The ROH Pure Tournament was a

single-elimination A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

tournament produced by

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011; the promotion was subs ...

Wrestling. The tournament, originally scheduled to start on April 12, commenced on September 12, 2020 and ended on October 31, 2020. It featured 16 wrestlers competing for the newly-reactivated

ROH Pure Championship The ROH Pure Championship is a professional wrestling championship contested for in the American professional wrestling promotion Ring of Honor (ROH). The reigning champion is Lee Moriarty in his first reign. History The title was originally ...

: 9 from Ring of Honor, 2 from

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...

, and 5

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

or independent wrestlers.

Background

History

The ROH Pure Championship was announced to be reactivated on April 12, 2020, being used for the first time since 2006, with events to take place in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

and

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. However, plans had to be put on hold due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, with ROH suspending all television production immediately thereafter. In August, it was announced that ROH would return to producing TV starting in September with the ROH Pure Tournament that was originally scheduled 5 months ago. The field of announced wrestlers includes

Jay Lethal Jamar Shipman (born April 29, 1985), better known by the ring name Jay Lethal, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is best known for his tenures in Ring of Honor (ROH), Total Nonstop Action Wrest ...

, Dalton Castle,

Jonathan Gresham Jonathan Gresham (born March 20, 1988) is an American professional wrestler. He performs on the independent circuit. He has previously wrestled for All Elite Wrestling (AEW), Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former ROH World Champion, ROH Pure ...

, Tracy Williams, Kenny King,

P. J. Black Phillip Paul Lloyd (born 3 March 1981) is a South African-American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in WWE, under the ring name Justin Gabriel. He is currently wrestling under the ring name P. J. Black ...

, Josh Woods,

Delirious Delirious may refer to: * A state of delirium Film and television * ''Delirious'' (1991 film), an American comedy directed by Tom Mankiewicz, starring John Candy * ''Delirious'' (2006 film), an American comedy-drama directed by Tom DiCillo, sta ...

, and

Silas Young Caleb DeWall (born September,9,1980) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Silas Young. He was last contracted for Ring of Honor, where he is a two-time ROH World Television Champion, and has ...

from Ring of Honor, David Finlay and

Rocky Romero John Raymond Rivera (born October 28, 1982), better known by his ring name Rocky Romero (ロッキー・ロメロ, ''Rokkī Romero''), is a Cuban-American professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and All Elite Wrest ...

from New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and

Matt Sydal Matthew Joseph Korklan (born March 19, 1983), better known by the ring name Matt Sydal, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is also known for his tenure with WWE from 2008 to 2014 under the ring nam ...

Fred Yehi Fred Yehi is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in Full Impact Pro, Major League Wrestling, Evolve, Combat Zone Wrestling, Revolution Pro Wrestling and Ring Of Honor. Professional wrestling career Evolve an ...

Tony Deppen Anthony Deppen (born May 3, 1988) is an American professional wrestler currently working for Major League Wrestling (MLW), Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former ROH World Television Champion; and on the independent circuit. Professional wre ...

Wheeler Yuta Paul Soren Gruber (born October 26, 1996) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Wheeler Yuta and is a member of the Death Riders, formerly known as the Blackpool C ...

, and Rust Taylor from the independent circuit. In the event that any wrestler is unable to compete for any reason, there are 2 alternate wrestlers for each block: Dak Draper for block A and Brian Johnson for block B.

Rules

16 wrestlers compete in a single-elimination tournament, split off into two blocks of "A" (represented by the color red) and "B" (represented by the color silver). The rounds have increasing time limits, starting at a 15-minute time limit for round 1, 20 for round 2, 30 for the block finals, and a 1 hour time limit for the tournament final. Every match begins and ends with the traditional Code of Honor

handshake A handshake is a globally widespread, brief greeting or parting tradition in which two people grasp one of each other's hands, and in most cases, it is accompanied by a brief up-and-down movement of the grasped hands. Customs surrounding hands ...

. Each wrestler is allowed only 3 rope breaks for breaking up

submissions Submission is the acknowledgement of the legitimacy of the power of one's superior or superiors. Submission may also refer to: Films * Submission (1976 film), ''Submission'' (1976 film), an Italian erotic drama film * Submission (2004 film), ''Su ...

and pinfalls. After all rope breaks are exhausted, pins and submissions outside of the boundary of the ropes are considered legal. Closed fist punches to the face are illegal, with the first use garnering a warning from the referee and the second use resulting in a disqualification. Open-hand slaps and

chops CHOPS is the stage name of Scott Robert Jung, also known as Scott Chops Jung, an American hip hop producer, rapper and former member of the Asian American Hip-Hop group, the Mountain Brothers. Jung grew up in Philadelphia and has Chinese ances ...

to the face, as well as all punches to the body, excluding low blows, are permitted. Should a match go to a time limit draw, the decision will go to 3 judges positioned at ringside. Any wrestler that interferes in any match will be fired from the company. Once a new champion is crowned, the title can change hands by count-out or disqualification.

Storylines

The tournament included matches that result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray

heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

villains A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...

, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches.

Background

History

Rules

Storylines

Results

Bracket

Scorecards

Notes

References

External links