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86-593: Despite first being mentioned in December 2022, the official design of the titles was revealed on March 7, 2023, during a press conference. They are inspired by the designs of New Japan Pro Wrestling 's Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship , having the front larger plate and straps identically with them. On January 20, at New Blood 7 , an eight-team tournament to crown the inaugural champions has begun. At New Blood Premium on March 25, Oedo Tai ( Karma and Starlight Kid ) defeated God's Eye ( Mirai and Tomoka Inaba ) in

172-402: 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

258-653: 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

344-532: 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

430-624: 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

516-481: 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

602-436: A new Greatest 18 Club Championship , awarding it to Riki Choshu . The Greatest Wrestlers is New Japan's hall of fame , established in 2007 to honor wrestlers who have wrestled for the promotion. From 2007 to 2011, the inductions begin on March 6, the anniversary of the promotion's founding. Domestic: International (former): International (current): Worldwide : Ring of Honor Ring of Honor ( ROH )

688-686: 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

774-474: A new partnership with The Crash Lucha Libre ; both partnerships ended later in 2019. On October 21, 2019, NJPW announced the formation of a new American subsidiary of the company, named New Japan Pro-Wrestling of America (NJoA). In 2019, they had run a record 13 shows in the United States, with plans to run double that in 2020. It was reported at the same time that NJPW and ROH had no joint shows planned for

860-532: 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

946-460: 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

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1032-593: 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

1118-565: 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

1204-622: 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

1290-411: 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

1376-649: 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

1462-553: 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

1548-528: Is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki , and based in Nakano, Tokyo . It is currently owned by card game company Bushiroad , while TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares of the company. Naoki Sugabayashi has served as the promotion's Chairman since September 2013, while Hiroshi Tanahashi has served as the president of the promotion since December 2023. Owing to its TV program aired on TV Asahi, NJPW

1634-699: Is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida . The promotion 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

1720-573: Is the largest and longest-running professional wrestling promotion in Japan. Their biggest event is the January 4 Tokyo Dome Show (currently promoted under the Wrestle Kingdom banner) held each year since 1992. In addition to promoting professional wrestling matches, NJPW has also showcased mixed martial arts fights on some of its live events. The promotion was owned by Yuke's from 2005 until 2012. It

1806-694: The 2020 New Japan Cup as well. World Wonder Ring Stardom is owned by Bushiroad , also made adjustments to their schedule, cancelling shows from February 18 to March 14. Their March 8 show in Korakuen Hall was held without any spectators in attendance, instead streaming live on their YouTube channel. On March 23, NJPW would later cancel the 2020 Sakura Genesis event that was originally scheduled to take place in on March 31. On April 8, NJPW would cancel more events from April 11 through May 4, which mean both nights of 2020 Wrestling Dontaku were cancelled as well. On May 6, NJPW cancelled their annual Best of

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1892-637: 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

1978-944: The KOPW (King of Pro Wrestling) Championship. For tag teams, there is a traditional championship for two-man teams (the IWGP Tag Team Championship ), and one for three-man teams (the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship ). There are two championships in NJPW for junior heavyweight wrestlers - a singles title (the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship ) and one for tag teams (the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship ). In New Japan's United States based NJPW Strong brand, there are two championships for male wrestlers -

2064-842: The NJPW Invasion Tour 2011: Attack on East Coast , the promotion's first tour of the United States to be held in May 2011. The tour featured shows in Rahway, New Jersey on May 13, New York City on May 14 and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 15, as well as cross-promotion with American independent group Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW). As part of the tour, NJPW introduced a new title, the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. On January 31, 2012, Yuke's announced that it had sold all shares of New Japan Pro-Wrestling to card game company Bushiroad for ¥ 500 million ( $ 6.5 million). New Japan aired its first internet pay-per-view ,

2150-638: The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) as well as holding more shows in Thailand , Singapore , and Taiwan . Also announced was the Lion's Gate Project , which would feature NJPW rookies as well as up-and-coming outsiders working trial matches in an effort to earn a spot in the promotion. Finally, it was announced that there were plans to take the company public with a listing on the stock market within three to five years. On December 21, 2015, NJPW announced

2236-473: The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) from 1975 to 1985 and once more from 1992 to 1993. NJPW was briefly reaffiliated with the NWA in the late 2000s to the early 2010s as well. On January 4, 1992, NJPW partnered with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) to produce Super Warriors , the first ever January 4 Tokyo Dome Show , an event that would become an annual tradition for NJPW and is considered their biggest event of

