ROH TV Episode 469
September 12, 2020
Baltimore, MD
Quinn McKay welcomed everyone to the show following the new, sleek intro video, recapping the history of the Pure Championship including former champions AJ Styles, Jay Lethal, Nigel McGuinness and the final titleholder Bryan Danielson. With the return of the Pure title via this tournament comes the promise of ROH following the strict CDC guidelines including no fans in attendance. McKay ran down the competitors in this tournament:
Jay Lethal, Dalton Castle, Kenny King, Josh Woods, Silas Young, PJ Black, Jonathan Gresham, David Finlay, Rocky Romero, Delirious, Matt Sydal, Tracy Williams, Rust Taylor, Fred Yehi, Wheeler Yuta, and Tony Deppen. Dak Draper and Brian Johnson will be alternates if someone can’t continue in Block A and Block B respectively.
Here are the rules:
– This tournament is single elimination.
– Quarterfinal 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. ROH Director of Operations Gary Juster has been announced as one of the judges.
The rules for Pure matches:
– Every match begins and ends with the Code of Honor handshake.
– Each wrestler has three rope breaks to stop submission holds and pin falls. 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 garner a disqualification by the offender.
– As in standard ROH matches, there will be a 20-count on the floor.
– Outside interference will result in automatic termination from the roster for the wrestler that interferes.
– Once a Pure Champion is crowned, the title can change hands via disqualification and count-out.
Block A Quarterfinal Match: Jay Lethal vs. Dalton Castle
The former Pure champion found himself succumbing to instinct as he used a rope break to stop a front face lock just seconds into the bout. Stunned over the turn of events, Lethal quickly went for the takedown. Dalton Castle countered with Lethal having to stop himself from using the ropes to free himself again. Castle found himself being waist locked as Lethal turned the tides, literally stopping a push backward to avoid touching the ropes. Rolling through the waist lock, Castle almost pinned the Tag Team champion at the three minute mark. Big belly to back suplex from “The Peacock” set off an onslaught topped by an overhead belly-to-belly into the turnbuckles for a two count heading into the commercial break.
During the commercial, Lethal turned the tides with that cartwheel dropkick off the hip toss. With less than eight minutes remaining, Lethal was working over Castle’s left leg. Stiff kick to Castle’s back was topped by a chop block on the left leg; followed up with the shin breaker. Castle attempted to fight back with forearms & chops, but Lethal would kick his leg out of his leg with the plan to cinch in the figure four leg lock. Castle was able to kick Lethal away in preparation for the Bang-A-Rang. Jay reversed the patented maneuver with the Lethal Combination for a near fall.
Hail to the King was on Lethal’s mind, but Castle stopped his ascent. Lethal jumped down, only to get caught with the Bang-A-Rang. Lethal, thankfully for him, was close enough to the ropes to use his second rope break. With only three minutes remaining, Castle hooked the champion for a gut-wrench suplex. Lethal flipped out of the maneuver, landing an enzuguri. Castle exploded off the ropes, missing a clothesline. Lethal Injection connected, giving Lethal the chance to go for the cover. Lethal picked up the three count at the thirteen minute mark to advance to face the winner of David Finlay vs. Rocky Romero.
Block B Quarterfinal Match: Jonathan Gresham vs. Wheeler Yuta
The Greco-Roman knuckle-lock saw Wheeler Yuta muscle Jonathan Gresham’s shoulders to the mat. “The Octopus” attempted to use his leg strength to press Yuta into the air, only to get caught in a body scissors. Gresham countered, but had to avoid a rear naked choke in the process. Gresham prepared for Yuta to push forward with his legs when the Tag champ tried to press his & his opponent’s body backward, sweeping Yuta over for a bow & arrow attempt. Yuta stopped the submission with a lateral press. Gresham kicked out, sweeping Yuta into an Indian deathlock before the commercial break.
Yuta was ready for everything Gresham had to offer including that high dropkick feign into the basement dropkick, rolling the Tag champ up instead. At the five minute mark, Yuta came off the top with a cross body block attempt. Gresham avoided the attack, quickly locking in the Indian deathlock when his opponent crashed & burned. Yuta had to use his first rope break to stop the submission. Gresham held onto the submission while claiming their legs were too entangled to be separated without the referee’s assistance. Hobbled, Wheeler got to his feet infuriated enough that he threw & landed a punch.. The referee issued a warning with the promise of disqualifying Yuta if he did it again. Dey got up a clubberin’ with Yuta winning the palm strike battle before unleashing a cross body block to gain a two count. Yuta felt a dragon screw leg whip when going for the PK. Gresham’s modified figure four saw both men rolling out of the ring, to the floor!
The competitors were hurting as the referee counted them down. Reentering at sixteen, Yuta caught an incoming Gresham in a pinning combination. They were countering every pin attempt until Gresham switched his strategy and turned a sunset flip into a big stomp across the open left ankle. A knee drop to the ankle followed with Gresham hooking Wheeler’s left leg and repeatedly slamming it against the mat so Yuta was involuntarily knee dropping the canvas. Yuta’s screams of agony continued alongside Gresham’s attack until Wheeler tapped out a little past the ten minute mark.
Overall: A very strong return for ROH as the Pure Championship Tournament rightfully took center stage. It must be stated that the aesthetics for the show were actually quite good even without a small crowd similar to what’s been seen in AEW and WWE as of late. Instead, with the smaller venue and great microphone setup, this episode (and potential future shows) come across something closer to recent UFC/Bellator/MMA shows where everything feels more visceral because all the effects of strikes & submissions can be heard in full. The surroundings of screens including the Cary Tron and the bracket listing made everything look sleek. The presentation of the rope breaks on scree underneath the name of each competitor was a great touch and helps keep fans aware of what’s happening. I only wish they’d have the clock count down instead of up to heighten the sense of anticipation for the viewer.
In regards to the action itself, both were solid encounters with Lethal-Castle paling in comparison to their previous matches for obvious reasons (different rules, a time limit, Castle still suffering from the effects of his hurt back). With that being stated, the story of Lethal having to reacclimate himself to the Pure Rules, Castle catching him with suplexes, and Jay smartly going after the leg to cripple the effectiveness of the Bang-A-Rang was top notch. The main event proved to be the better of the two bouts with Yuta living up to his promise of knowing what Gresham has to bring to the table. Several times Yuta seemed one-step ahead of the overall favorite to win the tournament, only for the constant leg work “The Octopus” used as the foundation of his offense to be his downfall. Definitely a worthy viewing and overall return for new ROH TV content.
