All Elite Wrestling CEO, President, General Manager and Head of Creative Tony Khan announced his purchase of Ring of Honor Wrestling from Sinclair Broadcast Group during AEW Dynamite's live broadcast on Wednesday (March 2) night.
Khan shared an official news release regarding the acquisition of Ring of Honor on his verified Twitter account moments after his televised announcement.
“Ring of Honor’s influence on modern professional wrestling is etched permanently in the history books, and this acquisition ensures that its legacy will be kept alive and treated with the utmost respect,” Khan said in the news release. “This deal adds thousands of hours of content to our rapidly growing library and creates new opportunities to expand our footprint on a national and global scale, while having the potential to produce new content under the ROH banner. I will immediately begin exploring opportunities to make ROH’s video library available to fans, who’ll have the opportunity to witness the beginnings of the careers of some of AEW’s biggest stars.”
In October, ROH announced it had released all in-ring talent from contracts and confirmed that its December pay-per-view Final Battle would serve as its last event before entering a hiatus.
The company released a statement regarding its decision on Wednesday via its verified Twitter account, noting that it planned to "work internally to reimagine ROH" and planned to return to live events full-time in April 2022:
"Throughout the pandemic, our top priority was to keep everyone healthy and safe, and despite not producing any live events over 18 months, we were able to keep everyone fully contracted.
"We now find ourselves at a time where we need to make changes to our new business operations and are planning a pivot for Ring of Honor, with a new mission and strategy.
"The year will culminate with a Final Battle in December, and we will be taking the first quarter of 2022 to work internally to reimagine ROH. ROH has the most dedicated fans in the industry, and we appreciate their loyalty and patience as we reconceptualize ROH.
"We anticipate returning to live events in April for the Super Card of Honor with a new fan-focused product and provide a unique experience for wrestling fans."
Khan has become a popular name among wrestling fans since the launch of AEW, having been named Promoter of the Year in 2019 and 2020, as well as Best Booker in 2020, by Wrestling Observer Newsletter.