Ring of Honor - Code of Honor

Code of Honor

ROH distinguished its image from other wrestling promotions through the "Code of Honor", a set of rules dictating how wrestlers should conduct themselves during matches. The Code of Honor aimed to infuse Ring of Honor's matches with a feel similar to Japanese professional wrestling. Initially, the Code of Honor included five "Laws", mentioned at some point during each ROH production. ROH considered it a moral requirement to follow these rules, which usually appeared in the following order:

1. You must shake hands before and after every match
2. No outside interference: no interfering in others' matches or having others interfere on your behalf
3. No sneak attacks
4. No harming the officials
5. Any action resulting in a disqualification violates the Code of Honor

The Code of Honor (especially its first three rules) helped heels get over more quickly than in other promotions. The first rule applied especially to Christopher Daniels, whom the promotion pushed as its first major heel. Daniels and his faction, The Prophecy, rejected the Code of Honor and refused to shake anyone's hand. The fourth and fifth rules emphasized the finishes of ROH matches -- the vast majority of which ended decisively (i.e., clean pinfalls, submissions, or, knockouts) -- the opposite of what most rival promotions at the time did. On the rare occasion that a match did end with either outside interference, a "ref bump", or some other traditional heel scenario, the live audiences' reactions were intensely more negative than rival promotions' live audiences. In ROH's early days, on-air commentators even suggested (within kayfabe) that getting disqualified in a match may result in that wrestler never appearing in ROH again.

In early 2004, ROH's booker at the time, Gabe Sapolsky, began to feel that the Code of Honor had run its course. As a result, wrestlers no longer had to follow it. The Code of Honor eventually re-appeared — revamped — as three rules:

1. Shake hands before and after the match—if you respect your opponent
2. Keep the playing-field level
3. Respect the officials