Ring of Honor has added Marty Scurll and Will Ospreay to its roster. The promotion announced on Friday morning that both UK-based wrestlers had signed "exclusive" contracts with the promotion. Ospreay and Scurll already were set to participate in the ROH "Reach for the Sky" tour of the United Kingdom, which takes place this weekend.
Both Ospreay and Scurll have registered some impressive achievements this year. The 23-year-old Ospreay, who also is under contract to New Japan Pro Wrestling, which has a working relationship with ROH, became the youngest wrestler ever to win the NJPW Best of the Super Juniors tournament earlier. Scurll, a two-time champion for PROGRESS Wrestling in Great Britain, won Pro Wrestling Guerrilla's Battle of Los Angeles tournament, held every year during Labor Day weekend.
Ospreay and Scurll have the following ROH matches on tap this weekend:
Nov. 18 in Liverpool -- Scurll vs. Dalton Castle; Ospreay vs. ROH TV champion Bobby Fish in a Proving Ground match
Nov. 19 in Leicester -- Scurll & Ospreay vs. ROH World Tag Champions The Young Bucks in a non-title match
Nov. 20 in London -- Scurll vs. Ospreay
* Speaking of the Young Bucks, Nick and Matt Jackson are among a host of current ROH talent whose contracts will expire on Dec. 31 of this year.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that the list of wrestlers whose deals expire at the end of the year include Fish, Kyle O'Reilly, Jay Lethal, Raymond Rowe, Hanson, Kenny King, Steve Corino, and BJ Whitmer.
Lethal previously has expressed aspirations to go to WWE, which has been aggressive in signing some of the top talent from around the world to replenish its NXT brand as wrestlers get called up to the main roster. Recent WWE signees include Tommy End, Big Damo and Mary Dobson, who currently is Rowe's girlfriend.
How aggressively will TNA pursue ROH talent? While the promotion did sign wrestlers like Moose and Mike Bennett who previously had been in ROH, Dave Lagana, who was one of the most strenuous advocates of ROH talent inside the company, recently left TNA. The ongoing financial problems in TNA also may limit its ability to sign more wrestlers.
The NJPW partnership also has to be taken into consideration, as ROH wrestlers who are booked in Japan typically make good money there. Moreover, wrestlers who choose to sign with New Japan still can work for ROH between tours -- a route that former ROH World Champion Michael Elgin, for example, has taken.
