Ian Riccaboni wants to be involved with the new era of Ring of Honor, but he hasn’t had a chance to talk with Tony Khan yet.
“The Voice of ROH” was the company’s lead broadcaster for the past few years before the promotion went on hiatus and was subsequently acquired by Khan. Riccaboni and his broadcast partner, Caprice Coleman called the action at the first event under Khan’s ownership, Supercard of Honor on April 1, but his future with the promotion is up in the air.
During an appearance on the Wrestling Perspective Podcast, Riccaboni explained that he and Khan haven’t discussed his future involvement with ROH yet. He noted that he’s still under contract with Sinclair Broadcasting. While he’s unsure about the impact the sale will have on his contract, Riccaboni pointed out that the deal is company-friendly, as it comes with some outs.
“I haven’t talked to the man himself, I’ll say that,” said Riccaboni. “I think there’s one guy that knows what’s going on, and aside from how’re you doing, very nice to meet you, appreciate what you’re doing, I’m excited to see where it’s going, I haven’t had the opportunity to sit down with him. One of the weird quirks of everything is I’m the last person ever to be under ROH contract with Sinclair Broadcast, and I still am.
“So no one knows kind of what my contract, if it comes with the sale, it hasn’t been established yet. If Sinclair’s gonna buy me out, if they’re gonna cancel it, if Tony Khan gets it, if he wants to take it as it. To be very clear, it’s a contract that’s performer-friendly and it’s company-friendly. There are some easy outs. So I don’t anticipate getting essentially paid for nothing for too much longer.”
Riccaboni went on to describe how he’s let those involved know that he wants to continue his time with ROH, and he believes that there’s at least a mutual interest, as they told him to keep his phone on.
“But that being said, I’ve talked to folks in Tony Khan’s orbit, and I’ve let them know my phone is on, and I’d love to be a part of what’s going on,” said Riccaboni. “I’ve done my best to put that bug in their ear, as much as I can without being annoying, and without being a pain in the butt. But I know that the squeaky wheel gets the grease, so you gotta make sure that they know you’re out there and that you wanna do it, and that there’s no weird feelings or anything like that.
“So for me, I’m just keeping my voice in the ears of what I think might be the right people at this point. They told me to keep my phone on too, so there looks to be some sort of mutual, at least on a small level, maybe a mutual interest to see where it goes.”
During the conversation, the veteran commentator made it clear that he only knows what Khan has publicly said, as far as the future of ROH is concerned. He also expressed his desire in working on a weekly ROH TV show, which he hoped would be taped once a month so he could spend time with his kids. But he emphasized his willingness to listen to any ideas.
Riccaboni has been working some dates for New Japan STRONG recently. Over the past few months, he has also called the action at IMPACT and GCW shows.
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