Ring of Honor matchmaker Nigel McGuinness has announced that Jay Briscoe has been stripped of the ROH World Champion, following the Briscoes departure from the company. The storyline was that SCUM injured the Briscoes so badly that they could not compete for a whole month, leaving ROH no choice but to vacate the belt.
A single elimination tournament was announced for September to crown a new champion. "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin is the first man announced, as he was previously the #1 contender to the title. Without a world champion, it was announced that the tag team titles will have much more influence in the coming months.