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t’s Sunday, May 14, 2017—Mother’s Day. As the clock strikes 2:00 pm, there are four hours until show time. Ian Riccaboni, fresh off a flight from New Orleans, moves about the backstage area of 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, jumping from meeting to meeting. He won’t be with his mother today, though Riccaboni would be the first to tell you that she deserves all the praise and attention in the world. Instead, he is preparing for the night’s broadcast, a television taping featuring the best wrestlers from Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Riccaboni heads towards the entrance ramp. There’s no music or pyro as he makes his way ringside—just cheers from the Ring of Honor faithful who appreciate the work he puts in. It’s 6 pm. The crowd has filled the fold-out seats in the jampacked arena. Standing-room only patrons take their place along the back wall. The countdown begins. 10…9…8…7… Riccaboni checks his mic a final time to make sure the sound is right—that he’s coming through loud-and-clear to the production team across the way and his broadcast partners. 6…5…4… The crowd rises to their feet, banging on the metal guard rails, forming a synchronized rumble. 3…2…1… The bell tolls thrice. It’s show time. As the music blares and the ring announcer introduces the first contest of the night, it’s a realization for Riccaboni about how far he’s come in this industry. For the 30 -year-old lifelong wrestling fan, it’s a childhood dream realized.
Setting the Stage As he walks through the black curtain that separates backstage from main stage, lighting is being tested, music is blasting through the stereos, and camera operators are balancing their shots. The night’s talent comes and goes, turning the ring into an amorphous practice area, where space is tough to come by. The wrestlers greet Riccaboni as they pass. Tonight’s a special night. It’s the second of four legs of the War of the Worlds tour—a five-hour night that will be cut into multiple packages to be purchased by Ring of Honor fans, some of whom are already lining up outside the building, hours before doors open. Ring of Honor is back home at 2300 Arena, the original home of Extreme Championship Wrestling before the company went bankrupt in 2001. In its place, just one year later, Ring of Honor was born. It’s 4 pm—two hours to show time. Riccaboni has already discussed the night’s rundown with his broadcast partners Kevin Kelly and Colt Cabana. Kelly, a former wwf/wwe announcer, and Cabana, a well-traveled indie wrestler, now follow Riccaboni’s lead on the headset after he accepted the head announcer role after Kelly decided to scale back his work schedule in March 2017. It’s 5 pm—one hour to show time. Tucked away in a dark corner next to the bar, Riccaboni greets some of his friends who made the drive to see the show. Ditching his gray sports coat for the time being, Riccaboni, in a blue patterned shirt, sleeves rolled to his elbow, and tie thickly-knotted, shares travel stories as his friends await the big punch line ending. He never gets a chance to finish his story; instead, he is whisked away to fulfill other duties prior to opening bell. In the fastpaced world of television production, time moves quickly. An hour seemingly passes in minutes. Retrieving his jacket,
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Ian, the youngest of the Riccaboni family, grew up in a trailer park outside Allentown, PA until the age of three. Raised in a hard-working blue collar family, his parents worked early mornings, late nights, and multiple jobs to ensure that he and his siblings had what they needed to get by. Nothing fancy, but enough. With his parent’s extensive work schedule, Riccaboni spent most days with the neighbors, Pat and Bob Spadt. Bob, a wrestling fan himself in the late 80 s, seemed to always have it on the TV, according to Riccaboni. It was his earliest memories of the squared circle, and while the stories portrayed by the wrestlers were entertaining in their own right, it was the commentary that really captivated his attention. “I loved the Ultimate Warrior and Bret Hart, but the thing that stood out for me were guys like Vince McMahon and Tony Schiavone, who were presenting the show and doing the commentary,” said Riccaboni, sitting outside his gate at Philadelphia International Airport before a flight to West Virginia. “The larger than life guys like Demolition, Brian Pillman, Sting—they jumped out. But I thought the coolest guys in the world were the ones who talked about it.”
Riccaboni now leads the announcing team with Colt Cabana (right) after the depature of longtime ROH voice, Kevin Kelly (left).