Ring Of Honor Wrestling sent out the following:

San Antonio Rematch At “Best in The World 2013”!

…You must shake hands before and after every match
…No outside interference
…No sneak attacks
…No harming the officials
…Any action resulting in a disqualification violates the Code of Honor

Those laws, established on February 23, 2002 at the very first Ring of Honor event, were the foundation of the original Code of Honor. They set certain expectation upon the athletes competing inside the ROH ring thus when “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels refused the post-match handshake after his battle with Low Ki & Bryan Danielson at “The Era of Honor Begins” it was taken as a huge sign of disrespect.

In the years that followed ROH’s inception the Code was reshaped, remolded, and eventually, as the company evolved, faded away into the history books.

Still, there has always been one part of that Code that endures to this day, over eleven years since that first night in South Philly:

…You must shake hands before and after every match

That handshake has become synonymous with Ring of Honor and symbolic of a match fought with integrity and respect for your opponent. Sure there are some for whom the handshake is a sarcastic statement, but by and large it should represent all of the best aspects of ROH. So last Saturday night in San Antonio, when a man who has followed that Code since the day he first stepped in the ROH ring turned his back on Roderick Strong’s handshake following a loss, it turned the heads of all those in attendance while those who were only able to read about it questioned just what was going on in Adam Cole’s head.

“Adam Cole I have been here a damn long time now.” said Roderick Strong to ROHWrestling.com via e-mail, “I know I’ve been guilty of spitting on the handshake, hell starting Generation Next was basically the four of us doing just that bro. I’ve done it, it’s been done to me, but generally man, you know when and where someone is going to deny you that respect. So in San Antonio when YOU bailed bro, when you walked away rather than shake my hand, it shocked the hell out of me. That was one I did not see coming. You’ve been a stand-up dude since the day you got here, I say that despite you being the guy who took my TV Title. I don’t know if this is a S.C.U.M thing or what, cause I know Steve Corino has been trying to get you lately, but honestly man, do you want to get on that bandwagon and kill ROH? See I don’t call myself Mr. ROH out of ego…that’s a lie, it’s some ego…but I also say it because up or down, after everything I’ve been through the last nine years, I would do anything for ROH. So if that’s where your head is at Adam, then someone needs to knock some sense back into you and after the way you disrespected me in Texas bro, I am more than happy to be that guy!”

ROHWrestling.com was contacted by Match Maker Nigel McGuinness earlier this morning and he confirmed that on Saturday June 22nd, as part of the “Best in the World 2013” iPPV event, it will be Roderick Strong versus Adam Cole!! These two have fought their hearts out over championships in the past but this one is all about respect and honor!

Tickets for our return to Baltimore are on-sale now in the ROH Store or, if you can’t be there live, order the iPPV broadcast of “Best in the World 2013” right here on ROHWrestling.com!