{"id":106680,"date":"2020-10-20T20:03:29","date_gmt":"2020-10-21T01:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=106680"},"modified":"2020-10-20T20:03:29","modified_gmt":"2020-10-21T01:03:29","slug":"10-9-roh-tv-report-pure-tournament-continues-with-second-round-match-ups-with-gresham-vs-sydal-finlay-vs-lethal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2020\/10\/20\/10-9-roh-tv-report-pure-tournament-continues-with-second-round-match-ups-with-gresham-vs-sydal-finlay-vs-lethal\/","title":{"rendered":"10\/9 ROH TV REPORT: Pure Tournament continues with second round match-ups with Gresham vs. Sydal, Finlay vs. Lethal"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-2059413878\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><h3>ROH TV (Ep. 473)<br \/>\nOCTOBER 9, 2020<br \/>\nAIRED ON SINCLAIR SYNDICATED TV &amp; ROHWRESTLING.COM<br \/>\nREPORT BY RYAN SULLIVAN, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR<\/h3>\n<p><em>Host: Quinn McKay<\/em><\/p>\n<p>-The show started with a Ring of Honor Pure Title Tournament Video Package was shown, affirming that \u201cThis is the Pure Wrestling Tournament, and this is Ring of Honor\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>-An updated opening theme aired.<\/p>\n<p>-The show begins with Quinn McKay seated at the Ring of Honor news desk, and she mentioned the remaining wrestlers on one side of the bracket, Jay Lethal, David Finlay, Fred Yehi and Tracy Williams.\u00a0 She then rolled highlights from last week\u2019s matchup between Tracy Williams and Rust Taylor, a win for Williams. Quickly, McKay was backstage post-match with Williams, who cut a promo about competition, and seeking the best wrestlers in the world.\u00a0 Williams said Taylor too him to his limit, and knocked off any ring rust he had.\u00a0 Williams also mentioned facing Fred Yehi in the next round, and their history together in \u201cCatch Point\u201d.\u00a0 He said for Yehi to bring it, just like he knows he can.<\/p>\n<p>-Quinn was back at the news desk, and mentioned the remaining competitors in the \u201cB\u201d Block.\u00a0 McKay then threw to highlights last week\u2019s match between PJ Black and Tony Deppen, a decisive win for Black.\u00a0 Again, we went backstage with McKay, who was now joined post-match by Black, who cut a rather generic promo about having 1,000 moves and \u201cbetting on Black\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>-Quinn was, again, back at the news desk, and pivoted the conversation to this week\u2019s matches, featuring Jonathan Gresham verses Matt Sydal, and Jay Lethal against David Finlay, which was coming up next. (c)<\/p>\n<p>-Returning from commercial, highlights were shown from Lethal\u2019s 1<sup>st<\/sup> round match against Dalton Castle, along with the key moments from David Finlay\u2019s win over Rocky Romero.<\/p>\n<p>-The show shifts \u201clive\u201d to Baltimore and the UMBC Arena, with Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman on commentary, and the legendary Nick Lendl working as the ring announcer.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-257704798\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><strong>(1) JAY LETHAL vs. DAVID FINLAY \u2013 2nd ROUND MATCH, PURE TITLE TOURNAMENT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Lethal was out first, receiving his full ring entrance and introduction.\u00a0 He was, again, notably wearing his tag-team title belt to the ring.\u00a0 On his walk, a stat was shown on screen, stating Lethal was 15-2 career in singles\u2019 matches in Baltimore.\u00a0 Finlay entered next, and on his way to the ring, a graphic appeared on-screen stating he was 2-0 career verses Lethal, although both were in tag-team matches.\u00a0 The Code of Honor was adhered to by both combatants, and referee Todd Sinclair signaled for the matchup to begin.<\/p>\n<p>Finlay quickly began on offense, applying an ankle lick on Lethal.\u00a0 Lethal countered into a cross-arm breaker submission, and Finlay escaped to a clean break.\u00a0 Lethal and Finlay locked up, with Jay gaining wrist control on Finlay, and began working over Finlay\u2019s left shoulder, previously injured in his last ROH run in 2019.\u00a0 Lethal goes for a hip toss, but both men trade counters until Finlay eventually hip tosses Lethal over the top rope and to the floor.\u00a0 Lethal takes his time returning to the ring, contemplating his strategy against the upstart Finlay.<\/p>\n<p>Back in the ring, Lethal soon delivers an <em>insiguiri<\/em> to Finlay, and follows with a low dropkick, sending Finlay to the outside.\u00a0 Lethal tries to capitalize on this, and do his traditional dive onto his opponent on the outside, but Finlay wisely moves away, and takes his time returning to the ring.\u00a0 Back inside, Lethal shifts his strategy and begins to take the match to the mat, where he starts grounding the quicker Finlay, and attempting to wear him down.\u00a0 Lethal delivers a cartwheel dropkick at 5:26, and came up clutching his own knee into commercial break. (c)<\/p>\n<p>Back \u201clive\u201d, Riccaboni summarized the action the audience missed during commercial, as Nick Lendl announced the 10:00 mark of the contest.\u00a0 Soon thereafter, Lethal delivers his <em>Lethal Combination<\/em>, but continued to sell the knee injury.