2322-523: 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

2408-696: The New Zealand -based Fale Dojo , a pro wrestling training facility run by NJPW performer Bad Luck Fale . NJPW will utilize the partnership as an opportunity to scout talent from Oceania . The following month on April 24, 2017, it was announced that NJPW would co-present the Japanese qualifiers for the Pro Wrestling World Cup tournament hosted by the British What Culture Pro Wrestling (WCPW) promotion. On May 12, 2017, NJPW announced

2494-458: 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,

2580-711: The Strong Openweight Championship for singles wrestlers, and the Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship for tag teams. There are two championships for female wrestlers in NJPW, the IWGP Women's Championship and the Strong Women's Championship . As of November 29, 2024. The Greatest 18 Club was New Japan's first hall of fame, being established in 1990 during Antonio Inoki's career 30th anniversary. Additionally, Lou Thesz also debuted

2666-605: The United Center in Chicago, Illinois . During September 2022, NJPW announced NJPW Tamashii , an Oceania-based brand that would stage events throughout the region. On October 1, 2022, NJPW's founder Antonio Inoki died from systemic transthyretin amyloidosis at age 79. On January 4, 2023, NJPW held their Wrestle Kingdom 17 event in Inoki's honor. In October 2023, NJPW and sister promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom established

New Blood Tag Team Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue

2752-580: The United Japan Pro-Wrestling (UJPW) alliance. The inaugural UJPW event took place on May 6, 2024, in the Nippon Budokan arena. On December 23, NJPW announced that Takami Ohbari had stepped down as the promotion's president, with Hiroshi Tanahashi replacing him as NJPW president and representative director. On April 23, 2024, NJPW announced that it would fully acquire sister promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom on June 28. The acquisition

2838-696: 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

2924-472: The American AXS TV network announced it had acquired rights to rebroadcast a series of thirteen episodes of NJPW matches from TV Asahi . The series premiered on January 16, 2015, airing weekly on Fridays. Averaging 200,000 viewers per episode, the show was considered a success, leading to AXS TV and TV Asahi signing a multi-year deal to continue airing the show. In June 2016, the show was also acquired by

3010-649: The Asia Pacific Pro-Wrestling Alliance, an interpromotional governing body that seeks to connect wrestling promotions across Asia. On January 5, 2024, the alliance was renamed the Asia-Pacific Federation of Wrestling (APFW). The inaugural event sanctioned by APFW, NJPW's Wrestling World in Taiwan, took place on April 14 in Taipei . In early December 2023, NJPW was announced as a founding member of

3096-482: The Canadian Fight Network . On December 1, 2014, NJPW and TV Asahi announced NJPW World , a new worldwide streaming site for the promotion's events. On July 18, 2015, NJPW announced the "New IWGP Conception", a global expansion strategy centered on their international partnerships with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), GFW, ROH, Revolution Pro Wrestling (RPW), Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw), and

3182-549: 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

3268-447: The Inoki family, the company began to reintegrate its prior puroresu style of wrestling. Also in 2007, NJPW hosted its first ever pay-per-view (PPV) event Wrestle Kingdom I . The promotion debuted a new series called NEVER in August 2010, designed to be a series of events spotlighting younger up-and-coming New Japan talent and feature more outsider participation in the promotion. On January 4, 2011, New Japan officially announced

3354-429: 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

3440-458: 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

3526-856: The Super Juniors tournament. The next day, NJPW postponed their Wrestle Dynasty event to 2021, which was to take place in Madison Square Garden in New York. On June 9, NJPW announced their return with special show with mystery match card called Together Special on June 15 and the return of the New Japan Cup would now be held from June 16 until July 11, with the final being held at Osaka-jō Hall in Osaka alongside Dominion in Osaka-jo Hall being rescheduled to July 12. On September 29, NJPW announced that Meij would no longer be appointed president of

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3612-409: 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

3698-495: 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

3784-579: 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

3870-583: 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"

3956-533: The Worlds '15 on May 12 and 13 in Philadelphia and Global Wars '15 on May 15 and 16 in Toronto. In June 2014, New Japan announced a partnership with the new American Global Force Wrestling (GFW) organization helmed by Jeff Jarrett . In November 2014, GFW announced that it would be broadcasting NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome on pay-per-view in the United States as a four-hour event. Also in November 2014,

