ROH Pure Championship
Details
Promotion	Ring of Honor
Date established	February 14, 2004
Date retired	August 12, 2006
Other name(s)	Pure Wrestling Championship
Statistics Most reigns N/A First champion(s) Doug Williams Longest reign Nigel McGuiness (350 days) Shortest reign Bryan Danielson (1 day) Oldest champion Doug Williams (31 years) Youngest champion Jay Lethal (19 years) Heaviest champion Samoa Joe (290 lb (130 kg)) Lightest champion Bryan Danielson (185 lb (84 kg))

The Ring of Honor (ROH) Pure Championship was a title contested for in the North American independent professional wrestling promotion Ring of Honor.

Contents 1 Pure wrestling rules 2 History 3 Title history 4 List of reign lengths 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Pure wrestling rules

Matches for the ROH Pure Championship were conducted under Pure Wrestling Rules. The three Pure Wrestling Rules are:

1. Each wrestler has three rope breaks to stop submission holds and pinfalls during the match. After a wrestler exhausts his rope breaks, submission and pin attempts under the ropes by the opponent are considered legal.
2. There are no closed-fist punches to the face allowed in a Pure match, only open-handed slaps or chops to the face are allowed. Punches to other parts of the body (save for low-blows) are permitted. The first use of a closed fist will get a warning, and the second will cause the wrestler to be penalized a rope break. If he is already out of rope breaks, he will be disqualified.
3. A wrestler is subject to a twenty count by the referee if the wrestler goes to the floor.

While not a rule itself, it is worth noting that unlike other championships, the ROH Pure Championship could have changed hands on a disqualification or count out.

[edit] History

The title was originally named the Pure Wrestling Championship and AJ Styles defeated CM Punk in the finals of an 8 man, one night tournament to crown the first champion. The tournament took place at the Second Anniversary Show and also featured John Walters, Chris Sabin, Doug Williams, Matt Stryker, Josh Daniels and Jimmy Rave.

The ROH Pure Championship was created after Styles was forced to vacate the Pure Wrestling Title in the wake of the Rob Feinstein controversy that saw Total Nonstop Action Wrestling pulled their contracted wrestlers, which included Styles, from all ROH shows. However, ROH in fact considers the "Pure Wrestling Championship" and the "ROH Pure Championship" to be two distinct titles. There is no mention of Styles on ROH's website as having held the "ROH Pure Championship," and it was seldom, if ever, acknowledged in commentary that Styles held the previous version of the title or that it even existed. Doug Williams would become the first recognized holder of the ROH Pure Championship after he defeated Alex Shelley in the finals of a one night mini-tournament at Reborn: Completion.

Weekend of Champions: Night Two, on April 29, 2006, saw the first ever title vs. title match in Ring of Honor as ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson took on ROH Pure Champion Nigel McGuinness. The match was contested under Pure Title rules, but both the World and Pure Titles were on the line. McGuinness won the bout by countout, but since only the Pure title can change hands on a countout, he did not win the ROH World Championship. The two faced each other again on August 12, 2006 in Liverpool, England, with Danielson defeating McGuinness to unify the ROH Pure Championship with the ROH World Championship. Danielson and McGuinness competed in a rematch for the ROH World Championship later that month, wrestling to a one hour draw. After the match, Danielson announced that the ROH Pure Championship had been officially retired, and gave the belt back to McGuinness to keep.

[edit] Title history

Wrestler:	Times:	Date:	Location:	Notes:	Successful defenses:
A.J. Styles	1†	February 14, 2004	Braintree, MA	Defeated CM Punk in a tournament final to become the first Pure Wrestling Champion at the Second Anniversary Show.[1][2]	1
Vacated on April 23, 2004 when Styles was pulled from all ROH shows by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling following the Rob Feinstein controversy[1]
Doug Williams	1	July 17, 2004	Elizabeth, NJ	Defeated Alex Shelley in a tournament final to become the new ROH Pure Champion at Reborn: Completion. ROH only recognizes reigns from here on.[3][1]	3
John Walters	1	August 28, 2004	Braintree, MA	Won the title at Scramble Cage Melee.[3][1]	6
Jay Lethal	1	March 5, 2005	Philadelphia, PA	Won the title at Trios Tournament 2005.[3][1]	2
Samoa Joe	1	May 7, 2005	New York, NY	Won the title at Manhattan Mayhem.[3][1]	6
Nigel McGuinness	1	August 27, 2005	Buffalo, NY	Won the title at Dragon Gate Invasion.[3][1]	17
Bryan Danielson	1	August 12, 2006	Liverpool, England	Unified with Danielson's ROH World Championship at Unified.[3][1]	n/a

[edit] List of reign lengths

Wrestler	Days Held	Date Won	Date Lost
Nigel McGuinness	350	August 27, 2005	August 12, 2006
John Walters	189	August 28, 2004	March 5, 2005
Samoa Joe	112	May 7, 2005	August 27, 2005
AJ Styles	69	February 14, 2004	April 23, 2004
Jay Lethal	63	March 5, 2005	May 7, 2005
Doug Williams	42	July 17, 2004	August 28, 2004
Bryan Danielson	-	August 12, 2006 (unified with ROH World Championship)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Ring of Honor's official title history page

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