ROH’s Joe Koff on whether SBG has interest in buying TNA, ROH Network possibilities, cable TV options, his fandom

Shotgun Wrestling Radio with Joe Koff
Hosts: The Zigman and Zach Takes
Interview available at Recordings.talkshoe.com

Whether he was a wrestling fan when he grew up: Oh my god yes, I grew up in the NYC area which is where Vince McMahon ran in. My dad use to take me to the Garden for matches. I saw Bruno (Sammartino) vs. Gorilla Monsoon at the Garden in a two out of three falls match, I just loved it. It was on twice a week two hours a night I’d always stay up late to watch it.

Whether there a potential for a Ring of Honor network similar to WWE’s network model: You need a lot of content to have a full network, I don’t think we’re there yet. We have a membership on our website that you can pay for that gives you other advantages that the free user doesn’t get. One of our goals coming up is to create a better viewing platform for viewing content and making deals differently and maybe streaming our house shows live for our over the top members.

On talks about getting ROH to air on other networks: We have a national platform with an additional 50 million homes on Comet TV. We were thrilled to be on Destination America, it was fantastic for me knowing our audience could find us at the same time every Wednesday night. We’re consistently looking for new partners and new opportunities.

Whether Sinclair Broadcast Group has any interest in purchasing TNA: You know, rumors are rumors and that’s exactly what they are. We’re in business, our business happens to be wrestling. We’re a company that is brought deals all the time, we have the resources to purchase, grow, and consolidate, I think there’s a natural assumption that Sinclair is going to buy every wrestling company that comes down the pike When it happens and it’s true well know it’s true. I read a lot of stuff and I couldn’t believe it. I don’t comment on that stuff because it doesn’t matter. I don’t know where all this stuff comes from.

Other topics include ROH’s relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling, the Fight Network deal, talents going to WWE, and more.