Source(s): The Wrestling Observer Newsletter & Pwinsider
UPDATE x 2: According to sources, the ROH/WWE story was making the rounds three weeks ago backstage at the ROH 15th Anniversary pay-per-view event in Las Vegas, Nevada. The story was obviously a big topic of discussion among the talents. For what it’s worth, both WWE and ROH officials are denying any sale talks and that any sort of deal has been reached. It should be noted that there have been on and off talks between the two companies in recent months but those talks were surrounding the possibility of the WWE Network carrying the Ring of Honor TV show. The deal would have been similar to the rumored deals that WWE offered PROGRESS Wrestling and Insane Championship Wrestling. As reported, WWE wanted to broadcast their content on the WWE Network. If WWE and ROH reach an agreement, ROH TV would air on the WWE Network.
ROH COO Joe Koff has said in multiple interviews that ROH would be open to a deal with WWE if the terms were right and they licensed ROH to air on the network. As seen in the past, WWE has licensed ROH material for DVDs and there has been talk of doing that for future DVDs as well. WWE is scheduled to release DVDs on Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins later this year.
UPDATE: It was reported earlier today that WWE has had discussions with the Sinclair Broadcast Group about a potential buyout of Ring of Honor. The talks reportedly started in January.
According to sources, a major key to the deal would include the purchase of the ROH library, which has early matches of many of the current top WWE names including Samoa Joe, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, Daniel Bryan, AJ Styles, Austin Aries and many more. WWE first inquired about purchasing ROH in August and wanted to do so for more than just the tape library.
WWE has also made at least minor inquiries and sent out feelers about purchasing other independent companies, both in the U.S. and the U.K., “for tape libraries and perhaps to limit outside options for talent.” Some in WWE had talked about meetings for such a deal two weeks ago, and the story was being talked about by people on the inside in other companies as well, but nothing is official at this time.
ORIGINAL: A new report claims that WWE has had discussions with Singlair Broadcast Group about a potential buyout of Ring of Honor. ProWrestlingSheet.com reports that according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the situation, the two companies have been in discussions since January. The site says that things have been slowly moving forward and while there is no actual deal on the table, the plan would be for a full takeover if it does happen.
The deal would include ROH’s weekly show airing on the WWE Network. There’s no word on which talents would continue working in ROH if the deal happens. There is, of course, no guarantee that the deal won’t fall through. WWE and ROH reps refused to comment on the story.