ROH TOP PROSPECT TOURNAMENT HISTORY:
The ROH Top Prospect Tournament is an annual tournament held by Ring of Honor (ROH) between the years of 2011-2019. The inaugural tournament was held in 2011 and has occurred every year between then and 2019 besides the years 2012 and 2018. The tournament has not been held in ROH since the company was bought by Tony Khan back in 2022.
FORMAT:
Aspiring ROH wrestlers compete in a variety of singles "qualifying matches" with the winner(s) of each match advancing to the next round of the tournament. The tournament features 3 rounds, with the winner of the Top Prospect Tournament receiving a Ring of Honor contract and a shot at a ROH championship.
HISTORY:
The tournament was first held in 2011, with the goal of giving rising wrestlers a chance at getting a ROH contract and also displaying their talents to the promotion. In 2011, the first wrestler to win the tournament was Mike Bennett, who went on to be a ROH mainstay for many years following. After a one-year break, the tournament returned in 2013 with the winner getting a chance at Adam Cole's ROH World Television Championship. The winner of the 2013 Top Prospect Tournament was Matt Taven, who associated himself with Truth Martini and captured Cole's ROH World Television Championship at ROH's 11th Anniversary Show. He went on to become the longest reigning ROH World Television Champion in history since the title's inception in 2010 before losing it to Tommaso Ciampa. (The record was later broken by Samoa Joe with his reign from 2022-2023).
In 2014, Hanson won the tournament by defeating his future tag team partner Raymond Rowe in the finals of the tournament. In 2015, Donovan Dijak won a Ring of Honor contract after defeating Will Ferrara. In 2016, Lio Rush defeated Brian Fury to win the tournament and instead gaining himself an ROH World Championship match against then-champion Jay Lethal. Rush lost the match and left ROH less than 2 years later. Dak Draper is the most recent winner of the Top Prospect Tournament, winning it in 2019.
LIST OF WINNERS:
- 2011 - Mike Bennett
- 2012 - N/A
- 2013 - Matt Taven
- 2014 - Hanson
- 2015 - Donovan Dijak
- 2016 - Lio Rush
- 2017 - Josh Woods
- 2018 - N/A
- 2019 - Dak Draper
2011 ROH Top Prospect Tournament Bracket:
ROH's first Top Prospect Tournament took place in January 2011.
| First round | Semifinals | 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 Top Prospect Tournament Bracket:
ROH's second Top Prospect Tournament took place in January and February 2013.
| First round | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
| TaDarius Thomas | ||||||||||||||
| Antonio Thomas | ||||||||||||||
| TaDarius Thomas | ||||||||||||||
| Q. T. Marshall | ||||||||||||||
| Q. T. Marshall | ||||||||||||||
| Mike Sydal | ||||||||||||||
| TaDarius Thomas | ||||||||||||||
| Matt Taven | ||||||||||||||
| Silas Young | ||||||||||||||
| "Hangman" Adam Page | ||||||||||||||
| Silas Young | ||||||||||||||
| Matt Taven | ||||||||||||||
| Matt Taven | ||||||||||||||
| A. C. H. | ||||||||||||||
2014 ROH Top Prospect Tournament Bracket:
ROH's third Top Prospect Tournament took place in January and February 2014.
| First round | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
| Raymond Rowe | ||||||||||||||
| Kongo | ||||||||||||||
| Raymond Rowe | ||||||||||||||
| Corey Hollis | ||||||||||||||
| Corey Hollis | ||||||||||||||
| Mike Posey | ||||||||||||||
| Raymond Rowe | ||||||||||||||
| Hanson | ||||||||||||||
| Andrew Everett | ||||||||||||||
| The Romantic Touch | ||||||||||||||
| Andrew Everett | ||||||||||||||
| Hanson | ||||||||||||||
| Hanson | ||||||||||||||
| Cheeseburger | ||||||||||||||
2015 ROH Top Prospect Tournament Bracket:
ROH's fourth Top Prospect Tournament took place in January and February 2015.
| First round | Semifinals | 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 Bruiser | ||||||||||||||
| Beer City Bruiser | ||||||||||||||
| Mikey Webb | ||||||||||||||
2016 ROH Top Prospect Tournament Bracket:
ROH's fifth Top Prospect Tournament was announced in December 2015 as happening January 9.
| First round | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
| Lio Rush | ||||||||||||||
| Jason Kincaid | ||||||||||||||
| Lio Rush | ||||||||||||||
| Punisher Martinez | ||||||||||||||
| Punisher Martinez | ||||||||||||||
| Colby Corino | ||||||||||||||
| Lio Rush | ||||||||||||||
| Brian Fury | ||||||||||||||
| Action Ortiz | ||||||||||||||
| Leon St. Giovanni | ||||||||||||||
| Action Ortiz | ||||||||||||||
| Brian Fury | ||||||||||||||
| Brian Fury | ||||||||||||||
| Shahim Ali | ||||||||||||||
2017 ROH Top Prospect Tournament Bracket:
ROH's sixth Top Prospect Tournament was announced in December 2016 as happening January 28.
| First round | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
| John Skyler | ||||||||||||||
| Sean Carr | ||||||||||||||
| John Skyler | ||||||||||||||
| Curt Stallion | ||||||||||||||
| Curt Stallion | ||||||||||||||
| Preston Quinn | ||||||||||||||
| John Skyler | ||||||||||||||
| Josh Woods | ||||||||||||||
| Brian Milonas | ||||||||||||||
| Raphael King | ||||||||||||||
| Brian Milonas | ||||||||||||||
| Josh Woods | ||||||||||||||
| Josh Woods | ||||||||||||||
| Chris LeRusso | ||||||||||||||
2018:
After losing the Amazon Prime Video's Dojo Pro Black Belt for a ROH World Television Championship opportunity against Aaron Solo, Jeff Cobb made his ROH debut crashing the 2018 Top Prospect Tournament, interfering in three first round matches (Eli Isom vs FR Josie, Charles Zanders vs Marcus Kross, and Brian Johnson vs Dante Caballero), declaring himself the real winner of the tournament and fast-tracking his way to a TV title match against then-champion Punishment Martinez, which he won.
ROH does not official recognize Cobb as ROH Top Prospect Tournament winner as the official tournament was cancelled following his last interference.
2019 ROH Top Prospect Tournament Bracket:
The seventh Top Prospect Tournament began on July 21, 2019 at the Mass Hysteria Event. The Semi-Finals were held during the joint ROH x CMLL Global Wars Espectacular. Dak Draper defeated Austin Gunn at ROH Death Before Dishonor XVII event on September 29, 2019.
| First round | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
| Dante Caballero | ||||||||||||||
| Joe Keys | ||||||||||||||
| Dante Caballero | ||||||||||||||
| Austin Gunn | ||||||||||||||
| Austin Gunn | ||||||||||||||
| Brian Johnson | ||||||||||||||
| Austin Gunn | ||||||||||||||
| Dak Draper | ||||||||||||||
| Dak Draper | ||||||||||||||
| Makita | ||||||||||||||
| Dak Draper | ||||||||||||||
| Haitian Sensation | ||||||||||||||
| Haitian Sensation | ||||||||||||||
| Ken Dixon | ||||||||||||||
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