Survival of the Fittest is a professional wrestling tournament held by Ring of Honor (ROH). The inaugural tournament took place in 2004, and - with exceptions (2008, 2013, 2019âÂÂ2020, 2022) - has become an annual tradition in ROH ever since.
Wrestlers compete in a variety of "qualifying" matches, usually either singles matches or tag team matches, with the winner(s) of each match advancing to an elimination match where the last remaining competitor would be deemed the Survival of the Fittest winner, and receive a future ROH World Championship match (except the 2023 and 2024 tournament winner will be crowned ROH World Television Championship).
The tournament setup is based on Maryland Championship Wrestling's Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup, as ROH was to continue the Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup following the shutdown of MCW in 2003. However, following a controversy with ROH's owner in early 2004, MCW dropped their association with Ring of Honor, and ROH renamed the already scheduled tournament "Survival of the Fittest".
In 2019, it was announced the event would take place on November 9 and 10, but the shows were ultimately cancelled.
ROH's first Survival of the Fittest tournament took place on June 24, 2004 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
ROH's second Survival of the Fittest tournament took place on September 24, 2005 in Boston, Massachusetts.
ROH's third Survival of the Fittest tournament took place on October 6, 2006 in Cleveland, Ohio.
ROH's fourth Survival of the Fittest tournament took place on October 19, 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
ROH's fifth Survival of the Fittest tournament took place on October 10, 2009 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
ROH's sixth Survival of the Fittest tournament took place on November 12, 2010 in Dearborn, Michigan.
ROH's seventh Survival of the Fittest tournament took place on November 18, 2011 at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Dayton, Ohio.
ROH's eighth Survival of the Fittest tournament took place on September 22, 2012 at the Du Burns Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. The tournament was recorded in a single day for Ring of Honor's television show, and aired on a taped delay over the span of several weeks.
ROH's ninth Survival of the Fittest tournament took place on November 8, 2014 at the Seagate Convention Center in Toledo, Ohio. The tournament took place over a span of 2 days.
ROH announced the tournament would return in 2021, taking place throughout the month of June on ROH's flagship TV program Ring of Honor Wrestling, and their online show ROH Week by Week.
There were 12 participants competing in six qualifying matches, with the winners advancing to a six-way elimination finals (aired June 26 on Ring of Honor Wrestling) where the winner received an ROH World Championship match at Best in the World.
Note - In late 2021, ROH was sold to Tony Khan, the owner and general manager of All Elite Wrestling (AEW), and with that ROH was then effectively absorbed into AEW.
On the November 8, 2023 episode of AEW Dynamite, Samoa Joe, who had held the ROH World Television Championship for a record 574 days, voluntarily vacated the title to concentrate on pursuing the AEW World Championship.
Tony Khan announced a week later on ROH Honor Club TV that Survival of the Fittest would return and be used in crowning a new champion. Qualifying matches took place on ROH Wrestling, leading up to the six-way finals on December 15 at Final Battle, with the winner becoming the new ROH World Television Champion. This was the first Survival of the Fittest where a championship was on the line rather than an opportunity at one, and the first where it was contested for the ROH World Television Champions rather than the ROH World Championship.
On July 25, Tony Khan announced a Survival of the Fittest match for the following day's Death Before Dishonor event, where ROH World Television Champion Atlantis Jr. would defend his title against Brian Cage, Johnny TV, Lee Johnson, Lio Rush, and Shane Taylor. This would be the first Survival of the Fittest where none of the participants had qualifying matches and the first in which a championship was defended.
On December 13, ROH announced another Survival of the Fittest match for the ROH World Television Championship, this time for Final Battle. Here, champion Brian Cage would defend the title against Willie Mack, Mark Davis, Komander, AR Fox, and Blake Christian.
On November 27, Tony Khan announced that, for the first time, the ROH World Championship would be contested for in a Survival of the Fittest match at Final Battle. The champion, Bandido, would defend the title against Blake Christian, Hechicero, Komander, Sammy Guevara, and The Beast Mortos.