many wrestling journalists and commenters as the beginning of a decline for the promotion in 2019. Much of the criticism focused on the reign of then-ROH World Champion Matt Taven. ROH had fewer PPV buys and a reduced live show attendance that year. According to Dave Meltzer, ROH's average live show attendance in 2019 was 1,082—lower than its averages in 2018 and 2017. In October 2019, ROH producer/road agent Joey Mercury resigned in protest, criticizing ROH for a lack of creative direction as well as having no concussion protocol for wrestlers. Mercury would reveal that ROH allowed then-Women of Honor champion Kelly Klein to wrestle after suffering a concussion during an October 26, 2019 event. Klein sought medical treatment after suffering post-concussion-syndrome symptoms. She would not be booked for the rest of the year and her contract would expire in December. In January 2020, Ring of Honor re-signed Marty Scurll; the deal was said to be the most lucrative in ROH history. In addition to being a wrestler, Scurll was also made head booker, working with longtime booker Hunter "Delirious" Johnston. Scurll's deal allowed him to continue to make appearances in New Japan Pro-Wrestling and the National Wrestling Alliance, where he began a cross-promotional feud with NWA World Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis. However, during the Speaking Out Movement, Scurll was accused of taking advantage of a 16-year-old girl who was inebriated. Scurll would release two statements in which he did not deny the allegations, but claimed the encounter was consensual. On 25 June, the promotion announced that they launched an investigation concerning the allegations, and Scurll was removed from his position as booker. By January 2021, Ring of Honor announced that Marty Scurll was no longer under contract after the two parties mutually agreed to part ways. On January 31, 2020, Ring of Honor announced the return of the ROH Pure Championship, with a tournament to crown the first Pure champion since 2006. The following month, the promotion announced another tournament to crown a new ROH Women's World Championship, following the deactivation of the Women of Honor World Championship title. However, in response to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Ring of Honor would postpone live events beginning in March. Television tapings for Ring of Honor Wrestling would resume in August at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena (formerly known as the UMBC Event Center) from the promotion's homebase in Maryland but without