Endeavor/Silver Lake/TKO care more about money than the WWE teams feelings, even if WWE were pissed, what Endeavor wants is all that matters.

He's an old white guy from Texas who espouses the worst of "old school" motorcycle culture... don't be shocked. Jericho, Kane, probably a dozen or more of your favorites from years past and even now will disappoint you if you know their politics. Enjoy the characters, the people behind them are going to be disappointments.

Then I'm very glad it's working, the more eyes on AEW the better, I hope I'm wrong and it does make AEW more attractive to other people.

I loved the Monty Brown character, but if he's moved on and it seems clear he has, it's time to respect that and let him do his own thing.

I do hope one day he will accept an offer to be inducted.

I don't like Darby, but I'd have preferred him to the putting the belt back on Mox. I just don't see how doing this puts interest on AEW, Mox is a long way from casual WWE people remembering he is Ambrose. Bryan should have gone down to somebody up coming, IMO.

Also, are we just doing an NWO story here? "We are taking over..." from Mox leading into Darby basically playing Sting from '97? Here's hoping it doesn't last until Double or Nothing or All In to get there and that it doesn't end with a Starrcade ending.

Maria used to make insinuating remarks about the Bella's sharing a hot tub with him... Implying they slept their way to the top... I think she has walked those claims back in recent times though.

I don't know all the facts but from what I have read this doctor certainly seems to be ducking her lawyer which makes him look guilty as hell in helping cover up his and Vince's alleged crimes against this poor lady.

Joe loved professional wrestling his entire life, attending WWWF events with his father in the original Madison Square Garden.  He entered the television industry and in the 1980s, was the television distributor for Championship Wrestling from Florida's Battle of the Belts specials.  This led to Koff being invited to work full-time for the promotion, but he decided to remain in the television field.

Joe was a master salesman and worked as The General Sales Manager for a massive number of television stations (too many to mention), including WFLX-TV and WNUV.  A New York native, he eventually landed in Baltimore and in 2003, began a career with Sinclair, where he held the post of Senior Vice President of Training and Development and was integral in training all of the company's sales representatives.   He was extremely respected and well liked within Sinclair, a respect that opened the doors for the company to eventually purchase Ring of Honor.

In September 2009, with Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness looking to leave the promotion and moving on to WWE, which worked out for Danielson and for McGuinness, led to a different career path, then-ROH owner Cary Silkin planned to close the doors to the promotion.  Having funded the company himself based on the revenue of his ticket broker company, the promotion was literally living or dying based on how hot Broadway tickets sold, and in 2009, DVD sales had plateaued, an HDNet TV deal had not resulted in any advances for the company and with the prospect of losing both top names at the same time, Silkin planned to let the Danielson vs. McGuinness farewell be the end of the promotion, intending to announce it after the fact and let the fans enjoy one final ROH night in NYC.

As it turned down, the week before the show, TNA terminated Jim Cornette, which led to a conversation between the two.  Cornette pledged to help Silkin find an investor, a partner, something to help - and the promotion's death sentence, never announced, was paused.  Cornette went back forever with long-time promoter Gary Juster.  Juster went back forever with Joe Koff and conversations began, only as it turned out, Sinclair wanted to buy the promotion outright, with the idea of using it as programming for Sinclair's massive 294 stations in 89 markets.

In May 2011, ROH became a Sinclair Broadcast Group entity and if Joe Koff was in attendance, there was never a happier, more proud person in the building.  Koff utilized all of his sales acumen and love of pro wrestling to take the promotion from its first television taping in Chicago Ridge, IL at the Frontier Fieldhouse in August 2011 to a sold-out Madison Square Garden for G1 Supercard in April 2019.  Koff and ROH had accomplished the impossible that night, becoming the first and likely only non-WWE entity to run the World's Most Famous Arena in decades.  Koff felt that event was the highest mountain ROH could climb and it completed a major personal journey for Joe personally, promoting an event in the modern day equivalent of the venue where he first saw professional wrestling.

