As we reported earlier today here on eWn, Ring of Honor took to Twitter and revealed that the company will be taking a hiatus following Final Battle 2021 in December. According to their official statement, ROH is planning to “reimagine” the company and find a “new mission and strategy.”
According to a report from the Wrestling Observer, all of the talent currently under contract with the promotion have been released. Over the past day or so, ROH released “everyone from contracts.”
Pwinsider reports that multiple talents were on a Zoom call that took place earlier today. During the call, the talents were informed that if their contracts are scheduled to expire at the end of the year, they will not be renewed. They were told they will be free to work elsewhere going into next year.
If a wrestler on the roster is under a contract that goes past January 1, 2022, they will remain under contract and will be paid until March 31st.
Ring of Honor is still planning to continue taping their weekly TV show. The company is currently scheduled to tape TV in Baltimore, Maryland this weekend. ROH Final Battle 2021 is also said to be still moving forward as planned. That event is likely to serve as a major end-point for the promotion, at least for the time being.
As of this writing, Ring of Honor does still have a venue scheduled for WrestleMania Weekend next year in Dallas, Texas. That would mean they are planning to return by April with their “Supercard of Honor” event. Ring of Honor is also planning to continue its weekly TV show during their hiatus by using archive footage.
One other note is that Greg Gilleland announced during the Zoom call that if talent want to work elsewhere during the hiatus and are still under contract, the company will “work on making that happen.”
ROH COO Joe Koff also told Pwinsider.com the following,
“We care very deeply about our people and our talent. This is contractual and an individual conversation. I’m not going to comment on it at this point.”
When Koff was asked if talent would be able to take on work with other companies, Koff said, “We’ve had a conversation with them and we will certainly work with every talent for whatever needs they need to fulfill what they’re looking for.”
