The ROH Pure Championship Tournament has started, with Jay Lethal advancing after beating Dalton Castle. Now Lethals tag team partner is here to follow that success, and Jonathan Gresham is the best technical wrestler in the company. Wheeler Yuta has studied his opponent on the lead up to his ROH debut, and feels he’s decoded the Octopus enough to get the upset win, he’s done it outside of ROH, but can he do it here?
Gresham & Yuta Are Equal Matches On The Mat
As expected this one started with a knuckle lock, Yuta using his height to force Gresham down to the mat for a few pinfall attempts. Gresham would bridge out, hit a monkey flip and end up on top, all while the knuckle lock would be maintained, but get caught in a body scissors.
We would see Gresham attack the ankle to ensure the hold wasn’t fully applied, but Yuta got a rear chin lock applied instead. Gresham would use his weight to get a two count, only to be rolled onto his shoulders for a two counter and back to the body scissors. The plan would be to keep going for pinfalls until Yuta gives it up or he can counter.
He’d manage to counter into an ankle lock, before seamlessly going into a bow & arrow hold. Yuta would slip off into a pinfall attempt, finally breaking them up. This was nearly three minutes of mat wrestling, setting the tone for this match.
Attacking The Leg
Back to their feet, they’d lock up again, with Yuta catching the leg and putting Gresham into a single leg crab before moving into a keylock. Gresham would roll through into an ankle lock, as we go to a commercial break.
Coming back from the break, Yuta was back on his feet and looking to throw Gresham across the ring. Gresham instead came back with an armdrag, this matches pace picking up. Yuta wouldn’t be faked out by Gresham however, having his low superkick scouted, and would counter with a dropkick.
Gresham would dodge a crossbody, shove Yuta down and trap the knee into an indian deathlock, getting it fully locked in, right in the middle of the ring. Yuta tried to fight out, but had to use one of his first rope breaks, but Gresham couldn’t break the hold, explaining this to the referee who had to untie the knot of legs, the damage being done.
Yuta would be fired up after this, threw a closed fit punch to Greshams face, getting a warning for this, but was mad after his rope break led to more suffering than expected. The referee would split them up after this, sending them to their corners before letting them slug it out with open hand strikes.
Jonathan Gresham Has An Answer For Everything
Yuta hits a forearm, and dodges an enziguri from Gresham to go for the crucifix pin. Gresham tries for a backdrop, Yuta counters into a crossbody, but then gets a dropkick to the knee moments later! Yuta came off the middle rope with a crossbody for a two count, then went to the top for another one, getting a very close count.
Gresham would counter a powerbomb attempt with an arm drag, but nearly take a PK. He had an answer for this, catching the leg into a quick dragon screw before applying the figure four leg lock, rolling out of the ring to break the hold. Both men struggled to their feet, hurting their knees during the fall, both getting in at a 16 count.
Back in the ring, they’d look for rollups and rapidly counter, with Yuta almost winning. Gresham would go for a hurricanrana, Yuta rolls through, the ankle is caught, and the knee is slammed into the mat until Yuta taps out.
Jonathan Gresham moves on to the next round, but Yuta shows he belongs in ROH with an incredible showing. This keeps the clash of tag team champions alive for the finals, and Gresham will face either Matt Sydal or Delirious next.
Should ROH sign Wheeler Yuta? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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