndication on September 12, with a revamped format, and the beginning of the Pure title tournament. Ten days prior, Ring of Honor launched a Free ad-supported television (FAST) channel on the Sinclair-owned streaming service Stirr called "ROH Best On The Planet". Final Battle would be the promotion's sole pay-per-view event in 2020, while live audiences would return on July 11, 2021, at Best in
19926-472: The relaunched Honor Club streaming platform, starting in 2023. On January 18, 2023, a one-off special tribute show to ROH mainstay Jay Briscoe , who had been killed in a car accident the day before, was taped for Honor Club . On February 25 and 26, new episodes of the relaunched Ring of Honor Wrestling program were taped at Soundstage 21 in Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. On March 2,
20088-524: The returning Skipper. They won their reunion match on the July 19, 2007, episode of Impact! against Serotonin . Triple X faced Lethal and Dutt and The Motor City Machine Guns at Hard Justice in a losing effort. Skipper and Senshi also went on to face LAX at Bound for Glory in Ultimate X, ultimately losing. At Turning Point , Senshi competed in the Feast or Fired match in which he one of four briefcases. On
20250-497: The ring with Big Show and in doing so earned a spot on Team SmackDown at Bragging Rights . However, after the match, Kaval was challenged by Tyler Reks , who ultimately went on to defeat him for his spot at the pay-per-view . On the October 18 episode of Raw , Kaval competed in a SmackDown vs. Raw Battle Royal where he was eliminated by Mark Henry . On the October 29 episode of Smackdown , Kaval lost to Jack Swagger . Kaval then lost
20412-745: The sale completed on May 4 of that year. Currently, ROH operates as a sister promotion to AEW. Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s In April 2001, the pro wrestling video-distribution company RF Video needed a new promotion to lead its video sales when its best-seller – Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) – went out of business and WWE purchased its assets. RF Video also videotaped events held by other, less-popular, regional wrestling promotions; it sold these through its catalog and website. After months of trying to join Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), RF Video's owner, Rob Feinstein, decided to fill
20574-552: The school with Cheeseburger and Will Ferrara as his assistants. Previous head trainers of the academy include former ROH World Champions CM Punk, Austin Aries, and Bryan Danielson. From 2005 to 2008, ROH used a "Top of the Class" trophy to promote the students on the main show; while wrestlers win and lose the Trophy in matches, the School's head trainer chooses the winners. On January 26, 2022,
20736-846: The seasoned professional, the newcomer would earn a future title shot. To date, only 1 newcomer has earned a title shot from a proving ground match, that being Lee Moriarty , who lasted 10 minutes against then- ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta , earning a title shot against Yuta at Death Before Dishonor 2024 , where Moriarty would defeat Yuta to become the new ROH Pure Champion. "Proving Ground" matches were also relevant for new coming talent in Ring of Honor (ROH) back in 2011 as well. Throughout its history, Ring of Honor has had working agreements with various domestic and international wrestling promotions at different times. ROH shows have had outside championships defended on them and on some occasions, wrestlers have held both ROH and outside championships simultaneously. In February 2014, ROH and NJPW announced
20898-512: The second night of All Star Weekend 8 , Low Ki unsuccessfully challenged Claudio Castagnoli for the World Championship. Low Ki appeared on the November 7, 2008, edition of SmackDown in a dark match , losing to then- WWE Tag Team Champion Primo . Low Ki then won a match against Trent Beretta at the Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) tapings on January 8. It was later announced on his official website that he had signed
21060-490: The signing of a PPV and VOD deal with G-Funk Sports & Entertainment to bring ROH into homes with In Demand Networks, TVN , and the Dish Network . The deal called for six taped pay-per-view events to air every 60 days. Because of the move to pay-per-view, TNA Wrestling immediately pulled its contracted stars ( Austin Aries , Christopher Daniels , and Homicide ) from ROH shows. The first pay-per-view, titled "Respect
21222-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
21384-626: The tapings of the June 30 edition of Impact Wrestling , defeating Jimmy Yang and Matt Bentley in a three-way match to advance to a four-way match for a TNA contract at Destination X . At the pay-per-view, Low Ki was defeated in the finals by Austin Aries. On April 21, 2012, Low Ki returned to NJPW, aligning himself with the Chaos stable and teaming with Gedo , Jado and Rocky Romero in an eight-man tag team match, where they defeated Jushin Thunder Liger, Prince Devitt, Ryusuke Taguchi and Tiger Mask, with Ki pinning IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Devitt for
