Projecting What AEW's Tony Khan Will Do as Owner of Ring of Honor

After boasting about a major announcement recently, Tony Khan opened the latest edition of Dynamite with some game-changing news ahead of Revolution on Sunday. 

Khan didn't disappoint as he revealed that he purchased Ring of Honor from Sinclair Broadcast Group in front of the faithful Daily's Place crowd. The shocking acquisition won't mean much to some mainstream fans, but it's a monumental move for the niche audience that AEW has attempted to satiate since its inception.

In the accompanying press release, the new owner of ROH said, "Ring of Honor's influence on modern professional wrestling is etched permanently in the history books, and this acquisition ensures that its legacy will be kept alive and treated with the utmost respect. This deal adds thousands of hours of content to our rapidly growing library and creates new opportunities to expand our footprint on a national and global scale while having the potential to produce new content under the ROH banner. I will immediately begin exploring opportunities to make ROH's video library available to fans, who'll have the opportunity to witness the beginnings of the careers of some of AEW's biggest stars."

An Invaluable Contribution to Professional Wrestling

The groundbreaking company recently celebrated its 20-year anniversary on Feb. 23. Additionally, it announced plans to establish the ROH Hall of Fame. Its inaugural class will include The Briscoe Brothers, Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe and CM Punk.

However, the future of Ring of Honor was unclear after it went on a brief hiatus following Final Battle on Dec. 11, 2021. The company closed the year with many fans celebrating its legacy, but it was bittersweet as ROH released its entire roster in hopes to "reimagine" its product by spring of 2022.

Nevertheless, Jonathan Gresham has waved the flag proudly for the past few months, defending the company's prestigious world title in the U.S. and U.K. On Apr. 1, The Foundation will return to defend his mantle against Bandido at the first ROH show of the year, Supercard of Honor XV.

The pay-per-view initially seemed like the first proving ground for what the company would become. Now, it sorta seems like a swan song ahead of another reinvention under Khan. It's exciting but understandably confusing for some fans who have been through a roller coaster of emotions since October, possibly longer.

It's refreshing to see a self-professed fan acquire ROH and its extensive library of legendary matches, though. Even more, it's fitting because the company was such an instrumental part of the initial success of AEW. After all, The Elite worked with Ring of Honor to host All In, and the rest is history.

You also don't have to be a wrestling historian to see ROH's influences on AEW's programming. After WCW and ECW closed their doors, Rob Feinstein's brainchild created a new standard for wrestling outside of WWE. Khan and The Elite created a spiritual successor to that era in many ways. This couldn't be any more clear as MJF masterfully referenced Punk's famous promo from Death Before Dishonor III during their segment on this week's episode Dynamite.

There are currently 20 ROH alumni on the AEW roster along with several wrestlers who made brief appearances there. Moreover, many upcoming stars like the three-time Dynamite Diamond Ring winner were influenced by the likes of Danielson, Punk and more.

What's Next for Ring of Honor

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, "Both WWE and AEW were contacted when the idea was to sell the company (ROH). AEW was the one that obviously made the better offer of the two and got the company."

The ROH library is a valuable asset, and it's a good sign that ROH COO Joe Koff believes "Tony has the utmost appreciation and respect for Ring of Honor, and I'm truly excited to see how he continues the legacy."

It's also a little encouraging that Khan purchased ROH through an entity that is wholly owned by him. That would seem to suggest that he doesn't plan to merely assimilate it into AEW and it will live on as its own brand. The new owner also distinctly expressed interest in the "potential to produce new content under the ROH banner."

As such, it would make perfect sense for the brand to act as a developmental promotion for AEW. In fact, this would bring things full circle as Ring of Honor was essentially the blueprint for the black-and-gold era of NXT. With the right direction and a new crop of prospects, this could be a win-win situation.

This already seems like the plan. Cassidy Haynes of Bodyslam.net reported that his sources confirmed "that internal plans call for AEW to utilize Ring of Honor as a developmental territory of sorts. Additionally, it was said that 'main roster' AEW talent will dip into the ROH brand on occasion."

This would be an ideal approach because ROH could continue to function as a separate brand. In addition, it would benefit from the renewed exposure AEW wrestlers will bring and the infrastructure in place. In exchange, this would give Khan a bigger playground to develop new stars, test out new characters and produce storylines outside of Dark or Elevation.

Hopefully, this also means Maria Kanellis can continue the work she started with the women's division and Deonna Purrazzo can have some fresh opponents as its champion. Shane Taylor Promotions, Willow Nightingale, Trish Adora, Rush, Dragon Lee and many others should also find a home here.

Ring of Honor also set the bar for what working relationships with other companies like New Japan, CMLL, and Stardom could look like. It isn't hard to imagine this acquisition could lead to supercard shows that expand AEW's audience and host dream matches. Jay White recently appeared on Dynamite, so a massive crossover with NJPW may not be that far off.

Lastly, AEW's three years of content coupled with ROH's library could be enough to secure a streaming deal with WarnerMedia via HBO Max. On Wednesday, Andrew Zarian of The Mat Men Podcast suggested that Khan may already have an agreement in place.

However, the CEO and new owner of ROH couldn't confirm this during the Revolution media call on the same day. Instead, he said, "It's absolutely something we're looking to do, I can't say much more about it right now. But absolutely (we want to do that)."

Nevertheless, it seems likely that AEW will ink some kind of streaming deal soon. That's important to the growth of the company and even more imperative to the lasting legacy of ROH.