Ring Of Honor’s newest leading commentator, Ian Riccaboni, recently spoke with the International Business Times about taking over the job after Kevin Kelly announced that he would be focusing on his duties in New Japan. Ian discusses his preparations going into his job, what wrestlers does he enjoy calling matches for and more.
Here are the highlights: (if you are going to use any of the quotes below, please give credit to the International Business Times with an H/T to eWrestlingNews for the transcriptions)
Riccaboni On Getting Word That He Was Receiving The Job:
“At first I thought it was almost a joke. I thought in maybe five years, 10 years, whenever. It’s on Kevin’s time, so when I got that call, I almost didn’t believe it was real. It took me by surprise because in my head I always try and formulate some kind of plan or some kind of goal and I eventually saw myself as the lead Ring of Honor announcer. But at the time, I got the call I just turned 30 and in my head maybe I didn’t expect it this quick.”
“I’m really gonna have to bring my A-game because there’s only maybe a dozen or so in the world that lead televised wrestling broadcasts. So it’s one of those things where it was so easy to agree to it because it has always been my dream to be a professional wrestling broadcaster. To be offered it after two and a half years of doing dark matches and Women of Honor matches and Future of Honor matches and DVD events, it was really something else.”
His Preparations For Calling A Match:
“I think the easiest thing is to have a good relationship with the promoters and the producer to see who’s coming in so I can start watching their matches ahead of time. I’ll try to watch five to 10 matches to see what folks do, maybe hear the back stories told by somebody else and really try and absorb that. I look online, I try and pick out names of finishing moves and things. I think the important part is to go up to the guys and introduce yourself and ask what they’re looking to do in the match. Everybody’s usually in the building a few hours before the event starts, so I make sure to go around and check in with folks, especially those that I haven’t met, to ask if there’s anything they might do that I haven’t seen before or that I might just not know that name of.”
Ring Of Honor Having So Many Great Talents:
“(It’s) the ability to be creative, to come into your own, wrestle your style of match and to really have a somewhat unrivaled and unbridled opportunity to just go out and have a great wrestling match and to do the things that go along with it. You can look up and down the list of WWE Champions that have been Ring of Honor Champions and I think it says a lot about what we’re doing. I think it says a lot about our system. We recruit good wrestlers, but we also recruit good people.”
Riccaboni’s Praise For Dalton Castle:
“My list starts with Dalton Castle, he’s a guy that on any given night that can become the world champion and I think he’d be a great world champion. There’s something magnetic and something electric about Dalton Castle that’s very hard to duplicate and very hard to be matched. I think really only The Young Bucks, Marty Scurll and Cody right now have that, so I think that says a lot about Dalton Castle.”