21546-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
21708-560: The title in a three-way match, which also included Kota Ibushi. Low Ki wrestled the entire match in a suit. The following month, New Japan removed Low Ki's profile from its official website, signaling the end of his run with the promotion. Low Ki had told New Japan office that he did not want to wrestle at an upcoming event in Fukushima because of health and safety reasons stemming from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster . Low Ki wrestled
21870-534: The title to Sabin in October at Bound for Glory . Senshi later feuded with Austin Starr . Their feud would continue until Lockdown in a Six Sides of Steel match , which he won. At Slammiversary , he teamed with Rhino to defeat The Latin American Xchange (LAX). At Victory Road , Senshi competed in a 10-Man Ultimate X Match, which he lost. After the match, however, Triple X was reformed with Daniels, Senshi, and
22032-473: The tournament. The following day, Low Ki defeated Prince Devitt in the semifinals, before losing to Ryusuke Taguchi in the finals of the tournament. On June 16 at Dominion 6.16 , Low Ki defeated Taguchi in a rematch to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. On July 29, Low Ki lost the title to Kota Ibushi in his second defense. Low Ki regained the title from Ibushi on October 8 at King of Pro-Wrestling . On October 21, Low Ki and Brian Kendrick entered
22194-505: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
22356-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
22518-411: The voice and motion-capture of the wrestling character Suicide . Silvestry is an avid Twitter user, and has been criticized for spreading conspiracy theories and anti-vaccine misinformation , particularly about the Fukushima disaster , mRNA and COVID-19 related vaccines , and on mask usage. He has re-posted and has commented on numerous statements surrounding Disney (including one stating that
22680-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
22842-522: The weekly series began to air exclusively through Honor Club . During the December 16, 2023 TV tapings, Tony Khan debuted a new ROH Women's World Television Championship . On November 1, 2024 negotiations were affirmed that ROH will be making a TV deal with TruTV . ROH distinguishes its image from other wrestling promotions through the "Code of Honor", a set of rules dictating how wrestlers should conduct themselves during matches. The Code of Honor aimed to infuse Ring of Honor's matches with
23004-456: The win. On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2012 , Low Ki defeated Devitt to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for the second time. On May 27, Low Ki entered New Japan's 2012 Best of the Super Juniors tournament . When the round-robin stage of the tournament concluded on June 9, Low Ki finished with eight wins out of his eight matches, winning his block and advancing to the semifinals of
23166-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
23328-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
23490-465: Was a one-time Zero-One International Junior Heavyweight and NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Champion. He is a three time world champion, and is the only wrestler in history to have been ROH, PWG, and MLW World Champion. Silvestry began wrestling in late 1998 under the ring name Low Ki, which he derived from the lyrics of the song " No Diggity ". He began wrestling for Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW) in 1998, challenging Homicide and Kane D for
23652-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
23814-504: Was coming out of retirement to work an event for the promotion on June 7. The following day, he was also announced for Dragon Gate USA's April events. On April 4, Ki was defeated by Trent Baretta in his Dragon Gate USA return match. On August 11, 2013, AJPW announced that Low Ki would be returning to the promotion the following month to take part in the 2013 Ōdō Tournament . Low Ki entered the tournament on September 11, defeating Dark Cuervo in his first round match. Five days later, Low Ki
23976-613: Was defeated by the defending champion, Justin Gabriel . On July 15, Kaval and Michael McGillicutty defeated Los Aviadores ( Hunico and Epico ) to win the Florida Tag Team Championship . Kaval and McGillicutty only held the championship for a single day before losing it back to Los Aviadores . It was announced on June 1 that Kaval would be a participant in the second season of NXT , with Team Lay-Cool ( Michelle McCool and Layla ) as his storyline mentors. He debuted on
24138-423: Was eliminated from the tournament in the second round by Akebono . Following the match, Low Ki was sidelined with an abdominal injury for the rest of the tour. On October 14, Silvestry announced his retirement from professional wrestling due to All Japan supposedly not honoring their contractual obligation of medical care following his injury. Low Ki returned to TNA in 2014, starting a rivalry against Samoa Joe over
