Last week: The Pure Championship Tournament continued with David Finlay defeating Rocky Romero and Matt Sydal submitting Delirious in the opening round.
ROH TV Episode 471
September 26, 2020
Baltimore, MD
Like last week, the winners from the previous episode had some thoughts on their victory & their upcoming tournament matches. An exhausted David Finlay promised to make his own legacy by reinvigorating pure wrestling both in the States and abroad. Thanking the wrestling gods for his opportunity to wrestle for the Pure Championship, Matt Sydal apologized to Jonathan Gresham before their upcoming second round bout because he’s the only one able to carry the mantle of the Pure Championship; not “The Octopus”.
Block A Quarterfinal Match: Silas Young vs. Fred Yehi
Insulting slap from Silas Young when they tumbled into the ropes off the initial tie up. Fred Yehi lit up Young with knife edge chops until “The Last Real Man” got enough distance to reset the match. When they locked up again it was both looking for a limb to focus on with Yehi opting for the left leg while Silas went after hammerlocks. Two minutes had passed when Yehi almost turned a knucklelock into a pinning predicament. The pace quickened with both going for failed pinning combinations. A good ol’ fashioned test of strength broke out when they decided to grapple again with Young faking out his opponent to sweep him into a single leg Boston crab. Yehi countered the hold, turning it into a modified Indian deathlock. Young had no choice but to use a rope break at the five minute mark as the show entered a commercial.
Young had turned the tables during the commercial by executing suplexes. Yehi exploded with knee drops after knocking “The Last Real Man” into the corner. Yehi was showing why he’s the “Savageweight” by unleashing legal strikes including a spinning back fist. Young fell into the Koji clutch, but refused to submit. Yehi converted the failed submission into a failed crucifix that allowed Young to get up & land a big boot topped by the tornado DDT. Two count for Young as the five minute warning sounded out. Young had that ripcord knee strike in mind when Yehi stopped it with the half-nelson suplex.
Once again Young was stuck in the corner and prone to an attack; this time a cannonball. The former TV champion rallied back, utilizing another suplex before putting Yehi on the top rope for the superplex. Anarchist suplex connected for Young, only for Yehi to small package him when Silas went for the pin. Silas kicked out, getting rocked with a forearm to the jaw when he rushed Yehi. Young slipped underneath his opponent when Fred attempted to follow up on the strike, going for the Peegee Waja Plunge. Yehi rolled out of the way, grabbing Young in the small package yet again. This time Yehi had a tight grip and actually pinned the ROH star in Fred’s ROH debut.
Block B Quarterfinal Match: Kenny King vs. Josh Woods
Kenny King was right there with someone believed his better as a grappler. Using that patented Japanese arm drag, King kept a grip of Josh Woods’ arm for an arm bar. Woods countered the arm bar, hooking and rolling King over in fireman’s carry cradles. King dropped down, requesting Woods enter his guard. Half guard by Woods saw him get caught in a guillotine choke that he easily freed himself from. King thought his switching from bottom to top was to his advantage, but Woods was ready with the triangle choke. Thankfully for King he was able to stack “The Goods” in a pinning predicament. Woods relinquished the hold to avoid being pinned as the show entered a commercial break.
Woods found himself catching King in not only a suplex during the commercial, but also the ankle lock when the show returned to the live action. King wisely pulled himself underneath the bottom rope to the floor. The referee decided that would be considered a rope break. King, rightfully angry, kicked Woods upside the head when he exited the ring to follow. King was playing around too much, almost getting caught with the Seismic Toss. Woods stopped himself from punching King, only for Kenny to land a big right fist to the face. The referee declared King just used his sole warning, but the damage had been done and Woods wasn’t able to get a solid base long enough for the Ingobernable member to cinch in several holds. When Woods did recover he landed a big knee strike in the corner after executing another suplex.
King gripped the top rope to save himself from the Seismic Toss, only to be kneed in the face. King collapsed to the floor to avoid being pinned. Woods ran into the Royal Flush when the action returned inside, only for Woods to use his first rope break to save himself. Placing Woods on the top rope for a superplex, King found himself being pulled off the middle rope for a modified Anarchist suplex. With two minutes remaining, King took a stomp to the face after a failed O’Connor roll up. A one minute warning saw Woods trying to beat King down until he couldn’t stand. King caught an incoming knee strike, transitioning it into the single leg Boston crab. Woods held on long enough for the fifteen minute time limit expiration.
The judges gave their votes with a split decision going in favor of Woods (apparently Gary Juster voted for King while Sumie opted for Woods because of the closed fast from King causing a warning).
Overall: Some very interesting turn of events with this episode as the Pure Championship tournament passed its opening round midpoint. First there was the stellar clash between Young and Yehi that, arguably, was the best match of the tournament thus far. A great mix of grappling & hard hitting strikes with Yehi winning with the small package – a patented maneuver of Bryan Danielson after Fred said in his promo package that he studied work of the former ROH World champion. Yehi winning really opened the door for the possibility of next week’s episode featuring ROH-debuting wrestlers following Fred’s lead.
The main event marked the first match in the tournament thus far to go to the judges. King and Woods made great use of the time with the momentum swinging back & forth throughout including some questionable moments like the referee deciding sliding underneath the bottom rope to break a submission actually counted as a rope break – something every other wrestler going forward has to make note of. Woods winning is huge for the former Top Prospect Tournament winner and could see him go a lot further than most expected considering his first round opponent. The only flaw with the judging system was the lack of announcement from the in-ring announcer as to who made it a split decision. Thankfully commentators Ian Riccaboni & Caprice Coleman were there to clarify before the episode ended. Alongside the first episode of the tournament, this may have been just as good, if not better from an in-ring perspective as that one; making this another must-see episode.
