Ian Riccaboni comments on having Tony Khan in charge of Ring of Honor

Apr 11, 2022 - by James Walsh

In an interview with the Wrestling Perspective Podcast, Ian Riccaboni spoke about working ROH Supercard of Honor and what new ROH owner Tony Khan told him before he called the show. Here are highlights:

On what Tony Khan told him before Supercard of Honor:

“Tony Khan just said ‘hey, be yourself.’ That’s been neat. New Japan, it was the same kind of thing. Stylistically, it’s been helpful that Kevin Kelly has been my mentor over the years, it’s been helpful that he’s brought me in. He’s kind of helped craft what I do. What’s neat about that is that he’s a descendant of Jim Ross, and Jim Ross is the descendant of Bill Watts. So there’s this long learning tree that. While I went to school for broadcasting, there’s a good chance it was actually refined or kind of pushed into me by Kevin Kelly, who probably got it from Jim Ross. So there’s this cool kind of learning tree all along the way. I’ve only been asked to be myself, which I’ve been really fortunate, because I’m a bad actor and it would be very difficult to be anybody else.”

On plans for ROH:

“In terms of plans? I only know what Tony Khan has said at the press conferences, that he does intend it to be a continuation of the program, that the storylines and the history of Ring of Honor is going to continue, kind of where it left off. We saw that Supercard, there were stories that continued and the titles continued as is. It’ll be interesting to see where it picks up. Personally, I’m hoping that it’s a weekly TV show. For me, selfishly, it be really cool if it taped once a month, so I get as much time with my kids as possible. But I’m willing to listen on just about anything. Ring of Honor, like I said, half my adult life has been with specifically Ring of Honor. It’s the first company that ever gave me a break, it’s the first company that truly put me on national TV. I’d love to continue. There seems to be a lot of people that put a lot of effort into it in less than favorable circumstances. I’m just hoping all of those people, myself included, get a shot with an ownership that cares about it, that is willing to sink some money into it, that is able to maybe appreciate it in different ways than the previous group had.”

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