Cary Silkin clarifies.
Cary Silkin owned ROH from 2004 to 2011. After he sold the company to Sinclair Broadcast Group, he remained with the company as an ambassador. Tony Khan bought ROH in 2022, and he has run it separately from AEW, though the rosters somewhat overlap. Silkin recently sparked some controversy when he said that ROH was not being treated well, regardless of the amount of money that Tony Khan has.
Speaking with Mark O'Brien for WrestleMobs (via Irish Wrestling & Entertainment), Cary Silkin elaborated on his comments about Tony Khan when they came up in the conversation.
“It’s unbelievable how that quote got picked up. What they left out, if you listen to the show, I also said, ‘Hey, I’m happy everyone’s got a place to work, and I’m sure Tony Khan will get Ring of Honor on television. He’s a busy man.’ For me saying, ‘Well, nobody really cares about it,’ how can they? It’s not in a position…listen, I’ve met Tony Khan, he’s an awesome guy. My friends all work for me. Yes, he gets criticized by all these fucking podcasts and this and that. But hey, deep down, he’s a good guy, and I know damn well his intentions for Ring of Honor will be as best as possible. How can he manage everything? It’s insanity," Silkin said.
Silkin was also asked to comment on his hopes for the company's future and how ROH would be treated. Silkin emphasized that he wanted to see names from ROH's past, get utilized. He highlighted several examples and noted that it seemed obvious to him.
“Once again, Tony Khan’s a good guy, and he’s got a lot of stuff on his plate. But what I would like to see is, you’ve got Jay Lethal, you’ve got Taven, Bennett, Roderick Strong, Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, Dalton Castle, Mark Briscoe, there’s probably another ten names, Shane Taylor, and a number of other names that I’m leaving off the list. These are guys that were all associated with Ring of Honor, and I never was a booker, but these names I see on the card, alright, I get it, years have gone by. But if you have these names of legacy, use them. I would feel better as opposed to Gravity and whoever, but it’s okay. It’s okay. It’s a different thing. My friend Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman are still the announcers. Bobby Cruise, who I’ve known for too long, god bless him, he’s still there and he’s doing really well with AEW. We left off Samoa Joe and Bryan Danielson. So if there’s a Ring of Honor pay-per-view, use them. It’s so obvious. But they’re in other programs. But whatever. That’s my selfish thinking," Silkin said.
At the ROH Death Before Dishonor media scrum, Tony Khan said it would help the ROH brand if it was called AEW ROH. Check out his comments here.
Ian Riccaboni recently thanked Tony Khan for helping ROH grow. Click here to see what he had to say.
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