Koff never, ever got involved in the creative aspect of the company, leaving that to Hunter Johnston and others, but oversaw everything on the business side, which was run day to day by Greg Gillilend.   Under Sinclair, ROH ran a regularly weekly series, and at one point aired nationally on Destination America, touring regularly and running all over the country.  Joe was in so many ways, the guardian angel of the promotion within the Sinclair Broadcast Group machine and if we are going to be honest, that promotion was purchased as a gift for Joe out of respect for all he had done in Sinclair circles as much as it was designed to be an asset that made SBG money - although it did do that as well.    In fact, one of the reasons ROH was acquired was that financial data showed that owning and producing the company TV was actually a better investment than licensing more syndicated content  - think Seinfield or Everybody Loves Raymond for the stations

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the trajectory of many things in professional wrestling, Ring of Honor among them.  After a growth period of 2017 through 2019, the plan was to go live with a weekly studio show.  It was not to be, thanks to COVID.  Instead, ROH was the first major promotion to pause at the onset of the pandemics, shutting down a planned PPV and TV taping in Las Vegas as the reality of what the world was about to endure became plain to see in Koff's mind.  Instead, ROH shut down and everyone was paid - even independent photographers who weren't under contract were paid for their missed dates.  When ROH began taping TV again, they put the safety of everyone ahead of finances during that period, no matter how costly it was on the books.  ROH performers went through the strictest of protocols to be able to tape matches in empty venues for Sinclair Broadcast Group TV.  It was an extremely costly exercise but Koff was always proud of the way he and Ring of Honor approached it, feeling it was the safest and most respectful way to handle it as everything regarding COVID and how it should be handled evolved in real time.

As Sinclair, like the rest of the world, tried to navigate the situation financially, other deals they had locked themselves into for regional sports networks began to drag the company downward, as did the loss of advertising revenue and other revenue streams lost in the vortex of COVID.  Like companies do when troubled, they jettisoned assets and the decision was made that ROH was to be restructured or sold.  There was likely no one more heart-broken than Koff on the day he had to tell his roster, all of whom who had a regular, contracted job, that it was going to end.

The plan had been to continue forward putting events together but only keeping a small group of regulars - and then the decision was made that ROH was to be sold.  There were conversations with several bidders and one day, Tony Khan, the owner of AEW, was given a price if he wanted it, and Khan quickly made the purchase, keeping the promotion and its legacy, which began in February 2002, continuing on - as it still does, heading towards the 2024 iteration of Final Battle later this year.  That's a legacy that may have quietly disappeared in 2009 were it not for Cary Silkin, Jim Cornette, Gary Juster and Joe Koff.

When ROH moved on from his guardianship, Koff never looked back and let it go, feeling that as a salesperson, that's what you do with assets that move on, but he never stopped caring or loving professional wrestling.  He still watched many of the major shows regularly and he kept tabs on many of the talents that worked for him, extremely proud of what ROH had done for their careers - and make no doubt about it, had ROH not existed under SBG, there are Wrestlemania and All In main eventers who may not have had the same career path that they have enjoyed.  ROH was very much part of their journey and DNA, and even if there were frustrations at times over how they were used or how the promotion was ran (normal with every company and many talents), without Joe Koff initiating that purchase, their careers and lives may have been very, very different.

I spent a lot of time talking with and interviewing Joe over the years and he was a master spokesperson and cheerleader for Ring of Honor, and I mean that in the most complimentary way.  He loved professional wrestling with all his heart and did all he could to help it over his life and career - and I do hope that when he is remembered, he is remembered as someone who deserves to be celebrating for what he did to help propel a lot of careers forward.    He deserves to be recognized in any and every pro wrestling Hall of Fame there is.

Joe had confided in me about his illness some time ago, off record, and the one constant in those conversations was that he did not want anyone to feel sad or sorry for him.  He felt that he had a great life, personally and professionally, and accomplished far more than he ever could have hoped - in pro wrestling and beyond.  I rarely like to speak in absolutes, but I know that every single person who knew he was ill was hoping for a miracle and when he had great days in his fight, it was a great day for everyone who knew what he was going through.  He faced his illness with a dignity that is impossible to describe and when we last spoke at length, he was very much at peace.

On a personal note, I will greatly miss Joe's friendship and his counsel, if I am going to be completely honest, as well as our discussions about the two different era of New York he and I each grew up in.  He was a great, honest sounding board for not just me, but countless others, inside professional wrestling, Sinclair and beyond.

On behalf of PWInsider.com, we express our deepest condolences to Joe's family, his friends and all the fans that Joe was blessed enough to touch thanks to his time overseeing Ring of Honor.  He was a truly good man.

