Meet the pro wrestling announcer conducting his ‘dream job’ close to home this weekend

This weekend, Ian Riccaboni will live out his dream in the city he loves.

The Allentown native is a play-by-play announcer for Ring of Honor as the wrestling organization that got its start in Philly, returns to its birthplace for its Supercard of Honor (Friday, 7 p.m.), one of the major events taking over the city during WWE’s Wrestlemania weekend.

Riccaboni is passionate about the dual homecoming. He makes a point to mention a Philadelphia sports team or an Allentown locale on every ROH broadcast or pay-per-view event he calls.

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“I genuinely love my hometown, and I am sure a lot of Philadelphians do as well,” Riccaboni said. “I want to make sure that I’m someone that my hometown can be proud of. I want to show that love back to them every time I can.”

Listen to a Riccaboni-called ROH event and you’ll hear him mention things like A-Treat, a popular Lehigh Valley soda, or that one of his favorite places is Dorney Park.

His inspiration to become a wrestling commentator was growing up watching World Championship Wrestling matches and listening to legendary announcers Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone.

Today, the pair are his colleagues.

“They treated wrestling like a sport and competition,” Riccaboni said. “They weren’t afraid to have fun and they acknowledged some of the lighter side of things, but they were polished, professional, and buttoned up.”

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While Riccaboni is making memories and living out his pro wrestling fandom, this isn’t his only job. His day generally starts around 5:30 a.m., to prepare for his job in pharmaceutical services assisting with copay card programs, rebate programs, and patient assistance programs.

His days usually end around 10:30 p.m., and much later on nights like Friday night when he’s on the call for an ROH main event, but he maintains both roles in addition to being a husband and a father to his two children, Zach and Norah.

“The patient services job is really neat, and I get to bring some of my wrestling announcing and communication skills to things like patient workshops to patient advocacy groups,” Riccaboni said. “Wrestling has helped me understand and to be compassionate. It’s not because one job doesn’t pay enough. I ended up falling in love with two completely different things, and they fit my life perfectly.”

After graduating from NYU with a degree in broadcasting and media communications, things started to take off once he ended up on networks, including a stint on Phillies Nation TV, which was broadcast by Comcast SportsNet (which is now known as NBC Sports Philadelphia). Riccaboni found his start in wrestling courtesy of the Monster Factory in Paulsboro, New Jersey.

ROH would hold camps to find the future of professional wrestling. Riccaboni attended, not to become a wrestler, but to become an announcer. He said he was the only play-by-play announcer who came through camps.

After helping production and setting rings up, he got his shot in February 2017, when the lead announcer departed, opening up a spot. His first full show that he called was in Dayton, Ohio, an eight-hour drive from Allentown. Most independent wrestlers do this weekly, but Riccaboni also was making the trip — even without having a contract.

As Riccaboni ascended to his role as lead play-by-play announcer, wrestlers who left WWE were making their mark at multiple companies, including ROH. This included entertainers like Cody Rhodes, who will be in the main event of WrestleMania on Sunday. Before WWE fame, Rhodes left a significant mark during a two-year run in ROH.

Riccaboni experienced several moments which included calling a ROH and New Japan Pro Wrestling combo show at Madison Square Garden. Also, Riccaboni called an event called “All In” in 2018, an independent show that sold out a 10,000-seat arena in less than an hour. Before that, no other company outside WWE in 25 years was selling that many tickets. The success spawned the creation of another professional wrestling outfit, All Elite Wrestling.

The company was on fire with Riccaboni in the play-by-play chair, but all of that momentum was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of wrestling in front of a thousand people, ROH was filming weekly television in front of no people in a bubble.

The pandemic crippled outreach — and, in turn, interest. In 2021, not long after returning to live crowds, the wrestling talent was told via Zoom that the company would cease operations. However, current AEW owner Tony Khan bought ROHl. Now, for the first time since that purchase, ROH will return to the city that birthed the company in 2002.

“It’s a good feeling,” he said. “Suddenly there was this untapped market being realized right in front of our eyes. From doing advance with 50% of the same talent maybe two months before where we had 1,000 people in the building and used to think that was excellent. To be at 10,000 people at home in Philadelphia? That’s just amazing.”

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