\u00a0 Lethal went to the top rope, but Finlay avoided Lethal and hit him with a jumping knee strike.\u00a0 Finlay went for a pin, then pivoted into a figure-four leg-lock on Lethal, with Jay selling the agony on his injured knee.\u00a0 Lethal was in this submission for nearly a minute, before using his first rope break at 12:50.<\/p>\n<p>Lethal turned the tide a moment later, hitting Finlay with a dropkick, sending him outside the ring.\u00a0 Lethal followed with his patented dive to the floor, but only did one, presumably due to his knee pain.\u00a0 Lethal throws Finlay back in the ring, and Jay goes to the top rope for his \u201cHail to the King\u201d move \u2013 Finlay outsmarted the veteran and countered with an inside cradle for a long two-count.\u00a0 Finlay tried to deliver a lariat on Lethal, but Jay ducked and hit his <em>Lethal Injection <\/em>finisher for the 1-2-3.<\/p>\n<p>WINNER: Jay Lethal at 14:57 to advance to the Semi-Finals of the Pure Title Tournament<\/p>\n<p><em>(Ryan\u2019s Thoughts:\u00a0 This was a very good match, and one of the best stories told thus far in the tournament.\u00a0 Finlay had a large percentage of the offense in this match, and Lethal did a great job making the up-and-comer look like a future star.\u00a0 In addition, the finish also \u201cput over\u201d how devastating Lethal\u2019s finishing move is, which has seen far too many people kick out of it in the past couple years.\u00a0 This was one of the best matches in America last week, and I encourage fans to seek it out.)<\/em><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2868436100\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>The updated tournament bracket was shown on-screen and Riccaboni stated Lethal will face the winner of Fred Yehi and Tracy Williams.\u00a0 Lethal and Finlay adhered to the Code of Honor.\u00a0 Lethal sold his knee injury, before speaking into the camera, saying \u201cI will be the 1<sup>st<\/sup> 2-time Pure Champion\u201d. (c)<\/p>\n<p>The show returns with Vincent in the middle of the ring, holding a microphone.\u00a0 Vincent said there had been a \u201clot of talk about change recently\u201d, but he doesn\u2019t need change, because he\u2019s righteous.\u00a0 He is standing there \u201cas leader of the Ring of Horror.\u00a0 Vincent then stated \u201cIf you wanna be successful, you gotta have friends.\u00a0 If you wanna be very successful, you gotta have enemies.\u00a0 You did what I\u2019m saying.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Abruptly, a brief video package aired, stating \u201cWhen one trend dies, another will rise\u201d.\u00a0 Matt Taven hit the ring and began to pummel Vincent, before putting him in the <em>STF <\/em>submission.\u00a0 Taven then hooked Vincent\u2019s eye, and said proudly, he would take out his eye.\u00a0 He continue to break on Vincent, before taking the opportunity to cut the canvas and expose the plywood under the ring.\u00a0 Taven delivered a stiff <em>Climax<\/em> finisher on the wood on Vincent.\u00a0 The beating continued, with Taven ramming Vincent\u2019s head into the ring post, then placing him on a table outside the ring.\u00a0 Taven then climbed to the top rope, and oddly, Vincent said to Taven, \u201cYou don\u2019t have the guts to do it\u201d, before Taven hit one of the best <em>frogsplashes<\/em> you will see outside of Montez Ford.\u00a0 Taven said \u201cThis is just the beginning, Follow The Trend\u201d.\u00a0 (c)<\/p>\n<p><em>(Ryan\u2019s Thoughts:\u00a0 This entire segment was very well done.\u00a0 Vincent cut an eerie promo, and the television audience was likely anticipating Taven interrupting Vincent\u2019s soliloquy.\u00a0 This showed a vicious side to Taven, in his attempt to get his revenge, while also leaving questions about Vincent and where the next step in this feud goes.)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>-Returning from commercial, a promo was aired by an unnamed, unseen wrestler.\u00a0 It said \u201cThey have tried to take away your freedom.\u00a0 Control your narrative.\u201d\u00a0 The anonymous wrestler wanted into a wrestling gym and pointed toward a sign, stating \u201cYou have been warned\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>-Rather abruptly, a video highlight package was shown of the opening round matches between Jonathan Gresham and Wheeler Yuta, followed by the finish of the Matt Sydal and Delirious match.<\/p>\n<p><strong>(2) JONATHAN GRESHAM vs MATT SYDAL \u2013 2nd ROUND MATCH, PURE TITLE TOURNAMENT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We are back in Baltimore at the UMBC Arena, with Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman on commentary, and the stallion-like Nick Lendl as our ring announcer.\u00a0 Gresham was out first, receiving his full ring entrance and introduction.\u00a0 Gresham was wearing his tag-team championship belt to the ring, different from the opening round contest.\u00a0 A stat is shown on-screen as Gresham walked to the ring, saying Gresham was 5-1 in his last six singles matches in ROH.<\/p>\n<p>Sydal was out next, also receiving his full ring entrance and introduction.\u00a0 A stat was shown stating Sydal has the fastest win of any competitor in Round 1, at 9:57.