ROH TV
Episode 473
#ROHPure
Original Air Date: October 9, 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
Eight men remain, but only one will be able to call himself the ROH Pure Champion.
Intro Video
Quinn McKay welcomes us the semifinals of the Pure Tournament.
Video
After his win last week, Tracy Williams said he came to ROH because it has the best competition. He respects the fight Rust Taylor gave him, and he’s looking forward to fighting Fred Yehi in the semifinals.
Video
After his win last week, PJ Black loves that people only have three rope breaks in Pure matches since he has thousands of moves he can do.
Video
A look at Jay Lethal’s win over Dalton Castle and of David Finlay’s win over Rocky Romero in the first round of the Pure Tournament.
Match 1
ROH Pure Tournament Semifinal Match
Jay Lethal (ROH Tag Champ) vs David Finlay
(referee: Todd Sinclair)
Result: Jay Lethal wins via pinfall after the Lethal Injection
Time: 14:58 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Very good match. The fight started off fairly even, but Finlay took control with a leg lock that had Lethal struggling to escape. Lethal was hobbled after that, and he had to find a way to end the match quickly. With his performance in this tournament and in the New Japan Cup in USA tournament, David Finlay is looking very impressive as a singles competitor. Lethal has a ton of heart and resilience (and talent) though, and he showed that tonight.
Ring Area
In the ring, Vincent (The Horror King) addresses the fans. He says there is a lot of changing happening in ROH, but Vincent doesn’t need to change, man. Vincent is the face of Ring of Horror, man. Can you dig what he’s saying? Man?
Suddenly, Matt Taven trends his way to the ring, and he attacks Vincent. With Vincent down, Taven pulls up the ring mat, exposing the wood underneath. Taven then smashes Vincent’s face onto the wood. Taven isn’t finished though. Taven sets up a table at ringside and drives Vincent through it with a frog splash from the top rope.
Video
A mysterious video tells us to control our narrative. “You have been warned.”
Video
A look at Jonathan Gresham defeating Wheeler Yuta and of Matt Sydal defeating Delirious in the first round of the Pure Tournament.
Match 2
ROH Pure Tournament Semifinal Match
Jonathan Gresham (ROH Tag Champ) vs Matt Sydal
(referee: Joe Mandak)
Result: Jonathan Gresham wins via submission with a Romero Special transitioned into an ankle and knee submission
Time: 13:27 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Great match. As always, Gresham’s technical expertise is a pleasure to watch. Matt Sydal was able to show his technical prowess in this match as well, and that for a lot of superb grappling and counter wrestling. For the most part the match stayed in or near the center of the ring, and both men looked to ground their opponents while looking for an advantage. This was an even match all the way up until the end when one of them got caught and quickly dealt with in brutal and innovative fashion.
Video
EC3 is controlling his narrative.
Show Impressions
The the tournament moves into the second round, the matches are already getting better (and they were quite good in the first round). I can’t say I’m super pumped about seeing Matt Taven, but he had a nice return regardless. And I hope EC3 has finally found a home where he can be successful. I’m not the biggest fan of him, but I like him, and he’s been stuck in some tough situations for a long time now.
Match of the Night
Jonathan Gresham vs Matt Sydal
This is the match to beat for me in the tournament right now.