411 Interview: ROH President Cary Silkin

Posted by Chris Lansdell on 07.08.2009

I spoke with the man behind the promotion abut the upcoming shows, legends, future stars and more!

With Ring of Honor coming to Toronto later this month, I contacted them about talking to some of the guys to hype the show. Little did I know that the first person I'd be talking to was none other than RoH president, Cary Silkin. Here's what he had to say about the shows, Canadian audiences and Ring of Honor in general:



411mania: This is your third trip to Canada in the last year. Has the Toronto audience lived up to expectations?

Cary Silkin: Absolutely. Toronto, and Canada in general has a very rich wrestling history going back many years. Crowds are very knowledgeable and appreciative there, particularly Toronto fans. They have a sense of good wrestling, they know what good wrestling is. I believe they historically have had good promotions there too.

411: With that in mind, is there a chance you'll do some TV tapings in Toronto in the future?

CS: Well we've been discussing with HDNet the possibilities of taping in other markets, aside from Philly. We haven't discussed Toronto, but that's because we haven't discussed anywhere in particular yet. Sure, though why not? It's up there with all the other markets at this point!

411:: This trip was supposed to be a Montreal-Toronto shot. Unfortunately that got cancelled, but are there any plans to do Montreal again? Or any other Canadian cities?

CS: Right now, with the way the economy and the wrestling business are, we have to err on the side of caution. People who came to Montreal shows were great but there just weren't enough of them. Right now we have no plans to return but it's not scratched off the cards by any means. We knocked around the idea of other cities in Canada but there are no plans yet. I do know we are planning to come back to Toronto in November.

411:: I'll have to get my tickets early for that one then! So with a double shot in the same city, is there a concerted effort to make the cards feel different?

CS: Absolutely. We're not like with other companies where with house shows, you get the same thing or close to it for 2 nights in a row. There's no fear per se to come to both nights and feel like you're getting the same thing. Each show has its own flavour. Above and beyond the matches, having the pleasure of having Bret Hart 1 night and Ric Flair the other, not to mention Lance Storm in both shows, and wrestling on both show is really exciting. We're certainly going to enjoy these shows.

411:: Well that leads nicely into my next question! With Bruno Sammartino, Bobby Heenan, Ric Flair and now Bret Hart, you've brought in some great wrestling legends in non-wrestling roles in the past. Is this something you'd like to continue? Any hints on who else you might be looking at?

CS: We would love to continue that! History and wrestling don't normally go together. WWE create their own history, they don't want to recognise certain people because of whatever feelings or incidents, might have happened, like Bruno Sammartino not being in the Hall of Fame. We do recognise history and we do recognise the people who paved the way and we respect that, we've always been happy to have legends come in. You mentioned a few but you didn't mention Dusty Rhodes, Terry Funk, Percy Pringle, Mick Foley, Ricky Steamboat, Cowboy Bill Watts, JJ Dillon...it's become a Ring of Honor trademark to try to involve these legends. It's good for the product, good to have them associated. We respect the legends and enjoy having them come to see us and hearing what they have to say. Some of these guys are very proactive in voicing their opinions and what they like or don't like, some don't fancy themselves in the role of a teacher and just want to keep quiet. It's the first time we've had dealings with Bret, who you can also see him on September 26 in New York City and we just announced September 19 in Chicago Ridge. I'm interested in meeting him and seeing what he thinks of Ring of Honor. Ric Flair has been with us a number of shows, and I'm sure the fans will be interested in meeting both these legends.



411: I'm sure they will. If we can switch to some more general questions now, how happy are you with the HDNet shows?

CS: Very happy. The production we get, their staff, their quality, they're really into the detail and having it look right and look great. It's been great and as time goes on and they have more exposure it's going to get better. They've been great to work with, very open-minded, they let us do their own thing with the matches, and overall it's been a pleasurable experience.

411: I have to say, the product looks great there. HDNet really go all out with their HD filming and it's really helped the look of the show. With that success in mind, are you working towards bringing back PPV at any point?

CS: Right now we're taking a break from PPV, but if we did anything, we've spoken to HDNet and it would be through them. Right now we're concentrating on TV, doing the HDNet shows and the live events.

