WWE's Joaquin Wilde Created The Original Ring Of Honor Logo
Here's a fun fact: the original ROH logo was designed by a current WWE star. The LWO's Joaquin Wilde was a 15-year-old when the then-upstart ROH announced a contest inviting fans to create the logo for the new promotion. It was the prize in the offing — five free wrestling tapes — that drew Wilde's interest.
"Back in those days, VHS tape trading was a big thing, and I was very much a tape trader," Wilde told the "Out Of Character" podcast. "I was like, '5 free tapes? That's like $100 worth of tapes.'"
According to Wilde, his younger brother was passionate about graphic design from a very young age, so much so that he spent his 12th birthday money on purchasing Photoshop. "When the ROH opportunity came about, I went to my brother and said, 'You have to make this logo. We have to win these tapes.' So, my brother made a logo — and just to give myself a better chance of winning, I made one, too. I was not as good as him at Photoshop, but I was okay. I came up with the logo and even the slogan: 'We don't imitate, we innovate.'"
"We sent both logos to the contest," Wilde continued. "And would you believe it? I won. It was the one and only time I beat my brother in an artistic endeavor."
Besides the much-desired five free wrestling tapes, Wilde also got a letter granting him a lifetime supply of free tickets to all ROH shows. "Even now, if I wanted tickets to a show, I could probably [get them]," Wilde concluded.
Wilde substantiated his claim by sharing a printout of him being announced as the winner of the ROH contest, as seen below.
The things i find at my moms house! A printout of an @rfvideo website update from 2002, written by @BookItGabe, announcing that 15 year old Michael Paris had just won the contest to design a logo for their new wrestling promotion, @ringofhonor. pic.twitter.com/9UGTfNCHFx
— Joaquin Wilde (@joaquinwilde_) November 23, 2018