Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, birth place of the United States of America, home to four professional sports franchises as well as Ring of Honor wrestling. For those who don’t know, Ring of Honor wrestling was founded in 2002 with its head quarters based in Bristol, PA.


One of the things that separate ROH wrestling from other such wrestling promotions is their Code of Honor. At its original inception the Code of Honor consisted of 5 rules that all wrestlers were required to follow, the goal was to give ROH matches a feel similar to that of Japanese Professional Wrestling. However in 2004 the code was revamped and shrunk down to just 3 rules, the following of which was no longer a requirement but more so a suggestion. The rules are as follows:

1. Shake hands before and after the match if you respect your opponent.
2. Keep the playing field even.
3. Respect the officials.


As Theo Pryce did some research of the promotion before entering the building to take in some of the ROH’s matches himself he couldn’t help but wonder how the XWF could benefit from having such a code. Especially in the aftermath of the all out war that broke out amongst the roster.


Last week Theo reached out to Cary Silkin the current President of ROH wrestling about setting up a meeting between the current King of the XWF and ROH’s current World Champion Adam Cole. Cary, ever the businessmen felt that such a meeting would help to increase not only interest in the federation but bring some legitimacy as well even if he had no idea why someone from the XWF would want to speak with someone from ROH. In return for agreeing to the meeting Theo offered to provide some commentary during the show’s main event.


While walking the halls of the venue currently hosting ROH Theo met and conversed with several members of the roster including Chris Hero, former WWE tag team champion Matt Hardy, Kevin Steen and a lovely woman named Maria Kanellis, the latter of which handed Theo a slip of paper with her 10 digit phone number on it. About 30 minutes into Theo’s meet and greet Cary Silkin makes his way over to Theo, with him is the man Theo came to see, Adam Cole.



“Mr. Pryce, I’d like to introduce you to our current World Champion, Adam Cole.”

“The pleasure is all mine. I hope I am not taking away from any pre match routine you might have Adam. I only wanted to speak for a few minutes if that’s ok with you. Cary here didn’t think it would be a big deal but I can certainly come back if it is.”

“No not at all Mr.Pryce, now is perfectly fine.”

“Call me Theo, we’re all professionals here. Well, you and I are. Mr. Silkin maybe not so much.”

The men exchange an awkward laugh before Cary decides to chime in and end the awkwardness. “Well I’ll leave you two your business. Theo please come by my office afterwards, I’d love to pick your brain about some things.”

“Sure thing Cary. And thanks again for setting this up.”

“Don’t mention it. I’m sure the fans will love seeing you out there.”

“I hope so.”


As Cary leaves the two men to converse Theo and Adam make their way through the halls of the venue towards a room Cary set up for the two of them to talk privately.


“I have to say Theo, I was a bit surprised to hear that someone as accomplished as you, someone from one of the big two would want to speak with me.”

“Don’t sell yourself short Adam. You’ve accomplished a great deal in a relatively short time. And you also seem to have a pretty intense following from what I hear.”

“Oh is that so?”

“Absolutely. I work with a guy who absolutely adores you. Pretty sure you are his favorite wrestler in the whole word.”

“Really? Is he any good?”

“He certainly thinks so. But I’m not here to talk to him. I’m here to talk to you. How would you feel about making the jump to the big time?”

“Wow. That’s uh…that’s pretty intense. I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it to be honest. I mean, sure I guess it would be cool to work for the XWF or the WWE but I’m not really a limelight kind of guy. I like the smaller promotions like this one.”

“And I can understand that, I really can. I’m not one for the spotlight myself and yet I’ve found myself in it more times than I’d like to admit. I think the XWF could be a great move for you but I certainly won’t push the agenda. Just wanted to put the bug in your ear and let you think about it.”

“I appreciate that Theo. Not sure if Cary would appreciate you coming to me like this and offering me a job while I am under contract with ROH.”

“To be honest, he probably wouldn’t. And I could certainly smooth that over with him, pay any penalty you might incur if you did want to make the jump. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“It’s not about the money. I mean, obviously that would be an issue but that’s not what this is about. For me it’s about loyalty. ROH gave me my first big break. I owe it to them to honor my contract.”

