List of ROH Pure Champions

Listing of professional wrestling champions for the 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 championship is generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which participants execute scripted finishes rather than contend in direct competition.

Current champion Lee Moriarty

Overall, there have been 15 championship reigns between 13 different champions. The title has been vacated once. A.J. Styles was the inaugural champion, while Jonathan Gresham was the first champion upon the title's revival. Wheeler Yuta is the only champion to have more than one reign with the title, currently in his third reign. Nigel McGuinness had the longest reign at 350 days with 17 title defenses. Bryan Danielson had the shortest reign at less than a day since the title was decommissioned after being unified with the ROH World Championship.

Lee Moriarty is the current champion in his first reign. He defeated Wheeler Yuta at Death Before Dishonor on July 26, 2024, in Arlington, Texas.

Reigns

Names

Name Years
ROH Pure Wrestling Championship 2004
ROH Pure Championship 2004 – present
Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
Defenses Number of successful defenses
<1 Reign lasted less than a day
+ Current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days Defenses
1 A.J Styles February 14, 2004 Second Anniversary Show Braintree, MA 1 70 1 Defeated CM Punk in the ROH Pure Championship tournament finals to become the inaugural champion. [1][2][3][4]
— Vacated April 24, 2004 — — — — — Vacated when Styles was pulled from all ROH shows by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling following the Rob Feinstein controversy. [1][2]
2 Doug Williams July 17, 2004 Reborn: Completion Elizabeth, NJ 1 42 3 Defeated Alex Shelley in a tournament final. [5][6]
3 John Walters August 28, 2004 Scramble Cage Melee Elizabeth, NJ 1 189 6 [7]
4 Jay Lethal March 5, 2005 Trios Tournament 2005 Philadelphia, PA 1 63 2 [8][9]
5 Samoa Joe May 7, 2005 Manhattan Mayhem I New York, NY 1 112 6 [10]
6 Nigel McGuinness August 27, 2005 Dragon Gate Invasion Buffalo, NY 1 350 17 [11]
7 Bryan Danielson August 12, 2006 Unified Liverpool, England 1 <1 0 This was a title unification match with Danielson's ROH World Championship on the line. [12]
— Unified August 12, 2006 Unified Liverpool, England — — — Title was deactivated sometime after it unified with the ROH World Championship. [13]
8 Jonathan Gresham October 30, 2020 Ring of Honor Wrestling Baltimore, MD 1 317 7 Defeated Tracy Williams in the final of a tournament to crown a new champion for the revived title. [14]
9 Josh Woods September 12, 2021 Death Before Dishonor XVIII Philadelphia, PA 1 201 5 During this reign, Tony Khan purchased Ring of Honor. [15]
10 Wheeler Yuta April 1, 2022 Supercard of Honor XV Garland, TX 1 159 3 [16]
11 Daniel Garcia September 7, 2022 Dynamite Buffalo, NY 1 94 2 This was an All Elite Wrestling event. [17]
12 Wheeler Yuta December 10, 2022 Final Battle Arlington, TX 2 111 4 [18]
13 Katsuyori Shibata March 31, 2023 Supercard of Honor Los Angeles, CA 1 239 5 [19]
14 Wheeler Yuta November 25, 2023 Rampage Pittsburgh, PA 3 244 3 This was an All Elite Wrestling event. [20]
15 Lee Moriarty July 26, 2024 Death Before Dishonor Arlington, TX 1 29+ 0 [21]

Combined Reigns

As of August 24, 2024.

The inaugural champion AJ Styles.
Longest reigning champion at a record setting 350 days Nigel McGuinness.
Record-setting two-time champion Wheeler Yuta.
† Indicates the current champion
Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns 		Combined
defenses 		Combined
days
1 Wheeler Yuta 3 10 514
2 Nigel McGuinness 1 17 350
3 Jonathan Gresham 1 7 317
4 Katsuyori Shibata 1 5 239
5 Josh Woods 1 5 201
6 John Walters 1 6 189
7 Samoa Joe 1 6 112
8 Daniel Garcia 1 2 94
9 A.J. Styles 1 1 70
10 Jay Lethal 1 2 63
11 Doug Williams 1 3 42
12 Lee Moriarty † 1 0 29+
13 Bryan Danielson 1 0 <1