24300-556: Was for its debut show on June 19, 2002, in a six-man tag team match alongside A.J. Styles and Jerry Lynn against the Flying Elvises. On June 26, he attempted to become the first X Division Champion , but was beaten by Styles. He would, though, eventually go on to win the title from Styles on August 7, but lost it three weeks later to Lynn. He would later form the Triple X faction with Christopher Daniels and Elix Skipper that year and hold
24462-545: Was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011; when the promotion was sold to the Sinclair Broadcast Group . Throughout the 2010s, ROH was considered the third largest wrestling promotion in the United States, behind WWE and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , initially operating on an internet distribution model. Under Sinclair's ownership, ROH began talent-sharing deals with wrestling companies outside
24624-475: Was moved to the SmackDown brand , making his debut during the September 7 tapings in a loss to Drew McIntyre , which aired on September 10. On the September 24 episode of SmackDown , Kaval lost to Chavo Guerrero Jr. On the October 8 episode of SmackDown , Kaval and Kofi Kingston lost to Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes when Rhodes pinned Kaval. On the October 15 episode of SmackDown Kaval lasted five minutes in
24786-499: Was on January 11, where he and MVP went to a draw. On the July 20 episode of Fusion , Low Ki defeated Shane Strickland to win the MLW World Heavyweight Championship He would follow that win with successful defences against John Hennigan and Fenix . On November 10 Low Ki defended his championship against Daga , where he won after ripping a portion of Daga's ear off. Low Ki would also defeat Strickland in
24948-568: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
25110-408: Was ranked first in the poll. Four weeks later on July 27, he slipped down to second place in the second poll, behind McGillicutty. On August 9, the rookies appeared in a six-man tag team match on Raw , which Kaval's team lost when he was pinned by Husky Harris . Following the match, he was attacked by Sheamus . The following night on NXT , Kaval's team won a rematch when Kaval pinned McGillicutty. In
25272-539: Was revealed to be the returning Low Ki, who wrestled under the name of Senshi (Japanese for "warrior" or "soldier"). Following Lockdown, Senshi was not seen in action for several weeks. Instead, he was built up with a series of vignettes hyping his background, training, and desire to dominate the X Division once more, hinting at the possibility of challenging the X Division Champion, the undefeated Samoa Joe. Senshi defeated Alex Shelley , Jay Lethal, Petey Williams , Shark Boy , and Sonjay Dutt at Slammiversary to become
25434-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
25596-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
25758-457: Was the first U.S. pro wrestling event not promoted by WWE or the defunct World Championship Wrestling (WCW) to reach the 10,000 attendance mark since the 1990s. Also in 2018, ROH and longtime partner New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) announced a joint event at Madison Square Garden in New York City called G1 Supercard , which was held on April 6, 2019. The event quickly sold out, and became
25920-498: Was then held by Joe, and joined The Rottweilers. At Weekend of Thunder Night 2 on November 6, 2004, he started a feud with Bryan Danielson, who was Low Ki's partner in a match against Samoa Joe and Jushin Thunder Liger . Low Ki and Danielson lost the match and Low Ki blamed his partner for that, so The Rottweilers started a beatdown on Danielson. On December 4, at All Star Extravaganza II, Danielson defeated Homicide of The Rottweilers. In that same event, Low Ki wrestled Austin Aries in
26082-662: Was unable to win. During this period, he represented Noah in MXW Pro Wrestling's Gaijin Battle Series. He later joined New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and joined Shinsuke Nakamura 's stable RISE , replacing the injured Milano Collection A.T. ; in his first match back, he suffered a knee injury, which required surgery. Low Ki returned to the promotion in September, defecting from RISE to join New Japan's main villainous faction, Great Bash Heel (GBH). After joining GBH, he captured
26244-625: Was unsuccessful in regaining the X-Division Championship. After that, he was joined with the Latin American Xchange (LAX) , starting a storyline with the Impact World Champion Alberto El Patron . Ki was scheduled to face Alberto for the title at Bound for Glory, but since Impact stripped him from the title, the match was cancelled. Instead, Eli Drake was crowned new champion and Johnny Impact was pointed as
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