The ROH Pure Championship tournament is set to begin airing this weekend. It will crown the first title holder since 2006. ROH has been slowly rolling out the participants over the weeks. Now, the bracket has been revealed.
The ROH Pure Title Tournament Brackets Have Been Revealed!
— ROH Wrestling (@ringofhonor) September 8, 2020
Don’t miss the first round matches between @TheLethalJay and @theDALTONcastle in Block A and @TheJonGresham and @WheelerYuta in Block B this weekend on ROH TV!
Who will advance to the next round?
Tune in to find out! pic.twitter.com/WsNOqrOgpd
Block A
- Jay Lethal vs Dalton Castle
- David Finlay vs Rocky Romero
- Silas Young vs Fred Yehi
- Tracy Williams vs Rust Taylor
- Alternate: Dak Draper
Block B
- Jonathan Gresham vs Wheeler Yuta
- Delirious vs Matt Sydal
- Josh Woods vs Kenny King
- PJ Black vs Tony Deppen
- Alternate: Brian Johnson
Time limits are 15 minutes for the first round, 20 minutes for the second round, 30 minutes for the semifinals, and 60 minutes for the finale. If time expires for a draw, then the winner will be chosen by judges. That fate will be held in the hands of ROH Director of Operations Gary Juster, ROH Dojo coach Will Ferrara, and former Women of Honor World Champion Sumie Sakai. Pure bouts also have a unique set of rules applying to rope breaks, closed-fist punches, and outside interference.
The first round matches that jump out to me are Lethal vs Dalton and Woods vs King. 7 of the 16 competitors are not signed with ROH, so pitting roster members against each other is a nice touch to add drama and keep results unpredictable. Woods vs King is the toughest to predict. Woods has the skills to excel in Pure matches, but King is the bigger star.
It was nice of ROH to place teammates Lethal & Gresham and Young & Woods on opposite sides of the bracket. They can only fight each other in the finale, so that is likely to prevent any unnecessary emotional blow-ups. Lethal vs Gresham for all the marbles would not surprise me. Young and Woods are strong picks to advance to the end. Woods is my dark horse to win, however, I think Young may be too old for the grind of the tournament format.
Prediction time! My final four picks are Lethal, Williams, Gresham, and Woods. I’m riding with Gresham to defeat Williams in the final.
Lethal vs Castle and Gresham vs Yuta are the feature bouts for the tournament’s opening episode this weekend. Check here for ROH channel listings in your area. Episodes will be posted on Mondays for Honor Club and Fite TV.
Make your predictions and give your opinion about the bracket. Which first round matchups grab your eye? Which future contests are you hoping to see?