References

  1. ^ a b Burkett, Harry, ed. (June 2007). "ROH Pure Title". PWI 2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of facts. Blue Bell, Pennsylvania: London Publishing. p. 76. ISBN 978-25274-00389.
  2. ^ a b "ROH official event results". Ring of Honor. Archived from the original on July 18, 2012. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
  3. ^ "ROH Pure Championship history". Wrestling Titles. Retrieved April 15, 2007.
  4. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (February 14, 2004). "ROH Second Anniversary Show". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  5. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (July 17, 2004). "ROH Reborn: Completion". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  6. ^ "ROH Pure Championship official title history". Ring of Honor. Archived from the original on March 25, 2007. Retrieved April 14, 2007.
  7. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (August 28, 2004). "ROH Scramble Cage Melee". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  8. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (March 5, 2005). "ROH Trios Tournament". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  9. ^ Hoops, Brian (March 5, 2017). "Daily Pro Wrestling History (03/05): The Hardy Boyz win WWF tag team gold". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  10. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (May 7, 2005). "ROH Manhattan Mayhem". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  11. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (August 27, 2005). "ROH Dragon Gate Invasion". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  12. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (August 12, 2006). "ROH Unified". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  13. ^ r/SquaredCircle, snowshoeBBQ. "Why did ROH retire the Pure Championship?". Reddit.com. Retrieved July 16, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (August 23, 2020). "ROH Wrestling #476". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  15. ^ Powell, Jason (September 13, 2021). "9/12 ROH Death Before Dishonor results: Powell's review of Bandido vs. Brody King vs. EC3 vs. Demonic Flamita in an elimination match for the ROH World Championship, Jonathan Gresham vs. Josh Woods for the ROH Pure Title, Miranda Alize vs. Rok-C to become the first ROH Women's World Champion". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  16. ^ Powell, Jason (April 1, 2022). "4/1 ROH Supercard of Honor results: Powell's live review of Bandido vs. Jonathan Gresham for the undisputed ROH Championship, The Briscoes vs. FTR for the ROH Tag Titles, Rhett Titus vs. Minoru Suzuki for the ROH TV Title, Josh Woods vs. Wheeler Yuta for the ROH Pure Rules Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  17. ^ Barnett, Jake (September 8, 2022). "9/7 AEW Dynamite results: Barnett's live review of Tony Khan addressing the status of the AEW World Championship and AEW Trios Titles, MJF's return promo, Wheeler Yuta vs. Daniel Garcia for the ROH Pure Rules Title, Death Triangle vs. Best Friends, Interim AEW Women's Champ Toni Storm vs. Penelope Ford in an eliminator match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
  18. ^ Powell, Jason (December 10, 2022). "ROH Final Battle results: Powell's live review of FTR vs. The Briscoes in a Double Dog Collar match for the ROH Tag Team Titles, Chris Jericho vs. Claudio Castagnoli for the ROH Championship, Mercedes Martinez vs. Athena for the ROH Women's Title, Daniel Garcia vs. Wheeler Yuta for the ROH Pure Rules Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  19. ^ Powell, Jason (March 31, 2023). "ROH Supercard of Honor results: Powell's live review of Reach For The Sky ladder match for the vacant ROH Tag Titles, Claudio Castagnoli vs. Eddie Kingston for the ROH Championship, Athena vs. Yuka Sakazaki for the ROH Women's Championship, El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Komander for the AAA Mega Championship, Samoa Joe vs. Mark Briscoe for the ROH TV Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on March 31, 2023. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
  20. ^ Defelice, Robert (November 25, 2023). "Wheeler Yuta Defeats Katsuyori Shibata For ROH Pure Title On 11/25 AEW Rampage". Fightful. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  21. ^ PRITCHARD, BILL. "Lee Moriarty Wins ROH Pure Championship At Death Before Dishonor". Wrestlezone.com. Retrieved July 26, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  • ROH Pure Title History at Cagematch.net
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