I still think Tony's the dick here, he has almost 200 workers on the roster, it won't hurt him to let a couple of guys go if they don't want to be there. We hated when Vince did this shit, we should hate when Tony does it.

Yet, at the end of the day they signed the contract that allowed for extensions for time missed. Really comes down to that whole are they employees or independent contractor's debate...

He readily admits to being an IWC internet nerd in the '90s/'00s... it's safe to say, you're right.

This one might finally top the one with Ethan Page, holy shit I hope I'm home for this.

Unfortunately I don't think TKO/Endeavor care about looking good, they don't appear to have even slapped Dana White on the wrist for hitting his wife in public.

They could surprise me, I just don't expect it.

You may have seen it by now, but here's the press release in English. It's Dynamite, Rampage, Collision, and a special to them recap show they'll be airing. It also appears they have rights to AEW's PPV's, Full Gear and World's End are mentioned.

"FOX Sports Mexico continues to expand its content offering for all fans of world-class professional wrestling.

We are proud to announce that we have acquired the multi-regional broadcast rights to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), one of the most important wrestling brands in the world, which has experienced unprecedented growth and fan acceptance since its inception in 2019.

Its popularity was demonstrated globally, holding the AEW All In event at Wembley Stadium, in London, where more than 50,000 fans attended.

With this long-term agreement, FOX Sports Mexico will broadcast all of AEW's programs and special events, including AEW Dynamite, AEW Rampage & AEW Collision.

Beginning October 12, audiences will be able to watch one of the most impressive wrestling events in the world, AEW WrestleDream, which will take place in Tacoma, Washington. Other events to close out the year include AEW Full Gear on Saturday, November 23 and AEW World's End on Saturday, December 28.

These events underscore AEW's growing global presence, with its top pay-per-views attracting audiences in diverse regions and building a rapidly growing fan base. All Elite Wrestling features an extensive international cast of wrestlers, including big names such as Bryan Danielson, Swerve Strickland, Darby Allin, Chris Jericho, FTR, The Young Bucks, Mercedes Moné, Will Ospreay, Adam Cole, Britt Baker, Saraya, Red Velvet and Toni Storm, to name a few.

We are sure that the audience in our country will be attracted to this exciting content, which also features the participation of Mexicans who have managed to consolidate themselves in AEW, such as Thunder Rosa, Komander, Hologram, The Beast Mortos and Dralistico, among others.

To complement the experience for our audience, FOX Sports Mexico will premiere the All Elite Show, an original production dedicated to analyzing the most relevant events of the week and previews of upcoming AEW events. This program will air every Monday night.

Get excited with AEW WrestleDream this October 12, where coverage will begin at 16:30PM (Mexico Time) with a previous program called Zero Hour, and then the stellar event starting at 18:00 hrs CDMX exclusively on FOX Sports Premium, or by downloading the Application, FOX Sports MX, with the quality that characterizes our broadcasts."H/T Fightful

Man can I see both sides of this, if I was running a business there is no way in hell I'd accept her request because she's named the company as a participant in the lawsuit. As a human though, just give them back their ability to speak.

Man, you've got this, beat the shit out of that mess and get healthy.

Everybody talks about finish the story... this is the big story I want finished above most others in wrestling, get well Luchasaurus and destroy the Patriarchy like you were always meant to do.

That damn Father of the Year did this, I don't know how but he did.

That's correct, I forgot because my team was already eliminated. It's the Yankee's game tomorrow.

By god, she's going to do it, she's going to buy the NWA.

As of tonight, It's going to come in right at Tampa, and head straight at Orlando. It's going to remain a hurricane through it's entire stay in Florida. Hopefully WWE has helped the NXT and Performance center people escape, traffic on TV looks horrible.

I know last week we underestimated what was coming and now half of Georgia and NC are in bad shape and this hurricane looks bigger. The weather people are now saying, if you don't leave, you will die to people living at the coast.

Why is the show on tonight? Genuine question, I checked TNT and it's just Marvel movies today.

What babyface is out there calling themself the "American Nightmare" anyway. And the way you talk about him leaving and knowing he can just come back, it's the epitome of rich white guy America... he's actually portraying the American Dream that we are supposed to be sold on.