Tag: roh pure title

Daily Update: WrestleMania ESPN viewership, ROH Pure title, Big Damo

Posted on by Joseph Currier

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Wednesday Update

WWE

  • WWE uploaded the full Sol Ruca vs. Zaria Last Woman Standing match that headlined NXT last night.
  • NXT wrestler Brooks Jensen is set to challenge coach Steve Corino for the PWF Championship at the indie promotion’s event in Newport, North Carolina this Sunday.
  • Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports reported the viewership numbers for ESPN’s TV simulcasts of the first hours of WrestleMania 42:
    • Night one (ESPN2): 1.62 million viewers
    • Night two (ESPN): 1.82 million viewers
  • Joe Jonas, who sang the National Anthem at night two of WrestleMania, uploaded a vlog from the event.
  • Jelly Roll also has a vlog with some WrestleMania footage.
  • Rapper Cam’ron made an Instagram post issuing a SummerSlam challenge to Jey Uso and his entire family: 
    • All I can do is laugh at you @romanreigns staying for Monday Night Raw after WrestleMania is like eating thanksgiving leftovers on Monday after thxgvn The Rock would Never
    • But you’re @tripleh lil lil employee. You better do what he says
    • @uceyjucey bring ya whole family and let’s settle this in August at #SummerSlam
    • @rosenbergradio make it happen
  • Big E tweeted about meeting up with AEW’s Kevin Knight and TNA’s Leon Slater during WrestleMania weekend:
    • Ran into @Jet2Flyy & @LEONSLATER_ at the gym in Vegas a few days ago. Glad I got to tell those brothers what a joy it is to watch them do incredible things in this industry. Pro wrestling’s youth movement is a beauty to behold.
  • The Wrestling Classic interviewed Alba Fyre.

Other Wrestling

Iron Man match added to Ring of Honor Final Battle

Posted on by Josh Nason

With Komander being moved into a six-way Survival of the Fittest match for the Ring of Honor World title at next Friday’s Final Battle, there was an opening for a new challenger for Pure Champion Lee Moriarty.

Enter former ROH star and current AEW broadcaster Nigel McGuinness.

During Friday’s ROH broadcast, McGuinness appeared during a pre-taped promo, putting over Moriarty for defeating him once before while pointing out he defeated him as part of a four-way so he considers them 1-1. He admitted he doesn’t know how many matches he has left, but wanted one of them to be with Moriarty to settle the score.

He then challenged Moriarty to a 30-minute Iron Man match next Friday which was later made official. The Pure title will not be on the line.

The two first squared off at last year’s Final Battle where Moriarty successfully defended the gold. The aforementioned four-way was an IWGP World title eliminator for this past August’s Forbidden Door which included McGuinness, Moriarty, Daniel Garcia and Hechicero.

Current ROH Final Battle card | Friday, December 5 | Columbus, Ohio

  • ROH World Champion Bandido defends against Sammy Guevara, Hechicero, Komander, The Beast Mortos and Blake Christian in a Survival of the Fittest match
  • ROH Women’s TV Champion Mercedes Mone defends against Red Velvet
  • ROH Women’s World Champion Athena defends against Persephone
  • ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty vs. Nigel McGuinness in a 30-minute Iron Man match (Non-title)
  • ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Carlie Bravo & Shawn Dean) defend against Skyflight (Scorpio Sky, Dante Martin & Darius Martin)
  • AEW National Champion Ricochet defends against TBA
  • Sammy Guevara & The Beast Mortos vs. Tommy Billington & Adam Priest for the vacant ROH Tag Team titles
  • Finals of ROH Women’s Pure Championship tournament

International Women’s Cup qualifier, Pure title match signed for next week’s ROH TV

Posted on by Josh Nason

A four-way qualifying match that will send the winner to the Tokyo Dome this January is confirmed for next Thursday’s ROH on HonorClub.

ROH Women’s World Champion Athena, Billie Starkz, Women’s TV Champion Red Velvet and Leyla Hirsch will compete in the match where the winner advances to a four-way at Wrestle Dynasty on January 5th against women from AEW, CMLL and Stardom.

The AEW challenger will be determined on next Saturday’s Winter is Coming edition of Collision, while the CMLL challenger will emerge from a four-way on December 13th. Stardom has yet to announce how their participant will be determined.

The broadcast will also feature ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty defending against Matt Taven.

This will be the third title defense for Moriarty who has held the title for over 130 days, but hasn’t defended since September. Taven will be looking to add to his extensive ROH trophy case which includes a World title reign, three runs with the Tag Team titles, three runs with the Six-Man titles, and a TV title reign.

Lee Moriarty, Red Velvet become new champions at ROH Death Before Dishonor

Posted on by Josh Nason

For the first time in both of their AEW & Ring of Honor runs, Lee Moriarty and Red Velvet can each call themselves ROH champions after Friday’s Death Before Dishonor.

Moriarty won the Pure title after pinning Wheeler Yuta while using the ropes which was legal due to both men using up their allotted rope breaks under Pure rules. After the match, Yuta showed Moriarty respect by handing him the title himself.

