Late last month, Ring of Honor Wrestling announced they will be taking a hiatus to regroup and assess a new vision for the company. All contracted talent will be let go from their contracts at the start of 2022.

ROH is expected to resume tapings in April 2022 and will essentially become a super-indie by paying top independent stars on a per-show appearance. Many of their wrestlers may still appear for them on those deals while also taking a steady diet of indie bookings. There are a dozen or so wrestlers/teams that will have significant interest from the other top wrestling companies in the world.

All Elite Wrestling, Impact Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling and Major League Wrestling will all be courting a handful of former ROH talent. A few companies in Mexico could be looking at a few talents, but the business is down in the country and I don’t see them being viable candidates to win any sort of bidding war.

Where will the top ROH talents sign in 2022?

Bandido – Bandido is probably the best high-flyer out there that is not under contract. He is right up there with Fenix as the best out there period. The ideal place for him to be is AEW, but their roster is full of guys in the same mold. Impact will be in on the bidding, but I think he will be All Elite.

 Brody King – King was one of the handful of ROH talents that figured out how to wrestle in an empty building. He raised his stock over the last 18 months and he will be wanted by every company. He is a brawler and has great agility for his size. I think he could be a big star over in Japan for NJPW. I think AEW and NJPW could both win his services since they have a working agreement.

Dalton Castle – The sky was the limit for Castle back when he won the ROH title in 2017. A back injury slowed him down and he looked like a shell of himself. The time off from touring and wrestling during the pandemic was exactly what Castle needed. He was great in ROH’s PURE matches and raised his stock this year. He has executive friends in AEW and I could see him making a short run there or he could be a fit in Impact or MLW. He won’t go without a job for long.

Danhausen – I’ve been a fan of Danhausen’s since before he donned the makeup and character change. He really came into his own after the change and is a big merch mover. He’s beloved by fans and can be more than just a comedy gimmick. He can wrestle and is very entertaining. Unfortunately, the week of the Ring of Honor announcement, he broke both of his bones in his shin. He will be out for awhile and won’t be able to do any in-ring stuff for months. I could see him staying on the indies and getting work with both AEW and Impact in some fashion.

Dragon Lee – Honestly, Lee was only in Ring of Honor because travel to New Japan was a mess. He is expected to return to NJPW soon with the name Ryu Lee once again. He may make some appearances on New Japan Strong or even AEW in the meantime. 

The Briscoes – Mark and Jay Briscoe have been ROH lifers at this point. They flirted with leaving a few times, but after some old tweets resurfaced of them using gay slurs on Twitter, you haven’t much interest in signing the brothers. Those old tweets may affect them from signing with a company. I could see them making short runs in both AEW and Impact, but I’m not sure if any will sign them to multi-year contracts

Quinn McKay – I’m a big fan of McKay and think she could be a star in his business. She got a lot of work in Ring of Honor as a studio host and interviewer. She is well-spoken and had an entertaining feud with Angelina Love. Her promos during the feud reassured me that she is a future star. She is athletic and has a powerful build. Every company should be after her. This is the first person on the list that I think WWE will pursue. She fits their narrow view of who they want to sign at the moment. AEW and Impact should also be tripping over their feet to get pen to paper.

Flip Gordon – Gordon was of the first true breakout stars of ‘Being The Elite’ YouTube series created by The Young Bucks. Gordon was under contract with Ring of Honor at the start of All Elite Wrestling, but should have finished it out and signed with AEW then. He has languished in ROH ever since and has suffered a few injuries that kept him out of the ring for long stretches. WWE could give him a look since he’s under 30, but AEW and Impact are both strong possibilities. He could stay on the indies and keep working dates with ROH when they return to build his stock back up.

Jonathan Gresham – Gresham is one of the best technical wrestlers out there. His PURE matches in ROH have been a joy to watch. He does lack a little in the charisma department, but there’s always a need for guys who pull great matches out of the other talent. New Japan, MLW and AEW will be calling Gresham, no doubt about that.

Matt Taven – This is a tough one. Taven was ROH champion during a very down period for the company. ROH gave him the ball after the great All Elite exodus in early 2019. ROH’s business was going to take a hit and Taven took some of the blame at the time. Also, he got a big contract to stay in ROH, which I don’t see him making that amount with any other company at the moment. He could package himself with Bennett & Kanellis and shop around The Kingdom as a group. He could end up in Impact.

Mike Bennett & Maria Kanellis – Bennett and Kanellis have been just about everywhere at this point. Outside of Ring of Honor, they had the most success in Impact before they left for WWE. I could see them making a move to Impact with Matt Taven as ‘The Kingdom’.

Rok-C – She is only 20 years old and was trained by Booker T. She is outstanding in the ring for her age and experience level. She will no doubt be on WWE’s radar and is someone AEW should target as well. Impact has made some huge improvements to their Knockouts division in recent years and that could be somewhere Rok-C could go to get even better. She will have plenty of options.

Rush – It’s no secret that Andrade El Idolo wants all his former Los Ingobernables stablemates, and his real-life family, signed to All Elite Wrestling. Rush would be a major addition to the company. It would also setup a possible OG Los Ingobernables vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon match at a Wrestle Kingdom, which I would like injected directly into my veins. If Rush wants to sign with an American wrestling company, I think All Elite Wrestling will be the place.

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About the Author…

Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.