4042-422: 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

4128-500: 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

4214-519: 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

4300-588: 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

4386-669: 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

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4472-596: The creation of a new title: the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, with the inaugural champion to be crowned during the promotion's G1 Special in USA shows in Long Beach, California on July 1 and 2. Four days later, NJPW held a press conference to announce plans to establish a subsidiary company, including a dojo, in the United States. A Los Angeles office was scheduled to be opened before

4558-514: The creation of its seventh active title and the first six-man tag team championship in the promotion's history, the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. On January 5, 2016, NJPW announced a partnership with the Amuse talent agency with the goal of making the promotion's wrestlers internationally recognized stars in the vein of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson . In March 2017, NJPW partnered with

4644-410: 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

4730-433: 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

4816-442: The early 2000s, the burgeoning popularity of mixed martial arts (MMA) in Japan was noticed by Inoki, who wanted to integrate elements of shoot wrestling to make the company appear more realistic. The company would partner with martial arts organization K-1 and begin to insert wrestlers into MMA fights, with the goal of pushing NJPW in a more realistic direction and to make it appear as an actual sport. The company's new management

4902-431: The end of 2017, with a dojo scheduled to be opened at the start of 2018. NJPW's second American event, Strong Style Evolved , took place on March 25, 2018, also in Long Beach. In November 2017, NJPW signed a television deal with Discovery Communications , which would see the company's programming brought to 70 million Indian homes through DSport . In January 2018, NJPW announced the four-show Fallout Down Under tour,

4988-410: The first ever IWGP Heavyweight Champion by defeating Inoki. However, this championship was later abandoned and the current version of the championship was established in 1987. Inoki would serve as the president of the promotion until 1989, when he was succeeded by Seiji Sakaguchi . On April 24, 1989, NJPW hosted Battle Satellite , its first show in the Tokyo Dome . The promotion was a member of

5074-408: The fourth day of the 2012 G1 Climax , on August 5, 2012. The October 8, 2012, King of Pro-Wrestling pay-per-view marked the first time viewers outside Japan were able to order a pay-per-view by the promotion through Ustream . On October 5, 2012, New Japan announced the creation of the NEVER Openweight Championship, which would be contested for on the NEVER series. A two-day tournament to determine

5160-418: The future. On October 31, 2019, Super7 announced the first line of NJPW action figures . Amidst from the Japanese onset of the COVID-19 pandemic , in accordance with recommendations from the Japanese Ministry of Health, NJPW decided to cancel all scheduled shows from March 1 through March 15. On March 10, NJPW announced that they were cancelling all shows through March 22, which meant that they cancelled

5246-499: The inaugural New Japan Cup USA tournament. As part of NJPW's expansion into the United States, the series would be produced by NJoA. In February 2021, it was reported that NJPW had entered into partnerships with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Impact Wrestling . On November 19, 2021, NJPW would re-establish a relationship with Pro Wrestling Noah with Noah wrestlers being involved at the third night of NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom 16 event. During Wrestle Kingdom 16 in January 2022, it

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5332-586: The inaugural champion was held between November 15 and 19, 2012. The final NEVER event was held in November 2012. In February 2014, New Japan announced a partnership with Ring of Honor (ROH), which saw the promotion return to North America the following May to present two supershows; Global Wars in Toronto and War of the Worlds in New York City. During the tour, New Japan wrestlers also took part in an event held by Canadian promotion Border City Wrestling (BCW). A year later, NJPW and ROH announced another tour together to produce four more supershows; War of

5418-438: The inaugural champions. The current champions are H.A.T.E. ( Rina and Azusa Inaba ), who are in their first reign as a team. They defeated previous champions wing★gori ( Saya Iida and Hanan ) at Stardom Nighter in Korakuen II on July 23, 2024, in Tokyo, Japan . As of November 29, 2024. New Japan Pro Wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling ( 新日本プロレスリング株式会社 , Shin Nihon Puroresuringu Kabushiki-gaisha ) ( NJPW )

5504-892: 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

5590-506: 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

5676-417: The promotion and was replaced by Takami Ohbari on October 23, who is the current CEO of New Japan Pro-Wrestling of America. In 2020, NJPW partnered with Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) and Major League Wrestling (MLW), with both promotions sending wrestlers to the Super J-Cup tournament. On July 31, NJPW announced a new weekly series titled NJPW Strong , with its initial episodes to feature matches from