\u00a0 A Tale of the Tape graphic was shown, the Code of Honor adhered to, and we go to commercial break. (c)<\/p>\n<p>Back \u201clive\u201d, the referee sounded the bell for the match to begin.\u00a0 Riccaboni mentioned this was a first-time singles match between Sydal and Gresham.\u00a0 Ian also astutely noted Gresham was wearing a mouthguard, something he normally does not do for his matches.\u00a0 The action began with Gresham establishing a wrist lock, into a head lock, and using this to take Sydal to the mat, as he attempted to ground his high-flying opponent.\u00a0 Gresham began to work on Sydal\u2019s left ankle.\u00a0 Sydal escapes with kicked to Gresham\u2019s head, then applied a step-over toe hold on Gresham.\u00a0 Gresham swiftly escaped and went back to the wrist lock, to regain control of the offense, then shifted into a bow-and-arrow stretch into a pinning predicament, but only earned a quick two.\u00a0 Later, Gresham ducked a standing moonsault from Sydal, then delivered a running elbow into commercial. (c)<\/p>\n<p>Back \u201clive\u201d, Sydal was firing up and hitting kicks and chops on Gresham, before hitting a jumping spinning kick, into a shoulder driver for a two-count.\u00a0 Sydal then went for the <em>Cobra Clutch<\/em>, but Gresham avoided it.\u00a0 Sydal hit a corkscrew leg whip on Gresham, and Jonathan began selling an injury to his left knee.\u00a0 Sydal was now on offense, and again went for the <em>Cobra Clutch<\/em>, but again, Gresham avoided the hold.\u00a0 Sydal and Gresham traded roll up pin attempts, before Sydal got to his feet and struck Gresham with a hard kick to the head.\u00a0 Somehow, however, Gresham kicked Sydal on the ground, then applied a surfboard submission on Sydal.\u00a0 Creatively, Gresham released Sydal from the surfboard, and dropped him into a devastating variation of an ankle-lock submission, and Sydal immediately tapped out in pain.<\/p>\n<p>WINNER:\u00a0 Jonathan Greshem at 13:27 to advance to the Semi-Finals of the Pure Title Tournament<\/p>\n<p><em>(Ryan\u2019s Thoughts:\u00a0 This match was solid, but nothing particularly special.\u00a0 Sydal got some offense in, but it was effectively a 13 minute squash match, in order to spotlight Gresham\u2019s incredible array of mat wrestling holds.\u00a0 I liked the finish, but thought there was too much filler mid-match to give this more than an average, to slightly above, grade.)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Ian Riccaboni discussed the updated Pure Title Tournament bracket, and specified that Gresham would face the winner of Josh Woods and PJ Black\u2019s match next week.\u00a0 The Code of Honor was adhered to by both men, with Gresham selling his knee injury post-match.<\/p>\n<p>-The show pivoted to another video package, again stating to <em>Control Your Narrative<\/em>.\u00a0 A wrestler was shown pummeling another man, and the wrestler was revealed as EC3, before the show quickly faded to black.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FINAL THOUGHTS:<\/strong>\u00a0 This was another strong hour of professional wrestling.\u00a0 Both matches were average or better, each told a compelling story, almost entirely inside the ring.\u00a0 That said this show will be remembered for the EC3 reveal at the end of the show, and Matt Taven\u2019s return for vengeance on Vincent.\u00a0 Taven and Vincent is the best feud in the company (and perhaps North America) right now, and EC3 is an interesting addition to the roster.\u00a0 Time will tell how well he does in ROH, but he is one of the biggest free agent\u2019s presently available, and is a strong presence in the heavyweight title picture.<\/p>\n<p>Ring of Honor is clicking right now, and I hope lapsed fans give the product another chance, even in this crowded pro wrestling landscape.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>CATCH UP&#8230;<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2020\/10\/13\/10-2-roh-tv-report-pure-tournament-match-with-rust-taylor-vs-hot-sauce-tracy-williams-tony-depin-vs-p-j-black\/\">10\/2 ROH TV REPORT: Pure Tournament match with Rust Taylor vs. \u201cHot Sauce\u201d Tracy Williams, Tony Depin vs. P.J. Black<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-450890705\"><div id=\"pwtor-3116609515\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>ROH TV (Ep. 473) OCTOBER 9, 2020 AIRED ON SINCLAIR SYNDICATED TV &amp; ROHWRESTLING.COM REPORT BY RYAN SULLIVAN, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR Host: Quinn McKay -The show started with a Ring of Honor Pure Title Tournament Video <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2020\/10\/20\/10-9-roh-tv-report-pure-tournament-continues-with-second-round-match-ups-with-gresham-vs-sydal-finlay-vs-lethal\/\" title=\"10\/9 ROH TV REPORT: Pure Tournament continues with second round match-ups with Gresham vs. Sydal, Finlay vs. Lethal\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":91717,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tvshowsandevents","category-tv_rohreports"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2020\/01\/ROH_Logo_2020_3x2_600.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106680"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106684,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106680\/revisions\/106684"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}