One of the big stories of 2022 was which side of the industry Daniel Garcia would choose. Along the way, he would prove his skills as an incredible professional wrestler when he defeated Wheeler Yuta for the ROH Pure Rules Championship, a belt Garica has mainly defended on AEW Dark since. Tonight, Yuta gets another chance to win the belt – and it comes at a troubled time in his career. William Regal is gone, Bryan Danielson & Jon Moxley are near coming to blows, and Claudio Castagnoli could be forced out of Blackpool Combat Club in tonight’s main event. Yuta has a lot on his mind, and needs to try and focus all that turmoil into in-ring excellence here tonight.
Using Their One Close Fist Punches In The Opening Minute
Pure Rules give just three rope breaks and only one closed fist. