Tony Deppen Comments On His ROH Status, Andrade Possibly Signing With ROH
Independent wrestling star Tony Deppen was on a recent episode of The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Deppen has been seen on Ring of Honor TV, most recently at the closing moments of ROH 19th Anniversary Show as part of Brody King's new stable, and Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman asked Deppen if he has signed a contract with ROH.
"I'm still an independent contractor," Deppen revealed. "There will be more things to come. People are thinking I'm trying to work them, but no, I'm not signed to them at all."
The fallout from the angle, that also includes Homicide and Chris Dickinson, is still in its early stages, but VLNC UNLTD (Violence Unlimited) have established themselves as a force within ROH. Hausman asked Deppen if he believes there will be more signings post-pandemic.
"Everybody keeps harping on Ring of Honor like, 'Why aren't you guys doing this? Why aren't you doing that?' But in reality, it's not the guys that are in Ring of Honor that have the authority to do that," Deppen noted. "It's Sinclair Broadcasting. They own Ring of Honor.
"They're the ones who say, 'Hey, do this, do that. You can sign people at this time.' I know there's a set date that they're having a conversation with Sinclair to be like, 'Okay, we can start talking about actually signing new people.' Now granted, because Andrade just got released, they're going to make an exception for him if they get a chance to. I know that for a fact, but Tony Deppen, no, they're not going to make an exception. They'll f**king wait. They'll wait it out."
Andrade revealed on social media that he has signed a contract but has not revealed which promotion he signed with. PCO was on the podcast expressing his desire to see Andrade in ROH, and Hausman asked Deppen his thoughts on Andrade possible signing with ROH.
"I can see it happening," Deppen stated. "Do I know if it's going to happen? No. I know he is close with Rush, Dragon Lee and his father, Bestia. I know that much. So that may be an influential thing that drives Andrade there. However, when it comes down to it, everybody's going with the dollar senses, but if Andrade comes, that's going to be a huge score for Ring of Honor. A world-class athlete and it'd be amazing if he actually comes there, but we don't know."
Deppen's ROH run began as part of the PURE Title tournament. Deppen has also challenged Dragon Lee for his TV Title, and Hausman asked Deppen if he still sees himself in the PURE Title scene.
"Well, to be honest, PURE wrestling I like it, but I like to have a hybrid style of wrestling, and I'm not saying hybrid wrestling," Deppen pointed out. "But I just like to do a lot of different things. I like the PURE stuff, but I don't want my entire match to be dictated around that. It's not for me.
"Me personally, I want to work within the Television Title division, which I am currently in, and I believe I'm second in the rankings for that. That's my concern. PURE, let Dickinson take care of that stuff out of our group. I'll stick with the Television Title. That's what I like. I like slowly building wrestling and having a balls to the wall match, not just a slow build the entire time and the finish is abrupt. I could beat a Danhausen. I'm not worried. I told him that last week when I saw him."
Tony Deppen presents BierHaus on Saturday April 10th at 12 pm EST. The event will be live streamed via IWTV.com. You can follow Tony on Twitter @Tony_Deppen. You can find the full audio and video from Tony's interview below: