Ticket broker Cary Silkin’s wrestling promotion, Ring of Honor, has big plans for the weekend. Ring of Honor is hosting its latest sold-out show, “Glory By Honor VIII: The Final Countdown,” at New York’s Manhattan Center on Saturday night.
“The show’s sold out, which is awesome, and we’re very excited,” Silkin, who also owns the ticket resale Web site, RaveTix, told TicketNews. “It’s always exciting [to be in New York]. We run New York four times a year. Every show there is a big show, and this show is very popular. Probably one of the reasons [for this is] we have one of the big stars of wrestling appearing tomorrow, Brett “the Hit Man” Hart (Hart will appear at the show but will not be wrestling). Also, it’s the last show for two of the guys who’ve been with us for many years, Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness.”
Silkin, a fan of pro-wrestling since he was a boy, joined Ring of Honor soon after its inception in 2002, taking over the helm in 2004. He notes that the organization has put on over 200 shows since its humble beginnings, and it currently produces 40 shows each year. “We’ve run regularly in Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, and Detroit, as well as having gone to Japan twice and England twice.”
Ring of Honor has a TV deal with HDNet, appearing twice during primetime each Monday evening. “It hearkens back to a different era of wrestling, with more wrestling, less stories. I feel pretty confident that we provide wrestling fans the kind of action they don’t get, the action they used to get years ago.”
Silkin notes with pride Ring of Honor’s ventures onto the world stage in recent years, with its two visits to Tokyo as well as to London and Liverpool. “It’s been very gratifying to develop a fan base that is worldwide.” He also recalls both legends of wrestling and its up and coming stars who have appeared in the rings. “C.M. Punk started out with us, and now he is a champion in the WWE. We’ve had a lot of legends over the years…we had Mick Foley with us for eleven shows, we had Ric Flair and Bruno San Martino appear. They say a few words from the ring, sign autographs. People love to see them. [The fans] respect the history of the guys they grew up with.
After Saturday’s show at the Manhattan Center, Ring of Honor wrestlers appear next in St. Louis, MO on October 9, Indianapolis, IN on October 10, and then will tape an episode for HDNet in Philadelphia, PA on November 5 and 6.