Moriarty earned the shot by taking Yuta to a ten-minute draw in a June Proving Ground match. They are now 1-1-1 against each other in ROH after Yuta defeated Moriarty in a November 2023 bout.

The win ends the 245-day third Pure title reign for Yuta which was elongated due to him being out of action for a considerable amount of time due to a concussion. He defended the title three times after winning it in November, but this was his first defense since January.

Then in the next match, Velvet took out inaugural ROH Women’s TV Champion Billie Starkz to become the second-ever titleholder.

The closing sequence came when Starkz pulled out an old trick and pretended to be injured as she had against Queen Aminata in the TV title finals. She then sprung up and hit Velvet with an enziguri and began mugging to the crowd. Velvet then faked her own injury which threw Starkz off, allowing Velvet to hit Mama’s Recipe to get the victory.

Velvet is now 3-0 against Starkz in both AEW and ROH action and is on a four-match win streak. Starkz never defended the title after winning it at April’s Supercard of Honor.

Pure Championship match set for ROH Final Battle

Posted on by Bryan Rose

A match for the ROH Pure Championship is set for Final Battle.

Daniel Garcia will defend the championship against Wheeler Yuta in what will be the rubber match between the two on December 10. The match was set up on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite after Yuta challenged Garcia during a sit-down interview between members of the Jericho Appreciation Society and the Blackpool Combat Club.

During the promo, members of the JAS taunted Claudio Castagnoli, who is set to face Chris Jericho at the show for the ROH Championship. Hager threw a purple hat at Castagnoli, saying he could wear it after the loses at Final Battle. Yuta and Garcia then went back and forth, with Yuta issuing the challenge.

Yuta successfully defended the Pure title against Garcia at Death Before Dishonor in July. On the September 7 edition of AEW Dynamite, however, Garcia won the championship in a rematch.

Here is the updated card for ROH Final Battle:

  • ROH World Championship: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Claudio Castagnoli
  • ROH Pure Championship: Daniel Garcia (c) vs. Wheeler Yuta

ROH reveals bracket for Pure title tournament

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The full bracket for Ring of Honor’s Pure Championship tournament has now been revealed.

The bracket was announced on today’s episode of ROH Week By Week. The first round matches for the tournament are:

Block A —

  • Jay Lethal vs. Dalton Castle
  • David Finlay vs. Rocky Romero
  • Fred Yehi vs. Silas Young
  • Tracy Williams vs. Rust Taylor

Block B —

  • Jonathan Gresham vs. Wheeler Yuta
  • Delirious vs. Matt Sydal
  • Josh Woods vs. Kenny King
  • PJ Black vs. Tony Deppen

If a wrestler is unable to compete, Dak Draper is the alternate for Block A and Brian Johnson is the alternate for Block B. 

The tournament will begin airing on ROH television this coming weekend and will play out over eight weeks. ROH returned to TV production in Maryland last month with only essential personnel in attendance.

The rules for Pure matches are:

  • Every match begins and ends with the Code of Honor handshake.
  • Each wrestler has three rope breaks to stop submission holds and pinfalls. After a wrestler exhausts his rope breaks, submission and pin attempts on or under the ropes by his opponent are legal.
  • Closed-fist punches to the face are not permitted; only open-handed slaps or chops to the face are allowed. Punches to other parts of the body are permitted, excluding low blows. The first use of a closed fist will get a warning; the second will be a disqualification.
  • As in standard ROH matches, there will be a 20-count when a wrestler is on the floor.
  • Outside interference will result in automatic termination from the roster for the wrestler that interferes.
  • There will be two blocks, single-elimination format.
  • Round 1 matches have a 15-minute time limit.
  • Block semifinals have a 20-minute time limit.
  • Block finals have a 30-minute time limit.
  • The tournament final has a one-hour time limit.
  • There will be three judges for each match, and time-limit draws will go to a judges’ decision.

The winner of the tournament will be ROH’s first Pure Champion since 2006. The title was introduced in 2004 and was then unified with the ROH World Championship two years later.

Updated list of entrants for ROH Pure and Women’s title tournaments

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Ring of Honor’s upcoming Pure and Women’s title tournaments are both now up to 15 announced entrants:

Pure title tournament —

  • Doug Williams
  • Jonathan Gresham
  • Alex Shelley
  • Rocky Romero
  • Mark Haskins
  • Slex
  • Tracy Williams
  • Marty Scurll
  • Fred Yehi
  • Yuji Nagata
  • Joe Hendry
  • Dalton Castle
  • Ren Narita
  • Josh Woods
  • Tony Deppen

Women’s title tournament —

  • Sumie Sakai
  • Kellyanne
  • Angelina Love
  • Nicole Savoy
  • Katarina
  • Jenny Rose
  • Session Moth Martina
  • Tasha Steelz
  • Mandy Leon
  • Alex Gracia
  • Ashley Vox
  • Gia Scott
  • Miranda Alize
  • Heather Monroe
  • Lindsay Snow

There’s only one entrant left to be announced for both tournaments. The Pure Championship tournament will begin with opening round matches taking place at Pure Excellence night one in Columbus, Ohio on Friday, April 10 and Pure Excellence night two in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Saturday, April 11. The quarterfinals will then be held at Battlestarr 2020 in New York City on Thursday, April 23.

