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With what may be the final Ring of Honor PPV, Final Battle 2021 set for this Saturday 12/11 in Baltimore, PWInsider.com has reached out to current and former Ring of Honor perfomers, personalities and fans for their thoughts and memories of the promotion. Every day this week, we will be running memories and comments. Enjoy part one of a very special look back at Ring of Honor.
LSG:
"Ring of Honor. It's well documented that that company is what sparked my interest and my love for wrestling. I went to Final Battle 2005 in Edison, New Jersey, my hometown. That was the night I decided that I wanted to be a professional wrestler. So, just the whole journey itself has just been incredible. It's been, literally, a childhood dream come to life.
I'd have to say probably the biggest moments for me were my first match at the 2300 Arena. I had been there so many times as a fan and I remember just getting to the back and sitting on the steps outside and just breaking down crying. That had never happened to me before wrestling but it was, I guess, so much emotion and I guess I was just really proud of myself, for once. A lot of times, you know, you don't, you don't show that emotion. It all built up into that moment. It all came out.
Then, Madison Square Garden. How do you top that? That's everyone's dream, to wrestle at the "World's Most Famous Arena." So the G1 SuperCard was just incredible in 2019. You can't beat that coming out to a sold-out crowd. MSG is something that no one can ever take away from me and I'll carry that with me until the day I die. Thank you Ring of Honor."
Leon Saint Giovanni aka LSG has competed for Ring of Honor since 2018.
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Mary-Kate Anthony:
"Nearly 20 years ago, I rode down to the Murphy Rec Center with Mike Tobin & Danny Drake (The Boogie Knights) with my camera and many rolls of film packed in my bag. Showed the boys around Philly before heading to the venue. I can still remember how the locker rooms were laid out, how hot it was (for February) and made my way around to say hello to old friends and to meet new ones.
Being a ringside photographer has been something I dreamed of being since I was 9 years old. I have been so fortunate to have the best seat in the house for some incredible moments. Little did I know that first night in the Murphy Rec Center would not only bring me to achieving my goals, but put me on the path that gave me lifelong friends, countless memories and brought me to my husband.
Ring of Honor is something special and I was blessed to have been staff photographer for the first five years of the company, to be there for the rise of Bryan Danielson, the Punk/Joe Trilogy and the world learning about the best professional wrestling on the planet. I was able to travel with some of the best people and strike up friendships with people that little Mary-Kate would never believe.
After parting the company I would still follow the action, attending shows and later became part of the online community known as "Honor Club Girls" creating a safe space for female fans to engage with another online while watching and supporting ROH. This community grew and became recognized by the company during ROH broadcasts.
Then Madison Square Garden happened. The place I basically grew up and so many wonderful people I had the pleasure of knowing since the start of their careers are now going from a remodeled Acme Store to the Mecca ..MSG and what it meant to everyone that night is something I will always hold close
to my heart. I was able to witness my best friend achieve his dream while I got to bring my husband to his first event in Madison Square Garden.
Early 2020, I got to return ringside once again photographing Ring of Honor. It was home, I was in my happy place. Ring of Honor will always have a place in my heart and this weekend will be emotional for me. I will make a point to seek out Homicide, Jay and Mark Briscoe as they are the remaining three who wrestled on Era of Honor Begins, while I got to take their photos.
Fans still post my old photos, ask about them and its a good feeling to have been a small part of something that means so much to so many.
Thank you Cary Silkin for always believing in me and the original ownership who gave me my initial chance.
Thank you Ring of Honor. I will always love you."
Mary-Kate Anthony was the company's ringside photographer during its infancy.
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Quiet Storm:
"First off, I just want to say it’s very sad news about Ring of Honor. I actually remember when the company was in its planning stages when I would go to the RF offices and talk to Doug Gentry and Rob Feinstein about this company that they were going to start. I’ll never forget the days when the company was starting off, they had so much steams
I remember the first show, Era of Honor Begins, Eddie Guerrero was there and he saw my match and he got really hot at me. He told me I was a good wrestler but I do way too much in the ring and that advice helps me out to this day. Shortly after that advice, I kind of changed my style a little bit. I remember the first time Ring of Honor went to Boston, I had a really kickass match with The Amazing Red. I debuted a new move ‘a flipping pile driver ‘which later was used by a different wrestler and called by a different name like a Canadian Destroyer.
I was only there with Ring of Honor for the first year. After that I went to Japan in about 2003 and the company just became huge. It’s really sad, you know, I hoped someday I would get a chance to return. I would always talk to the new guys and to the new owners once in a while but It just never panned out. I just hope it comes back because it’s been almost 10 years since I had a match in America and I've been here in Japan for almost 20 years."
