Ring Of Honor COO recently spoke with the Augusta Free Press ahead of tomorrow night’s ROH 16th Anniversary event; you can read a few highlights and listen to the show below:
Joe Koff comment on the impact of Honor Club on the business model for ROH:
“Everything we do is measured, and everything we do is thought about. All decisions economic or entertainment or product or creativity are really thought about, and we like to brings things out slowly and make sure we’re on the right track. The Honor Club is really just another extension of our way to expand our brand and to bring our product to more people than we could without it. I think one of the great things we created with Honor Club is it’s really a project that was born out of our office. Live-streaming events to fans all over the world is a real plus.”
“When you watch Ring of Honor events live or experience them live, there’s nothing on the planet that matches that in the world of professional wrestling. So for us to be able to do that, and for people to be able to see wrestling on a more regular basis, and certainly Ring of Honor, other than on TV when it comes into your home, it’s special.”
Koff comments on the relationship between Ring of Honor and New Japan:
“The reason why it works so well is because if you watch Ring of Honor, and you watch New Japan, simultaneously, the styles are so similar, and the philosophy in the ring and the kind of action that leads to stories being better told are very similar. I don’t know two promotions that match up as well organically, and I think that what the fans are experiencing, and you as a fan are experiencing, is feeling the authenticity of those two promotions working together. Which you would either see individually in a Ring of Honor-only match or a New Japan match, that they are very authentic in their style, and that’s what you’re feeling.”
Koff comments on ROH’s ability to retain top talent:
“I think our goal is to have a company that people want to be part of, want to work at, and feel that they can reach all of their family needs and professional needs and their monetary needs. I want to be that organization. But it is impossible to think about it that way, because in the minds of the wrestling world, WWE is considered the pinnacle of the space, and it is for John Cena, and it is for The Rock, and it is for Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns. But if you look at all the people that are underneath that, that are trying to get to that place, that’s a lot of people. But it’s still the WWE, and it’s like an athlete who plays baseball, and just wants to be part of the New York Yankees, and is willing to go into a Yankees farm system, which might be equivalent to Triple-A ball, maybe at the NXT level in the Yankee organization’s mind, and they’ll get called, and if they can play on the field, they’ll be given another shot. I can’t stop that. I’m never going to be able to stop that. Because you’re dealing with people’s minds, and you’re dealing with people’s aspirations and dreams, and I would never be a dream-killer or an aspiration-killer. I think that what you’re seeing in Ring of Honor, and why you’re so excited about it, is you’re seeing talent that is equal, if not superior, to a WWE kind of talent, living their lives and living their dreams and creating stories in a free spirit of collaboration inside an organization that allows for this. I think that’s always been here. I think it’s more apparent now, seeing what The Young Bucks are doing, Cody, Marty Scurll and Bullet Club, stuff like that. But I think that’s going to be less and less an issue for us going forward.”
