Mark Briscoe Recalls Issues With Sinclair Era Of ROH
ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe has a lot of history with the promotion, which was one of the reasons why he and his late brother Jay were both the inaugural inductees into the promotion's Hall of Fame.
Briscoe was in ROH during the early days of Sinclair, Inc.'s ownership of the promotion, which he recently commented on during an appearance on "Busted Open Radio." Some fans have been very critical of the "Sinclair Era" of ROH, and Briscoe was asked whether the changes from the new management made him doubt the promotion's future. "
"I never doubted the future of Ring of Honor. I'll put it this way: I never doubted Ring of Honor. We always had an amazing roster."
Briscoe praised the ROH roster and even former COO Joe Koff, but admitted that spirits were low during the aforementioned era. "He was an amazing boss, but all the Sinclair Broadcasting guys, as great as they were, I would say that I felt the spirit of Ring of Honor was kind of just a little bit stifled there."
The current AEW and ROH star also explained that wrestlers were under exclusive contracts during this time, which prevented them from taking up independent gigs.
Mark Briscoe is hopeful for ROH's future in Tony Khan's hands
Building off of what he said earlier, Mark Briscoe looked back at ROH during its early days and suggested that it filled the hole that the falls of ECW and WCW left in the industry.
"It was like Ring of Honor was that new revolution, and then it got to that point." However, despite feeling that the locker room persevered through the "Sinclair Era," Briscoe admitted that he felt unsettled. "I would be lying if I didn't say there was a time when I was thinking, 'Man, this doesn't quite feel the same.'"
Tony Khan's management of ROH has been criticized by some fans online, but it seems like Briscoe sees a bright future ahead for the promotion.
"Every version of Ring of Honor has always -– one of the hallmarks has been perseverance. We've always persevered. We've always just put on amazing wrestling regardless of any outside circumstances," he said. "So, I'm just glad that we're in good hands now. Not that we weren't in good hands, but I'm glad that we're still in good hands in that things are looking good, things are looking up."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.