“Absolutely, I can appreciate that, loyalty is extremely important, especially in our business.”

“Yes it is. But I must say, you haven’t shown a lot of loyalty over the last few weeks.”

“Come again?”

“Turning on the very guy who brought you into the XWF, at a time when he needed your loyalty the most.”

“Things aren’t always what they seem Adam. They are not as black and white as you may think they are. There were and continue to be a lot of moving parts. What I did, I did for the good of the federation, even if it might not seem like that on the surface.”

“I suppose you can’t go into any detail on that can you?”

“I’d love to Adam. I would. You seem like a good, trustworthy guy but doing so would compromise some things, ongoing things. I’m sure you understand. Here’s what I will tell you though. The XWF is in a time of turmoil, the federation lost one dictator and replaced him with another, potentially one more dangerous. It’s my job, mine and the men I have aligned myself with to keep things on the straight and narrow. We aren’t mechanics, we can’t fix everything, we are hoping to contain the damage that has been done and hopefully bring the XWF back to a time when things were more fair, where effort reigned supreme over allegiance.”

“And you think that Eli James is not a man to do that?”

“I think Eli James is a man of some confusion. I think at one time he had a vision, while I personally didn’t subscribe to it, I could at least see the merit in that vision. But along the way that vision was clouded. Hitching your wagon to a man like Shane can do that. It is in my opinion Eli’s time with The Black Circle that allowed for Eli’s vision to shift from what it was to what it is.”

“And what is that vision now?”

“Put simply, control. Eli wants to control everyone and everything and he will use whatever means he can to see that come to fruition. He will maim and murder. He will lie, cheat, steal, he will do whatever he possibly can to see his vision through. He has made that abundantly clear and he has to be stopped.”

“And you think you are the man to do that?”

“No. But I think I have a group of men with me who are.”

“I see.”

“You know what Adam, I came here to talk to you, to talk about ROH, not the XWF. Not that I don’t mind answering questions mind you, but I don’t want to take away from you and your match that you have coming up. Who are you facing again tonight?”

“Kevin Steen.”

“Oh really. Remember that guy I was telling you about, the one can't get enough of you?”

“Yeah, what about him?”

“He’s a big Steen fan as well, he might even like him more than you, I’m really not sure on that. He actually meet with Kevin a few weeks ago and had an interview with him.”

“This guy interviewed Steen?"”

“Other way around actually."

"Wait, Kevin Steen conducted an interview? They handed that nitwit a mic, gave him someone to talk to and then filmed it?"

"Yes they did. But forget that for a minute, how would you like to come to an XWF event sometime? Be my guest of honor? I’ll introduce you to some of the people on the roster.”

“I don’t think that would be appropriate.”

“How about I talk to Cary and clear it with him. If he’s ok with it, would you consider it?”

“Yes I would. But I won’t make any promises.”

“Nor should you. And now with that, I’ll let you get back to focusing on your match, I hear Steen’s a tough customer.”

“That he is.”

“I’ll see you out there Adam.”


Theo and Adam shake hands as the ROH World Champion heads out of the room and down the hall towards the locker room, Theo heads in the opposite direction towards Cary Silkin’s office

The next day

Theo's cell phone starts ringing and so he quickly reaches down into his pocket and pulls the phone out. The name on the screen is Cary Silkin, it takes Theo a second to place the name but once he does he immediately accepts the call.


"Cary my good man, how's it going?"


"Good good. Things are good. Hey I wanted to let you know that I talked to Adam and to Kevin and they both agreed, and I gave them permission that they can attend this week's Tuesday Night Madness as your special guests.


"That's great Cary, truly great. Question, you wouldn't mind if they got their hands a little dirty would you? You see this guy I'm facing, he recently threatened my life and I feel like the added security would be beneficial, the guys would essentially be my bodyguards for the night. Would that be acceptable to you. I will reimburse you financially of course. How does $10 million sound?"

"Done."


"Fantastic. Well thanks again Cary. I'll talk to you again soon.


Theo hangs up the call and then pockets the phone.


"Excellent."