The tournament started in 2011 with the goal of giving rising wrestlers a chance of getting an ROH contract and displaying their talents for the promotion.
After a one-year break, the tournament returned in 2013 with the winner getting a chance at Adam Cole's ROH World Television Championship.
In 2014, Hanson won the tournament by defeating future tag team partner Raymond Rowe in the finals.
In 2016, Lio Rush defeated Brian Fury to win the tournament and instead gained an ROH World Championship opportunity against Jay Lethal.
[7] After losing the Amazon Prime Video's Dojo Pro Black Belt for a ROH World Television Championship opportunity against Aaron Solow, Jeff Cobb made his ROH debut crashing the 2018 Top Prospect Tournament, interfering in three first round matches (Eli Isom vs FR Josie, Charles Zanders vs Marcus Kross, and Brian Johnson vs Dante Caballero), declaring himself the real winner of the tournament and fast-tracking his way to a TV title match against then-champion Punishment Martinez, which he won.