ROH TV
Episode 475
#ROHPure
Original Air Date: October 23, 2020
Event Date: ?
City: Baltimore, MD
Venue: UMBC Event Center (empty arena)
Commentary: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman
Ring Announcer: Nick Lendl
Pure Tournament Judges: Gary Juster, Will Ferrara, Sumie Sakai
Video
Through triumph and tragedy, four men remain in the ROH Pure Tournament.
Intro Video
Video
Quinn McKay welcomes us to the block finals of the Pure Tournament.
Video
After his win over Fred Yehi last week, Tracy Williams showed some respect for his fallen opponent. Williams also feels a bit disrespected by Jay Lethal because it doesn’t seem that Lethal know who Williams even is. Williams plans to teach Lethal his name by force.
Video
After his win over PJ Black last week, Silas Young says Josh Woods has no reservations about facing Jonathan Gresham.
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A look at Josh Woods and Jonathan Gresham heading into their block final match.
Match 1
ROH Pure Tournament Block B (Silver) Final Match
Josh “The Goods” Woods w/ Silas Young vs “The Octopus” Jonathan Gresham (ROH Tag Champ)
(referee: Joe Mandak)
Result: Jonathan Gresham wins via pinfall with a sunset flip
Time: 12:00 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Great match. It wasn’t super long, but Woods and Gresham packed a lot into the time they had. Both men are great grapplers, but Gresham really showed his intelligence and tenacity tonight. Woods had a better start and frustrated Gresham, but after watching the whole match, I wonder if Gresham’s visible frustration was part of his ploy to draw Woods in. Knowing that Woods is great at countering and thinking on his feet, Gresham started looking for any hold he could get as the pace of the match picked up. The finish felt sudden, but in a good way.
Ring Area
Matt Taven heads to the ring for a match, but his opponent, Vincent, attacks him from behind. Vincent smashes Taven all around ringside before setting up a table. Taven starts to fight back, but Vincent beats him up and sets Taven up on the table. Vincent pulls out a ladder and hits a senton off the ladder onto Taven on the table.
Video
A look at EC3 and Shane Taylor after their altercation last week. EC3 says he didn’t mention Taylor’s name among the ROH greats because he hasn’t earned his place as one of the greats yet.
Video
A look at Jay Lethal and Tracy Williams heading into their block final match.
Match 2
ROH Pure Tournament Block A (Red) Final Match
“Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams vs Jay Lethal (ROH Tag Champ)
(referee: Todd Sinclair)
Result: Tracy Williams wins via submission with a crossface
Time: 19:29 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Great match! Williams got off to a good start, and he forced Lethal to use two of his rope breaks early in the match. Williams tried to keep his momentum up, but a trip to ringside aggravated his already hurt shoulder. Back in the ring, Lethal fully capitalized on Williams’ injury by focusing most of his attacks on the shoulder. Lethal had a clear advantage, but his focus on Williams’ shoulder also left Lethal open to attacks since Williams more or less knew what was coming. That proved extremely dangerous for Lethal when he went for some of his higher risk moves, and that let to a very good finish.
Show Impressions
I hope the final match of the tournament can live up to these two block finals. Tonight was great. As for the Taven/Vincent stuff, I didn’t really care about it, but it was a small part of the show. That’s fine.
Match of the Night
Tracy Williams vs Jay Lethal
I loved the flow of the match, the psychology surrounding Williams’ injury, and the danger posed by both men burning through their rope breaks.