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*** EXCLUSIVE - VIDEO AVAILABLE *** YORK HALL, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - MAY 05, 2018 - EVE Pro Wrestling's show Wrestle Queendom, the largest all-female wrestling show in Europe on 5 May 2018, Bethnal Green, London, England. MEET the all-women wrestling movement and the woman behind it who overcame a breakdown and being sectioned to put on the biggest womens wrestling show in Europe. Once a month at the Resistance Gallery in Bethnal Green a rosta of approximately 12 female wrestlers step into the 16ft by 16ft wrestling ring to chokeslam, dropkick and maybe even moonsault one another; all in the name of entertainment and feminism. In a black vest, with a shock of neon pink hair, Emily Read gets the crowd going at an EVE pro wrestling evening: Are we ready to have a good time? Are we ready for some wrestling? Emily, 32, co-founded EVE in 2009 with her then partner, now-husband, Dann, who she met on the promoting circuit. Wanting to give female wrestlers a platform to be the main event rather than the bikini-clad side attraction, Emily and Dann began EVE, an all womens Pro Wrestling Promotion with a grass roots punk vibe. PHOTOGRAPH BY Rob Brazier / Barcroft Images (Photo credit should read Rob Brazier / Barcroft Media via Getty Images / Barcroft Media via Getty Images)Photo credit should read Rob Brazier / Barcroft Media via Getty Images / Barcroft Media via Getty Images

ROH Wrestling Reportedly Will Release All Talent from Contracts at End of 2021

Joseph ZuckerOct 27, 2021

Ring of Honor announced Wednesday it's "planning a pivot ... with a new mission and strategy" that will require a brief hiatus for at least the first quarter of 2022.

The company said the break will begin following the Final Battle event on Dec. 11:

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More than that, Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Dave Meltzer reported ROH is releasing all of its wrestlers from their contracts.

Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer provided more context:

Even though the promotion is looking to relaunch in the spring, Wednesday's announcement is bound to raise questions about Ring of Honor's overall viability moving forward.

ROH was once the top proving ground for rising stars on the independent scene. Almost every top name in the United States within the last decade competed in ROH at some point, with Bryan Danielson, CM Punk, Samoa Joe, Adam Cole and Seth Rollins among the notable examples.

But the growth of NXT helped put a dent in Ring of Honor's popularity because it provided an alternative to WWE's typical presentation within the WWE ecosystem.

The explosion of All Elite Wrestling dealt another blow to ROH. When Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks announced the launch of AEW in 2019, it meant Ring of Honor had to brace for a wave of marquee wrestlers heading for the exit door.

The company could thrive when it was a main feeder system for WWE in the mid-to-late 2000s. Now, it's getting crowded out of the wrestling landscape with other promotions replicating what made ROH successful.

It would be one thing if Ring of Honor went on a break while providing a firm idea of what to expect upon its return and who will be on the roster. Instead, it might be faced with rebooting in the aftermath of a total talent exodus, at which point any comeback will be doomed before it starts.