Backstage Details on ROH Re-Signing Rush & Dragon Lee

– As previously reported, ROH signed World champion Rush and TV champion Dragon Lee to new contracts this week, along with their father Bestia del Ring. According to a report by Wrestlezone, Rush and Lee were able to negotiate their new contract deals with help from Masked Republic in order to allow the wrestlers to continue making merchandise deals for outside of Ring of Honor.

As reported by Sports Illustrated, Masked Republic signed merchandise deals for the two wrestlers in January. Other Lucha Libre stars they currently represent include Lucha Bros. Penta El Zero M and Rey Fenix, Tinieblas Jr, Konnan, The Great Sasuke, Vampiro, Christi Jaynes, and Salina de la Renta. Wrestlezone noted the initial contract offer for the World and TV champions was the basic contract that is normally offered to talent. However, an amended version that they negotiated included some third-party stipulations.

Additionally, the report noted that Dragon Lee signed a one-month extension on his previous contract so his and Rush’s new contracts would begin at the same time. Lee’s contract expired on December 31, 2020. Wrestlezone reports that Rush’s contract was due to expire on January 31, 2021, which is slightly later than what previous reports indicated.

Wrestlezone also noted that Bestia del Ring’s contract is under a “per-appearance deal” and does not have the same provisions as his sons. Together, the trio has the stable called La Faccion Ingobernable.

It’s rare for talents to be able to negotiate non-traditional deals such as this that include non-exclusive merchandising rights. For comparison, Penta El Zero M and Rey Fenix have similar deals in AEW with non-exclusive merchandising rights. This means the talents can negotiate their own merchandising deals outside of ROH or AEW.