Quiet Storm now lives and wrestles full-time in Japan. He can be found on Twitter @QStormProwres, Instagram @Quietstorm50cm and at his YouTube channel.
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Super Crazy:
"I really didn't spend a lot of time in Ring of Honor but the most significant match I had is the match I had against Eddie Guerrero which was the debut show of Ring of Honor. I wrestled against Eddie Guerrero for the IWA Puerto Rico Championship. The late Victor Quinones from Puerto Rico had sent me. That match was one of the most significant matches of my entire career. I was able to wrestle Edddie Guerrero - someone I had never wrestled before - my first time wrestling him and I was very impressed by how good and technical and just how amazing he was in the ring. More importantly, it was more significant because I was able to beat him and beating Eddie Guerrero is definitely one of the highlights of my entire career and that only happened because of Ring of Honor putting on that show and putting us in that match."
Super Crazy worked the debut ROH event and since then, has gone to wrestle for WWE, All Japan and countless other promotions. A big thank you to MaskedRepublic.com for tracking Crazy down for their quote. MR will present their latest ExpoLucha event this summer at the 2300 Arena.
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Michael Kingston:
"Without Ring of Honor, there would be no Headlocked Comics.
From the moment that the incomparable George “The Animal” Steele captivated my nine year old brain back in 1985 until today, I’ve watched wrestling almost every day of my life. But back around 2005, my lifelong fandom was hanging by a thread.
Several years with no national competition hadn’t exactly produced the most compelling programming for the World Wrestling Federation. While the company was packed to the brim with talented performers, the booking/storylines seemed very stale.
I needed a change.
I had been hearing about Ring of Honor on the internet and from a couple of my smart mark friends. I had been loosely following the CM Punk/Raven feud and it certainly sounded like it was my cup of tea. But still, ordering DVD’s just seemed like such a weird way to consume wrestling…especially since I had so much of it for free on my television.
Then I heard about the sixty minute draw between Samoa Joe and CM Punk.
So I ordered some DVD’s. And oh boy, was it everything I had been missing from wrestling. Hard-hitting action, innovation, top tier characters, and matches with -gasp- stakes.
I fell in love and I fell in love hard.
I went to every ROH show within 5 hours of my house…which at that time was basically everything but Chicago. I drove to the infamous snowstorm show in Long Island that CM Punk showed up for. After the snow angels, it took me 7 hours to get home in the ensuing blizzard. I flew to Chicago for the first time for the return of Lance Storm. Despite living in upstate New York for the entirety of my life, it was the lure Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi that finally got me to venture into Manhattan for the first time.
When they lost talent, someone new popped up. Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, Punk, and Dragon turned into Takeshi Morishima, Nigel McGuiness, Steenerico, and Necro Butcher who turned into Nakamura, The Young Bucks, The Kingdom, and Adam Cole.
To this day, I’ve never experienced anything like the madness of the CZW feud and The Summer of Punk or the electricity of that Dragon Gate Six-Man. Even though it happened in 2005, Kenta vs Low Ki somehow still feels like the future. Christopher Daniels title victory literally made me tear up with joy. And despite attending the Montreal Screwjob, Rumble 92, and numerous Wrestlemanias…I still count Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi as my single greatest live experience as a wrestling fan.
Ring of Honor took my fandom that was hanging by a thread and kicked it into overdrive…so much so, that I finally decided to move forward with my longstanding dream of making a wrestling comic book.
And oddly enough, they helped with that too. Every incarnation of ROH was always super supportive of both me and Headlocked. Syd bought an ad in my first issue and Ross let me sell my comics off the end of their march table. Cary was always extremely nice to me. And when Sinclair took over, Joe and Greg continued to allow me to set up at any shows I wanted. I’ve never really seen too many other vendors at ROH shows so I was always especially grateful for the support they showed me.
But perhaps the most important thing I will take from ROH is a lifetime of friendships. The fan community that sprung up around ROH is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in wrestling anywhere. From the message boards to the post-show gatherings sponsored by the legendary GregH…I met so many people who, to this day, I consider good friends. And for someone who grew up when it wasn’t cool to be a wrestling fan…this was no small thing.
I know its just a Twitter meme but quite honestly, I think the real ROH was the friends that we made along the way.
Despite what’s happened, I truly hope that ROH finds a way to continue in some incarnation. If it’s the end, they deserved a better one. They changed my life for the better in numerous ways and I know I’m not even close to the only one. So until they close their doors for good, I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for April and a show titled 'Era of Honor Returns.' "
Michael Kingston is the creator, writer and publisher of Headlocked Comics.
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