5762-437: 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

5848-452: The promotion was returning to the multi-year contract system. The contracts forbid negotiations with other promotions. After All Elite Wrestling (AEW) was launched by wrestlers working for NJPW, they started signing foreigners to guaranteed deals as well. Any side contracts or agreements offered to wrestlers under NJPW contracts, need the promotion's approval before being signed. NJPW currently has partnerships with several promotions across

5934-503: 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

6020-420: The promotion's inaugural tour of Australia spanning from February 16–19. In March 2018, New Japan opened the NJPW LA Dojo with Katsuyori Shibata serving as head trainer and ROH wrestler Scorpio Sky serving as assistant trainer. On May 13, 2018, New Japan hired its first foreign president, Dutch businessman Harold Meij . In February 2019, NJPW re-established their partnership with the NWA and entered into

6106-413: 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,

6192-745: 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

6278-600: 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,

6364-846: 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

6450-490: 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

6536-500: The tournament finals to become the first titleholders. Following the match, Karma and Starlight Kid declared they would adopt the team name Bloody Fate . The first defense of the title was Bloody Fate 's successful defense against the team of Hanako and Lady C on May 12, 2023, during New Blood 8 . As of November 29, 2024, there have been a total of three reigns shared between three different teams consisting of six distinctive champions. Bloody Fate ( Karma and Starlight Kid ) were

6622-522: 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

6708-812: The world, for which NJPW wrestlers can also perform for. The promotion has its own fictional governing body, the International Wrestling Grand Prix, shortened as IWGP. At the top of NJPW's championship hierarchy for male wrestlers is the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship . Secondary titles include the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship , the NEVER Openweight Championship , the NJPW World Television Championship , and

6794-402: The world; including WWE , World Championship Wrestling , American Wrestling Association , World Class Championship Wrestling , Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , WAR , Jersey All Pro Wrestling , UWFi , Ring of Honor , Pride Fighting Championships , and All Elite Wrestling . Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s The promotion

6880-607: The year and comparable to WWE 's WrestleMania event. In April 1995, NJPW and WCW held the two-day Collision in Korea event at the Rungrado 1st of May Stadium in Pyongyang , North Korea . The event was the first professional wrestling event held in North Korea and holds the record for most attended wrestling event of all time, with 355,000 people packing the stadium over the two days. In

6966-530: Was announced that NJPW programming, including new programs and reruns of past English broadcasts, would return to AXS TV and Fight Network in the United States and Canada. Reruns will begin airing on AXS starting January 20, with all new content to premiere on March 3. On the April 20, 2022 episode of AEW Dynamite , it was announced that New Japan and AEW would co-promote a supershow called AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door . The event would take place on June 26, 2022, at

7052-462: Was completed on June 28, with Stardom Co., Ltd. becoming a subsidiary of NJPW. Up until the 1980s, NJPW signed its workers to multi-year contracts, before changing to a system where the promotion signed its wrestlers to one-year deals that expired at the end of every January. Following the departures of A.J. Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura , NJPW chairman Takaaki Kidani announced in February 2016 that

7138-561: Was criticized by critics and fans. Inoki later departed NJPW in 2005 after selling his share of the company to Yuke's , and began his own promotion, the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF), in 2007. After his departure, Inoki's son-in-law Simon took over the company, before Naoki Sugabayashi was appointed president in 2007 after Simon also left NJPW to join Antonio in IGF. After the departure of

7224-681: Was founded by Antonio Inoki on January 13, 1972 after his departure from the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance promotion. The first NJPW event, titled Opening Series , took place on March 6, 1972, in the Ota Ward Gymnasium in Tokyo, to a crowd of 5,000. The following year, NJPW signed a television deal with NET TV, now known as TV Asahi . The company launched its own governing body, the International Wrestling Grand Prix (IWGP) ; and in 1983, Hulk Hogan became

7310-457: 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

7396-408: Was then sold to Bushiroad in 2012, which parlayed its entry to the world of professional wrestling into a best-selling trading card game, King of Pro Wrestling , and appearances from NJPW stars in its various franchises. NJPW was affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance at various points in its history. NJPW also had agreements with various MMA and professional wrestling promotions around

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