Top 9 Differences Between WWE & Ring Of Honor

In this post, you will find 9 differences between Ring of Honor and WWE:

1. FIGHTING STYLES

Ring of honor is more inclined to the hard-hitting, fast-paced, high-flying, athletic style.

Wrestlers in the Ring of Honor tend not to pull any punches. The organization employs a very physical style to their wrestling contrary to the WWE where the fighting is a little slow-paced and methodical ensuring that they minimize the risk of injury to the superstars.

2. PG RATING

WWE has made their content more suited to consumption for children more now. Although that was not always the case.

In the earlier years of the WWE while providing wrestling entertainment there were quite a lot of raunchy scenes that made it suited to just adults.

With a spike in the followership from the younger contingent, the company had to adjust some of its content.

Ring of Honor entertainment value is suited to adults due to the likelihood of superstars having horrific injuries.

3. BRAND APPEAL

As individual brands, there is quite an astronomical divide in the brand appeal of the two organizations.

WWE is by far the bigger of the two organizations with its capacity to keep introducing new talent that is sometimes poached from Ring of Honor. 

WWE has more funding and can invest in the advertisement of several pay-per-views.

Ring of Honor, on the other hand, is a smaller organization so there are restrictions to their ability to fund talent acquisition, advertisement, and other branding expenses.

4. ACCOUNTABILITY 

WWE is not an independent corporation; the company was publicly listed in the stock market on the 19th of October 1999. 

This means that there are shareholders that the founders answer to.

Ring of Honor on the other hand is a limited liability company meaning the owner is completely responsible and there is little to no accountability.  

5. ADVERTISEMENT DEALS 

WWE has several advertisements deals worth millions of dollars and as such the company has to align with the image of the companies that advertise with the company.

6. FINANCIAL POWER 

Ring of honor does not have the financial power that the WWE possesses to acquire talents, work on publicity, advertisement, and general production. 

This gives the WWE an edge in visual quality, more packed arenas, and longer TV time.

7. PAY-PER-VIEWS

Pay-per-views are a fun part of professional wrestling, these events stage the best wrestlers against each other and it serves as bragging rights when a superstar can emerge victorious from one of them.

Pay-per-view events are some of the best shows put out by professional wrestling organizations. WWE hosts WrestleMania every year and this is the “coup de grace” of all PPVs in the industry. 

Ring of Honor currently has the better of weekly programs as opposed to smackdown or NXT. 

8. REALISM

The presence of acting and drama does not negate the realism factor in the wrestling performances that are on show day after day but the distinct difference is quite subjectively inclined.

Ring of Honor wrestling is based on a hard-hitting style that’s fast-paced and as such extreme hits are unavoidable, performers are therefore required to have a higher pain threshold with hard hits, submissions and other maneuvers in the ring. 

Quite a number of fans believe realism in the WWE matches is all but gone, with questionable acting and some poor camera angles some basic attacks have been refined to reduce impact and efficiency.

While the preference is purely subjective and is appealing to some other fans it is important to note that blows suffered by WWE stars can have adverse effects and as such the performers need to also be protected. 

9. INTERNATIONAL APPEAL

WWE shows air in more than 20 countries in the world, they have great followership for both the brand and superstars.

The company’s advertisement plans make sure that the followership increases year after year.

The Ring of Honor franchise lacks the resources and the personnel to have that kind of global appeal, but regardless of its size the R.O.H has one of the most loyal followers in the industry

These differences do not belittle the great work that the R.O.H is trying to achieve or glorifies the glamour of the WWE; it just shows that both organizations are doing their best to excel in their respective markets