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Former ROH COO Joe Koff has died. The news was first announced by MLW today on X. The cause of death was not disclosed by MLW. Koff died after a battle with cancer as first reported by Jason Powell at pro wrestling.net. PWTorch has independently confirmed Powell’s report.
Koff, a lifelong wrestling fan, pushed for Sinclair to purchase ROH when it was an indie and he took over as COO in September of 2011. He took the company to new heights with weekly ROH TV airing through syndication on Sinclair channels across the U.S. ROH became the second biggest wrestling promotion in the U.S. under his watch culminating with the company running a show with NJPW at Madison Square Garden in 2019.
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The company rode a high on the backs of a partnership with NJPW and the Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks becoming stars for the company during his time as COO. Koff helped the trio produce their independent “All In” PPV event in 2019. Koff kept the company afloat through the loss of key talent when AEW launched in 2020 and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company ran TV tapings inside an empty arena. ROH was not doing well from a business perspective after the pandemic ended and Koff sold the company and the tape library to AEW COO Tony Khan in 2022.
According to PWTorch sources that were asked about Koff over the years, he was almost always seen as a kind man that was well liked by the people that worked for.
ROH announcer Ian Riccaboni, who worked under Koff in ROH, wrote about him on X.
“My friend Joe was fair, honest, direct, and could talk wrestling all day. He ensured Ring of Honor had a place to go. Doors open during pandemic. Sent out happy birthday & ‘I saw you on AEW!’ texts as recently as Grand Slam. Thank you, Joe. May peace be to you and your family.”
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OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: Former ROH COO Joe Koff died following a cancer battle
(You can always reach PWTorch editor Wade Keller at [email protected].)