SMASH Wrestling Promoter Says ROH Can Now Pay Wrestlers Living Wage

As we've been reporting, Ring of Honor is in the process of implementing their newest exclusitivity clauses which are part of their latest batch of contracts, who we know through sources such as PWInsider and the Wrestling Observer, were signed by the likes of Michael Elgin, The Briscoes, reDRagon, Jay Lethal and others. These contracts give ROH exclusive booking rights to these talents with a salary. Since the promoters of Dreamwave Wrestling and CORE Wrestling have came out and said that ROH have pulled Michael Elgin and Kyle O'Reilly from upcoming shows, there has been a mixed reaction by fans online who don't feel ROH should be pulling these talents.

Some independent promoters however have came out and defended Ring of Honor, stating that the talent signed these contracts knowing what they implied. Co-owner of independent promoter Absolute Intense Wrestling, Chris Bryan, tweeted yesterday that ROH are justifying the decision with money and that indie wrestling fans shouldn't begrudge them for it.

Sebastian Suave, promoter of top Canadian independent promotion, SMASH Wrestling, has also defended the decision through Reddit, stating, "ROH are an awesome company to work for, but they are much, much bigger than wreddit seems to realize. Guys are in a position to make a living there."