June 21, 2004 Observer Newsletter: JBL controversy, ROH/RF Video split

Just as the controversy involving whether or not Rob Feinstein was still involved with Ring of Honor had started to die down, a split-up of ROH and RF Video reopened the can of worms and established that while Feinstein had left personal involvement in the company, he was always planning on returning, and is now back in business. The big questions left unanswered are how much, if any, influence he had over the past few months, and who knew what.

The split took place with Feinstein and ROH and RF Video paper president Doug Gentry on one side, and ROH majority owner, Philadelphia ticket broker Cary Silkin, and booker Gabe Sapolsky on the other. It had been building since shortly after the Feinstein scandal broke. This past week Silkin reached a verbal agreement to purchase Feinstein’s 45% of ROH that Gentry had been holding for him. As of press time, the actual sale contract had not been signed.

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March 15, 2004 Observer Newsletter: Rob Feinstein out of ROH after sting operation

One week after Ring of Honor owner Rob Feinstein was caught in a sting operation aimed at pedophiles put together by a web site and the Philadelphia NBC news affiliate, there are far more questions than answers.

Feinstein, 32, who built RFVideo into the leading independent pro wrestling tape company in the U.S. and Ring of Honor into the hardcore darling, is now said to be gone from the company, by total necessity. He was identified on 3/3 by WCAU-TV in Philadelphia when he showed up at the door, and promptly ran off, jumping in his $70,000 Lexus, when, according to the newscast, he was showing up to meet a manufactured 14-year-old boy he had supposedly been corresponding with on instant messaging.

According to Gabe Sapolsky, the booker of ROH, Feinstein is gone from the company and will never be back. Later in the week, the company sent out a press release claiming that Doug Gentry, who uses the name Ray Morrow as a commentator on the ROH tapes, had been named by the Board of Directors as the CEO and president of both companies.

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