411: With the Super Smash Brothers and the Osirian Portal both having matches recently, there has been a lot of CHIKARA talent being used in Ring of Honor over the past few months. With RoH now selling Pro Wrestling Guerilla DVDs, is there a chance we'll see more PWG talent coming in?

CS: I think our talent is pretty much theirs isn't it? We don't have too many shows committed past Canada, we have TV tapings in August, as well as Boston, New York, Chicago and Dayton in September, so is it possible? Yes. Nothing is concrete yet. The Young Bucks will be working the next TV tapings and in one of the other markets, and the Smash Brothers will be in Canada later this month.

411: I think most people asking this question really wanted to know if we'll see Paul London in an RoH ring again.

CS: I'd love to have Paul London back, but he doesn't seem interested in wrestling right now. I've spoken to him and he's not really into pro wrestling at the moment for whatever reason, and that's fine.

411: Probably too busy looking at dolphins. To be honest, you've done well picking up some name value with D-Lo Brown appearing occasionally, and you've started using Sonjay Dutt, Petey Williams and the artist formerly known as Nunzio...is there anyone on the Indy scene you'd like to bring in?

CS: There's not that many guys that really stand out. Right now we have a hell of a crew. Austin Aries, our current champion, is fabulous, the Wolves have really come into their own, the Briscoes are back strong as far as being healthy, as well as the rest of the crew: Nigel, Claudio, Tyler...I always forget a ton of guys when I do this.

411: We're all waiting to hear Danielson!

CS: Of course! Bryan is like the Babe Ruth of Ring of Honor. We have a solid crew, but if the right guy comes around we'd certainly take a look. And I didn't even mention Jerry Lynn, the veteran. Kenny Omega is my personal favourite new guy. Both shows in Canada, he'll be there. NOAH have also been great for us. KENTA has provided some incredible matches, I apologise to the fans in Canada but NOAH are on tour that weekend so we couldn't bring them in. I also didn't mention Necro Butcher, Jimmy Rave, Colt Cabana... I had the pleasure of taking Necro Butcher to Yankee Stadium recently, he's a big baseball fan. Necro, Jerry Lynn and Colt Cabana, came with me to see Yankees - Mets. Colt's return in the earlier part of the year in New York, in the same match as Jimmy Rave, was one of the biggest pops in RoH history.

411: Absolutely, right up there with CM Punk at Unscripted 2

CS: Oh yeah, I am very happy for all the success that Punk has achieved. He works hard and, to go on the record, if anyone thinks the straight edge talk is a work, it's not. He's 100% clean, he works hard and he likes to eat. Very boring! Well, not boring but it's all real.



411: Oh for sure. Punk and Samoa Joe have done well since moving on, no doubt. We've seen Rhett Titus, Bobby Dempsey and Grizzly Redwood all have a fair amount of success since coming through the RoH Academy. Who do you think will be next to break through?

CS: Who knows! Right now nobody comes to mind. Sugarfoot Alex Payne has been in a lot of good and exciting matches, he'll be in Toronto, but none of the new students are ready to break out of the pack. We do have plenty of new guys, and I'm sure we'll be seeing some of them on the next few shows.

411: A couple more to close us out, Cary. I know it's a ways off, but...Phoenix Arizona, WrestleMania weekend: can we book out tickets knowing that RoH will be there?

CS: Yes. We're planning to be in Phoenix. Houston was great this year, the crowds were great. It's always exciting to be there for WrestleMania weekend, we got to go to the Hall of Fame this year and most of the crew went, which was great.

411: Great stuff. Well just to close this off, give us the hard sell. For anyone in the area who doesn't have tickets yet, what would you say is the main reason to come out?

CS: You're going to see two of the best wrestling shows you ever saw in your life. You have the opportunity to meet Bret Hart, Lance Storm and Ric Flair, three legends. Above and beyond the quality of wrestling, Ring of Honor live is a tremendous experience. Good tickets for both shows are still available at rohwrestling.com, or you can call the office and order (the number is on the site). We will also have tickets at the door. It's a great atmosphere, there will be beer, and this time there is after party at the bar of a former lady of RoH, Jade Chung, that's on Friday. I'm looking forward to getting out and meeting all the great fans in the Toronto area.

411: Cary thanks very much for your time, we really appreciate it.

CS: My pleasure.