Ring Of Honor‘s Joe Koff explains why letting “The Franchise” go explore his options in a post-ROH future was an easier move than you think.
ROH COO Joe Koff recently appeared on the ROHStrong podcast and spoke about the decision to allow longtime staple Jay Lethal to get out of his deal early in order to sign with All Elite Wrestling. Due to their impending hiatus, ROH let Lethal out of his contract early to explore other options, and Koff said he didn’t know that meant a specific company, but it was an easy request for him to agree to.
“First of all — I’m not going to go into depth about it because Jay and I have a special relationship that’s built on trust, honor and respect, so when he asked [to be let out of his deal] it wasn’t even a question. I had no idea where he was going and he never told me. He just said he needed to have this kind of freedom to talk to whoever he was talking to. It was very, very emotional, it was very, very… it was special and it was private but there was no way that, that wasn’t going to happen. If we’re looking for some kind of drama out of this or some kind of high tension that existed in the conversation, there was probably more tearing than jeering.”
Ring Of Honor announce the company would go on hiatus after Final Battle. It was later reported that all talent would be released from their contracts at the end of the year, although some special requests would be made for those looking to work elsewhere in the meantime. Lethal debuted for AEW at Full Gear in November, and currently holds a 1-1 singles record in the company.
Related: Jay Lethal Had An Offer To Join All Elite Wrestling In 2018, Explains Why He Turned It Down
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