Homicide's first main independent exposure came in 2002 when he was recruited by the upstart Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion. He and Boogalou wrestled on the first ever ROH show, "The Era of Honor Begins", on February 23, and were defeated by the Boogie Knights, by way of DQ. The Natural Born Sinners were a dominant tag team in ROH, beating The Carnage Crew at the July 27 "Crowning a Champion" event, and also won at the August 24 "Honor Invades Boston" event, defeating Tony Mamaluke and James Maritato.