ROH Pure Title returns with a tournament that includes a daredevil who is a WWE Nexus alum
The return of the Ring of Honor Pure Title Tournament begins airing on “Ring of Honor Wrestling” on the weekend of Sept. 12, and it will span eight weeks.
The ROH Pure Title was created in 2004 with AJ Styles as its inaugural champion. Samoa Joe, Jay Lethal, Nigel McGuinness also wore the title. In August 2006, ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson beat McGuinness to unify the titles, which retired the Pure Championship.
ROH decided it’s time to resurrect the Pure title, and “The Darewolf” PJ Black, aka WWE alum Justin Gabriel of Nexus fame, is honored to be part of the stellar 16-man field.
In my audio interview with Black, he discusses Ring of Honor, the Pure Title, its tournament, BASE jumping, Japan, South Africa, rugby, WWE, Nexus, Adam Rose, Lucha Underground and more.
ROH Pure Title Tournament
With the list of 16 wrestlers officially announced on “ROH Week By Week,” there will be a bracketology special premiering on YouTubeROH on Friday, Sept. 11 at noon ET.
Here is the tournament field:
ROH competitors: PJ Black, Dalton Castle, Delirious, Jonathan Gresham, Kenny King, Jay Lethal, Tracy Williams, Josh Woods, Silas Young.
NJPW and/or free agent competitors: David Finlay, Rocky Romero, Matt Sydal.
Independent competitors: Tony Deppen, Rust Taylor, Fred Yehi, Wheeler Yuta.
Longtime friends and rivals Sydal and Delirious will face off in the first round.
The ROH 2019 Top Prospect Tournament winner Dak Draper and Brian Johnson are alternates.
Also, former Women of Honor World Champion Sumie Sakai and ROH Dojo coach Will Ferrara will serve as judges along with ROH Director of Operations Gary Juster. If a match goes the time limit, the three judges will determine a winner.
For more info and rules, check out:
ROHPureTitleTournamentInfoFormatRules
Website: https://www.rohwrestling.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ringofhonor
About PJ Black
Originally from Cape Town, South Africa, Black is friends with fellow South African and WWE alum Adam Rose. They were tag team partners, and Black was even a Rosebud.
Black, 39, reflected positively on his time with WWE, especially as part of Nexus. He remains friends with his Nexus cohorts and made more friends while in WWE.
Black grew up with pro wrestling as his father wrestled in South Africa. Drawn to rugby as a youth, Black opted for a career in pro wrestling, debuting in 1997. Surrounded by combat sports, his grandfather boxed professional and wrestled amateur.
Black honed his skills in the United Kingdom. He is not only an aerial artist but also a technical wrestler.
Speaking of Air Justin, though, Black is a daredevil, a BASE jumping, mountain climbing, motorcycle riding yogi.
Black signed with WWE in 2008, wrestling WWE developmental for Florida Championship Wrestling, based in Tampa. In 2010, he moved to the main roster, participating in the first season of the NXT competition as Justin Gabriel, before being aligned with other NXT members in the famous group Nexus.
Black spent seven years with WWE. Then he wrestled for TNA Wrestling and Lucha Underground.
Black is now a member of the Ring of Honor and NWA rosters and is also wrestling in Japan. He wants to train others, especially those young people in his homeland South Africa aspiring to become professional wrestlers.
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