ROH Top Prospect Tournament
The Top Prospect Tournament is an annual professional wrestling tournament held by Ring of Honor since 2011. The inaugural tournament took place in 2011 and has occurred every year since except for 2012.[1]
Format
Aspiring ROH wrestlers compete in a variety of "qualifying" singles matches with the winner(s) of each match advancing to the next round. There are three rounds, with the winner of the Top Prospect Tournament getting a Ring of Honor contract and a shot at the ROH Television Championship
History
The tournament first started in 2011 with the goal of giving up and coming wrestlers a chance at getting an ROH contract and displaying their talents for the promotion. In 2011, the winner of the tournament was Mike Bennett, who went on to become an ROH mainstay. After a one-year break, the tournament returned in 2013, with the winner getting a chance at Adam Cole's ROH Television Championship. The winner of the 2013 tournament was Matt Taven, who associated himself with Truth Martini and captured Cole's championship at the 11th Anniversary Show. He then became the longest reigning Television Champion in ROH history since the title's inception in 2010 before losing it to Tommaso Ciampa.
List of winners
- 2011 – Mike Bennett[1]
- 2013 – Matt Taven[2]
- 2014 – Hanson[3]
- 2015 – Donovan Dijak[4]
- 2016 – Lio Rush
Tournament winners
2011
ROH's first Top Prospect Tournament took place in January 2011.
| First round | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||||||
| Kyle O'Reilly | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Jonathan Gresham | ||||||||||||||
| Kyle O'Reilly | ||||||||||||||
| Michael Elgin | ||||||||||||||
| Michael Elgin | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Bobby Dempsey | ||||||||||||||
| Kyle O'Reilly | ||||||||||||||
| Mike Bennett | ||||||||||||||
| Mike Bennett | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Adam Cole | ||||||||||||||
| Mike Bennett | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Andy Ridge | ||||||||||||||
| Andy Ridge | ||||||||||||||
| Grizzly Redwood | ||||||||||||||
2013
ROH's second Top Prospect Tournament took place in January and February 2013.
- First round match: TaDarius Thomas defeated Antonio Thomas
- First round match: Silas Young defeated Adam Page
- First round match: Q.T. Marshall defeated Mike Sydal
- First round match: Matt Taven defeated ACH
- Semi-final match: Matt Taven defeated Silas Young
- Semi-final match: TaDarius Thomas defeated Q.T. Marshall
- Final match: Matt Taven defeated TaDarius Thomas
2014
ROH's third Top Prospect Tournament took place in January and February 2014.
- First round match: Raymond Rowe defeated Kongo
- First round match: Corey Hollis defeated Mike Posey
- First round match: Andrew Everett defeated The Romantic Touch
- First round match: Hanson defeated Cheeseburger
- Semi-final match: Raymond Rowe defeated Corey Hollis
- Semi-final match: Hanson defeated Andrew Everett
- Final match: Hanson defeated Raymond Rowe
2015
ROH's fourth Top Prospect Tournament took place in January and February 2015.
| First round | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||||||
| Donovan Dijak | ||||||||||||||
| Jake Dirden | ||||||||||||||
| Donovan Dijak | ||||||||||||||
| Ashley Sixx | ||||||||||||||
| Ashley Sixx | ||||||||||||||
| Dalton Castle | ||||||||||||||
| Donovan Dijak | ||||||||||||||
| Will Ferrara | ||||||||||||||
| Will Ferrara | ||||||||||||||
| J. Diesel | ||||||||||||||
| Will Ferrara | ||||||||||||||
| Beer City Brusier | ||||||||||||||
| Beer City Brusier | ||||||||||||||
| Mikey Webb | ||||||||||||||
2016
ROH's fifth Top Prospect Tournament was announced in December 2015 as happening January 9.[5]
| First round | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||||||
| Lio Rush | ||||||||||||||
| Shaheem Ali | ||||||||||||||
| Lio Rush | ||||||||||||||
| Punisher Martinez | ||||||||||||||
| Punisher Martinez[6] | ||||||||||||||
| Colby Corino | ||||||||||||||
| Lio Rush | ||||||||||||||
| Brian Fury | ||||||||||||||
| Action Ortiz | ||||||||||||||
| Leon St. Giovanni | ||||||||||||||
| Action Ortiz | ||||||||||||||
| Brian Fury | ||||||||||||||
| Brian Fury | ||||||||||||||
| Jason Kincaid | ||||||||||||||
See also
- Ring of Honor
- ROH World Championship
- ROH World Tag Team Championship
- ROH World Television Championship
- ROH Pure Championship
References
- 1 2 "2011 Top Prospect Tournament". Retrieved 2013-12-08.
- ↑ "2013 Top Prospect Tournament". Retrieved 2013-12-08.
- ↑ "2014 Top Prospect Tournament". Retrieved 2014-03-29.
- ↑ "2015 Top Prospect Tournament".
- ↑ Scherer, Dave (28 December 2015). "ROH ANNOUNCES SECOND ENTRANT INTO THE TOP PROSPECT TOURNAMENT". PWInsider.com.
Lio Rush will be the second entrant in the January 9 Top Prospect Tournament, which will emanate from Concord, NC. Rush won the 2015 Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup. He joins the previously announced Action Ortiz.
- ↑ "PUNISHER PREDICTS PAIN FOR TOP PROSPECT OPPONENTS". ROHwrestling.com.
Colby Corino recently learned just how apt that moniker is. Martinez scored an impressive victory over the second-generation competitor in the first round of the tournament to advance to the semifinals this Saturday