Ring of Honor . . . Please Come Back

By Ryan Joy
Updated: October 27, 2021
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Ring of Honor . . . Please Come Back

I’m not freaking out. I promise I’m not freaking out. Ok fine. I’m freaking out.

As a former resident of Maryland, I grew to love the little independent that grew to a national promotion while keeping its roots firmly planted in Baltimore.

When AEW properly launched in 2019, ROH struggled to maintain relevance for most people.

Not for me.

In fact, it was in that moment, that I began paying attention.

The Young Bucks, Cody, Hangman Page and many other AEW originals built their reputation in Ring of Honor (also CM Punk, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, Sami Zayn, etc).

I considered ROH to be AEW’s origin story, I joined Honor Club, and I started going to ROH live shows.

I loved ROH.

Final Battle 2019

I had the privilege of sitting front row for Final Battle on December 13, 2019 – the last major ROH show before the pandemic.

It was Friday the 13th, and at 52 years young, The French Frankenstein PCO defeated Rush to become the ROH World Champion.

In the subsequent days, I learned through a series of interviews that Final Battle was the realization of PCO’s lifelong dream to become world champion.

It’s hard to imagine boyhood when you gaze upon the grizzled exterior of the monster we see today, but I suppose you could call winning the world championship PCO’s “boyhood dream” . . . AND

Anyone that can remember PCO as one of the Quebecers fighting Mo and Mable at WrestleMania 10 (25 years earlier) can recognize the journey this man took to earn that world championship.

At one point, PCO left wrestling for several years. He even had a good job as a French commentator for Impact, but unfullfilled behind a desk, PCO decided to bet on himself and return to wrestling.

PCO created the French Frankenstein character, drove from Montreal to New Orleans to fight Walter at Joey Janela’s Spring Break, and his performance put him back on the national stage.

To this day, I continue to be inspired by PCO’s journey.

Age didn’t matter.

WWE’s rejection didn’t matter.

Retirement didn’t matter.

What mattered was the passion PCO felt and the ambition he leveraged to pursue his dream.

Knowing his story made Final Battle special to me.

I respect PCO, I admire PCO, and in that moment I understood what it meant for a wrestling company to do something HONORable.

PCO’s title reign only lasted a couple of months, but it will always be meaningful to me.

I love ROH and

I Hope You Get the Chance to Love ROH TOO

ROH rose from the ashes of WCW and ECW to launch a WWE alternative in 2002.

I’m sad to learn today that ROH plans to release all of their talent, go on hiatus, and reimagine the company in 2022.

Final Battle 2021 will be the last stop, and I’m forced to think about whether this is A Final Battle show or THE Final Battle in company history.

ROH says they intend to return in April, but it seems just as likely that they’ll never return.

I love ROH.

Ring of Honor has some of the best wrestlers in the world, and they’re one of the most innovative companies in wrestling.

When ROH finally returned from the Pandemic, they reached into the company’s distant past to bring back their PURE division – a type of match where wrestlers have limited rope breaks, closed fists are illegal, and time limit draws are decided by judge’s decision. It’s fun.

I love ROH, and if you’ve never seen The Briscoe’s wrestle a tag match or the The Franchise Jay Lethal work a world title match, then you’re missing some important elements of wrestling history.

You can still do it ROH.

Be inspired by the story of PCO.

Be inspired by your own story.

We need you more than ever. You’re the WWE alternative, the AEW alternative, and the Impact alternative.

In a world that is often short on honor, we need you.

Since 2002, we have created excellence together.
Passion is real.
Connection is real.
The ROH experience is real.
Welcome to Ring of Honor Wrestling.
Honor is Real.

I love you ROH.

Please come back.