WWE Showcases Ring of Honor

In an interesting turn of events, WWE has decided to showcase Ring of Honor on its main site with an in-depth feature on the indy company.

The article focuses on a few major players that were both integral to WWE and ROH. From the piece:

• DANIEL BRYAN – The two-time WWE Champion became known as one of the greatest wrestlers in the world during his time in Ring of Honor and was one of ROH’s longest-reigning World Champions.
• ANTONIO CESARO – Before becoming a Real American, Cesaro was the “Very European” member of the two-time Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions The Kings of Wrestling, one of ROH’s hottest tandems.
• SETH ROLLINS – The Shield wasn’t Rollins’ first stable. He joined Ring of Honor in 2007 as a member of The Age of Fall, won the Tag Team Championships twice and held the World Title for seven months just before arriving in WWE.
• COLT CABANA – The podcast host and ring funnyman had two stints as one of Ring of Honor’s biggest stars, before and after a cup of coffee in WWE.
• GABE SAPOLSKY – Paul Heyman’s protégé co-founded Ring of Honor soon after the closing of ECW and remained one of its lead producers through much of the following decade.

Sapolosky discusses how the fall of ECW eventually led to the rise of Ring of Honor.

“I was with a video company at the time that was part of ECW. When ECW went out of business, it left a void for that video company. Basically, we decided we could fill that void ourselves by starting our own promotion. I was very fortunate to have been a protégé of Paul Heyman’s in ECW, so I learned a lot from him. Paul was extremely unselfish at being a mentor and he still is to this day. His lessons were about presenting wrestlers, showcasing their strengths, hiding their weakness, telling a story and the best way to involve the fans in your product and earn their loyalty to your brand. And I was able to take that knowledge and use that to start Ring of Honor.”

When asked about the elements of ROH dragged into WWE, Bryan mentioned it was all about work ethic.

“I think the biggest influence is that the guys in Ring of Honor had to work very hard to get here. When everybody is working hard that makes everybody else step up their games. For example, if I go out there and have a great match, I needed that to stay relevant. When The Shield go out and tear it up every single TV show, it makes the other guys step up their games. People are going to say, “Wait a minute, that Shield match was way better than that last match.” I think everybody has to compete to be the best, and now I think the WWE in-ring product is the best it’s ever been.”

Rollins himself expressed pride in the company, and the fact that WWE was acknowledging it.

“The fact that we’re even acknowledging this and that it’s a topic of discussion within the WWE Universe puts a lot of pride in my heart. I loved Ring of Honor. I loved my time there and I think it was really crucial to my development, not just as a wrestler but as a person. It makes me proud to know that what I worked for is going to be appreciated and people care about it. That’s really cool.”

Interestingly enough, the article makes reference to recently-departed Superstar CM Punk, and even features him tagged as well.

It should be noted that WWE had a working relationship with ECW in the past, even at a time when ECW was considered the minor leagues compared to the mammoth.

The entire article can be found here.

Follow Jon Alba on Twitter!