The first round matches in the Women’s Championship tournament will take place at Quest for Gold in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Friday, April 24.

ROH hasn’t revealed when either champion will be crowned.

After the title had been out of use since 2006, ROH announced last month that the Pure Championship is returning. Pure title matches featured rules where “closed-fist punches were illegal, and each competitor was allowed three rope breaks to stop submission holds and pinfalls during the match; after that, pinfalls and submission holds on or under the ropes would be legal.”

The ROH Women’s Championship is replacing the Women of Honor title. Kelly Klein was Women of Honor Champion during her departure from ROH last year.

Tony Deppen to make ROH debut in Pure title tournament

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The lineup for ROH’s Pure title tournament is almost fully set.

ROH announced today that Tony Deppen will make his debut in the tournament. He’s the 15th entrant confirmed for it.

There’s only one entrant left to be announced for the tournament. Doug Williams, Jonathan Gresham, Alex Shelley, Rocky Romero, Mark Haskins, Slex, Tracy Williams, Marty Scurll, Fred Yehi, Yuji Nagata, Joe Hendry, Dalton Castle, Ren Narita, and Josh Woods are the other wrestlers set for it.

Deppen is a regular for Game Changer Wrestling. He also made his PWG debut last year and was an entrant in the Battle of Los Angeles.

ROH hyped up Deppen in their announcement:

A young man with many years experience, Deppen’s growth accelerated in 2019 and into 2020, competing in top independent organizations like Beyond, Game Changer Wrestling, PWG, and Chikara. Deppen has begun to compete internationally and is an amateur and submission expert.

Deppen’s ROH debut comes in this tournament and is one of the most highly-touted free agents in the world. Deppen could not only capture the Pure Championship but negotiate himself an even bigger money contract should he capture the title!

The first round matches in the Pure title tournament are taking place at Pure Excellence night one in Columbus, Ohio on Friday, April 10 and Pure Excellence night two in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Saturday, April 11. The quarterfinals will then be held at ROH Battlestarr 2020 in New York City on Thursday, April 23.

The winner of the tournament will be ROH’s first Pure Champion since 2006. The title featured rules where “closed-fist punches were illegal, and each competitor was allowed three rope breaks to stop submission holds and pinfalls during the match; after that, pinfalls and submission holds on or under the ropes would be legal.”

Doug Williams, Jonathan Gresham set for ROH Pure title tournament

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Update —

ROH has confirmed Jonathan Gresham for their Pure title tournament, He’s the second announced entrant.

**********

Ring of Honor has revealed the first participant for their Pure title tournament.

ROH announced today that Doug Williams will take part in the 16-wrestler tournament. It will begin with first-round matches taking place at Pure Excellence night one in Columbus, Ohio on Friday, April 10 and Pure Excellence night two in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Saturday, April 11.

The quarterfinals for the tournament will then be held at ROH Battlestarr 2020 in New York City on Thursday, April 23. ROH hasn’t revealed when the semifinals and finals will take place.

Williams was the second-ever Pure Champion in ROH history, holding the title for 42 days in 2004.

The Pure Championship has been dormant since 2006. Title matches featured rules where “closed-fist punches were illegal, and each competitor was allowed three rope breaks to stop submission holds and pinfalls during the match; after that, pinfalls and submission holds on or under the ropes would be legal.”

Williams is also set to wrestle at ROH Past vs. Present in Las Vegas on Saturday, March 14. He’s facing Jonathan Gresham at that show.

ROH bringing back Pure title, tournament to begin in April

Posted on by Joseph Currier

After being dormant for more than a decade, the Ring of Honor Pure Championship is making its return.

ROH announced today that a tournament to crown their first Pure Champion since 2006 will begin at Pure Excellence night one in Columbus, Ohio on Friday, April 10. First-round matches will also take place at Pure Excellence night two in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Saturday, April 11.

Pure title matches featured rules where “closed-fist punches were illegal, and each competitor was allowed three rope breaks to stop submission holds and pinfalls during the match; after that, pinfalls and submission holds on or under the ropes would be legal.”

The title hasn’t been in use since Bryan Danielson defeated Nigel McGuinness in a match to unify the ROH World and Pure championships in 2006. AJ Styles, Doug Williams, John Walters, Jay Lethal, and Samoa Joe also held the Pure title during its existence.

The return of the Pure title was first teased by ROH when they responded to a tweet where Will Ospreay called it one of his favorite titles in wrestling. Ospreay wrote earlier this month: “Bored. What’s one of your favourite titles in wrestling? Gonna go for an underrated one for me, I loved the ROH Pure Championship. Things kinda different now but I love the design of it and the rules that went with it. Be cool if they bought it back with updated rules.”

Pure Excellence night one is taking place at Express Live in Columbus, while night two is being held at Stage AE in Pittsburgh. Tickets for both shows will go on sale to HonorClub members next Wednesday (February 5) at 10 a.m. Eastern time and to the general public at 10 a.m. Eastern next Friday (February 7).

ROH hasn’t revealed the participants for the tournament or announced when the Pure Champion will be crowned.