| ROH Pure Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Details | |||||||||||||||||||
| Promotion | Ring of Honor | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date established | February 14, 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date retired | August 12, 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Other name(s) | Pure Wrestling Championship | ||||||||||||||||||
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The Ring of Honor (ROH) Pure Championship was a professional wrestling championship contested for in the American professional wrestling promotion Ring of Honor. The championship was generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which participants execute scripted finishes rather than contend in direct competition.
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Matches for the ROH Pure Championship were conducted under Pure Wrestling Rules. The three Pure Wrestling Rules are:
While not a rule itself, it is worth noting that unlike other championships, the ROH Pure Championship could change hands on a disqualification or count out.
The title was originally named the Pure Wrestling Championship and A.J. 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 resulted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling abruptly ending its talent-sharing agreement with ROH (pulling all of its contracted performers, including Styles, from all ROH shows). However, ROH considers the "Pure Wrestling Championship" and the "ROH Pure Championship" two distinct titles—not a single title that was merely renamed/re-branded. 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.
| Reign | The reign number for the specific set of wrestlers listed |
| # | Numbers in bold indicate that a reign is current and changes daily |
| Event | The event promoted by the respective promotion in which the titles were won |
| Successful defenses | Accounts how many defenses the champion had during their reign |
| # | Wrestlers | Reign | Date | Days held |
Location | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A.J. Styles | 1 | February 14, 2004 | 69 | Braintree, MA | Second Anniversary Show | Defeated CM Punk in a tournament final.[1][2] Reign no longer recognised. |
| — | Vacated | — | April 23, 2004 | — | N/A | — | Vacated when Styles was pulled from all ROH shows by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling following the Rob Feinstein controversy[1] |
| 2 | Doug Williams | 1 | July 17, 2004 | 42 | Elizabeth, NJ | Reborn: Completion | Defeated Alex Shelley in a tournament final. ROH only recognizes reigns from here on.[1][3] |
| 3 | John Walters | 1 | August 28, 2004 | 189 | Elizabeth, NJ | Scramble Cage Melee | [1][3] |
| 4 | Jay Lethal | 1 | March 5, 2005 | 63 | Philadelphia, PA | Trios Tournament 2005 | [1][3] |
| 5 | Samoa Joe | 1 | May 7, 2005 | 112 | New York, NY | Manhattan Mayhem | [1][3] |
| 6 | Nigel McGuinness | 1 | August 27, 2005 | 350 | Buffalo, NY | Dragon Gate Invasion | [1][3] |
| 7 | Bryan Danielson | 1 | August 12, 2006 | 0 | Liverpool, England | — | Unified with Danielson's ROH World Championship.[1][3] |
| Rank [1] | Wrestler | # Of Reigns | Combined Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nigel McGuinness | 1 | 350 |
| 2 | John Walters | 1 | 189 |
| 3 | Samoa Joe | 1 | 112 |
| 4 | A.J. Styles | 1 | 69 |
| 5 | Jay Lethal | 1 | 63 |
| 6 | Doug Williams | 1 | 42 |
| 7 | Bryan Danielson | 1 | 0 |
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