Ring of Honor has announced all eight stars for this year’s Top Prospect Tournament, which kicks off on February 11th at the Steel City Excellence television taping in Pittsburgh.
The Top Prospect Tournament has been an annual event since 2011, and has developed some of the biggest stars in modern ROH times, with past winners including current TNA star Mike Bennett, Matt Taven, Hanson, Donovan Dijak and most recently, Lio Rush. It has also given us our first look at names like Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, Michael Elgin, Grizzly Redwood, Silas Young, Adam Page, ACH, Dalton Castle, and more.
Here is the list of this year’s competitors:
Josh “The Goods” Woods: A relative newcomer to the wrestling world, Woods is a former WWE developmental star who has a background in MMA. He is a world class amateur wrestler, and a four-time All-American from the University of Central Florida.
Raphael “Big Brother” King: Ring of Honor is putting over King’s size and athleticism, at 6’5″ and around 245 pounds. He is married to independent wrestler Devyn Nicole.
“The Pain Train” Preston Quinn: “PQ” is and old school throwback, and ROH notes Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton and The Masked Superstar as inspiration. At 40-years-old he is the longest veteran in this year’s tournament, wrestling since 1996.
Curt “The Lone Star” Stallion: Stallion may be the most well-known name for modern indie fans in this year’s tournament. He worked a number of dates for ROH as an enhancement talent in 2015, and has wrestled for IWA Mid-South, Pro Wrestling Revolver, and was trained by former ROH Champion and IWGP Intercontinental Champion Michael Elgin.
“Hybrid” Sean Carr: The Hybrid was the first name announced for this year’s tournament, and hails from Binghamton, NY. He has a background in MMA and was added to the list for this year’s event after a recent tryout.
“Kingpin” Brian Milonas: The Kingpin is an imposing figure at 400 pounds and 6’4″. He has been wrestling for 15 years, and was trained by the great Killer Kowalski.
“The Southern Savior” John Skyler: Skyler is the protege of CW Anderson and Steve Corino. He has wrestled huge names like Kevin Owens, Michael Elgin and Kyle O’Reilly at independent shows over the years, and this will be his first opportunity to take his game up a notch in a Ring of Honor ring.
“The Heir Apparent” Chris LeRusso: A 10-year veteran who will be one of the definite heels of this year’s tournament, and has worked for ROH in the past. They reference former ROH greats like CM Punk, Nigel McGuiness, Bryan Danielson and Davey Richards as inspirations.
