It seems that rumors of All Elite Wrestling (AEW) buying their competition were true. You may remember the rumors that they were going to purchase Impact Wrestling from Anthem. While that did not pan out, what did come of that was a working relationship between the two companies. Impact has been known for working with other companies, offering talent swaps and more over the years. They have even worked with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as recently as the 2022 Royal Rumble with Mickie James appearing, wearing the Impact Womens Championship, using her Impact theme song as well. Back to Tony Khan though, he has purchased a competitor, further consolidating to fewer companies’ wrestlers can make a living working for. For better or for worse, less options are now available.
Until all are one
Started just over 20 years ago by Rob Feinstein, Ring of Honor Wrestling (ROH) was different over what WWE offered fans. Attempting to fill the void that World Championship Wrestling (WCW) left, many companies attempted to be “the one” competitor Vince McMahon and WWE could not ignore. None rose to that position until AEW which started in 2019.
In October of 2021, ROH went on hiatus and all talent and staff were released from their contracts in December. Things looked bad for the once prominent alternative to WWE.
Enter Khan
Tony Khan just announced on AEW television that he has purchased Ring of Honor. With Supercard of Honor XV on April 1st, 2022, ROH will officially return as part of the AEW family.
This could be great news for the promotion. For the most part, many of the problems the company faced was due to lack of a decent television deal and financial backing (you can never have too much money when dealing with wrestling).
Tony Khan represents a solution to both of those problems. He has a sweetheart deal with TNT and TBS, a successful YouTube series showcasing talent on demand. Khan also has a heart for wrestling. This is something even Ted Turner did not have, he was a fan of wrestling, but his financial choices were driven by that, finances. Khan is not going out spending millions to bring in Hulk Hogan or even Brock Lesnar when he had a chance. Khan is making moves that seem to be focused on long term product development versus short term gains.
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