Ring of Honor continues to dig back deep into the early days of the promotion as the company uploaded a Pure Championship finals match between former WWE Champions CM Punk and AJ Styles.
The promotion was set to bring back the classic championship by holding a 16-man tournament starting on April 10 at Pure Excellence. Marty “The Villain” Scurll, Jay Lethal, Dalton Castle, Alex Shelley, and Doug Williams were just some of the names confirmed for the competition.
Before ROH merged the belt back in 2006, the Pure Championship was defended under a set of specific rules:
Both men had three ropes to stop submissions and pinfalls during the respective match-up. Once a wrestler exhausts his rope breaks, submission and pin attempts under the ropes are considered legal.
No closed-fist punches to the face were allowed. 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 would get a warning, and the second would cause the wrestler to be penalized a rope break. If he is already out of rope breaks, he would be disqualified.
The ROH Pure Championship could actually change hands on a disqualification or countout.
To crown the first-ever champion, the company ran a one-night eight-man tournament that featured John Walters, Chris Sabin, and Doug Williams. The finals would end up seeing CM Punk taking on AJ Styles for the ROH Pure Championship. Check out the fantastic match between the future WWE Champions below: