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Ring of Honor General Manager Greg Gilleland was interviewed by Chuck Carroll of CBS Sports discussing the state of the company as they head into G1 Supercard this April at Madison Square Garden. Gilleland noted that despite the loss of the Elite, he did not look at 2019 as a rebuilding period, commenting, “I don’t think I would classify it as a rebuilding year. I think, if you look at the past five years, each year has been a growth year. I don’t think 2019 is any different. All those guys leaving had been something that was rumored about and talked about, either behind the scenes or even by some media outlets, for a significant amount of time. So, I wouldn’t say that it caught us by surprise. If you look at some of our new signings, you can see that we had been planning in case of such a thing.”
Noting that they parted on amicable terms with the Elite, Gilleland noted ROH would be open to working with AEW down the line, stating, “Everything definitely ended amicably. We’ve talked to [The Young Bucks] since. Right now, there’s nothing to explore. There are three events, potentially, and there’s the rumored potential of the TV deal. We would have to know what we’re exploring, to answer that.”
Gilleland also said they aggressively tried to sign The Bucks and other members of the Elite, noting, “We definitely made aggressive attempts, more aggressive than we’ve had with anybody in the past. Sometimes people have a dream, and you really can’t negotiate against dreams. That’s what these guys are doing. … I know Tony Kahn is involved. That probably brings significant dollars to those, and I heard some figures. That’s probably part of the dream.”
When talking about the current roster talent, Jeff Cobb in particular, Gilleland said, “I think the sky’s the limit. That’s why, if you look over the years and you talk about all these former Ring of Honor stars that have moved on and how the brand keeps continuing to grow, and how we get new stars, or we create new stars, or we bring in great performers and they become stars, I don’t think that chain stops. Right now, Jeff Cobb is definitely poised to be at the top of that pile.”
PCO noted on Twitter that had his work visa for Japan come in time, he would have been on the 2/22 and 2/23 Honor Rising events, which would have been his New Japan Pro Wrestling debut. I think he would have gotten over insanely well with his character there.
An interesting note: The 4/27 Crockett Cup event will be the first time Jim Cornette has been at a ROH-associated event since departing the company in November 2012. Cornette will be appearing alongside a number of other Carolina legends from the 1980s as well as doing color commentary for the event, presumably for Fite.TV.
ROH will next tape TV on 3/16 in Las Vegas, the day after their 17th Anniversary PPV, headlined by ROH Champion Jay Lethal vs. Matt Taven.
Set for this weekend's Ring of Honor TV for Sinclair Broadcast Group affiliates:
*ROH Tag Team Champions Jay and Mark Briscoe vs. Best Friends
*Six-Man Mayhem Match: Shane Taylor vs. Rhett Titus vs. Chris Sabin vs. Kenny King vs. The Luchasaurus vs. Flip Gordon.
*The Bouncers in action.
That is the bout where Chris Sabin was injured, tearing his ACL for the third time in his career.
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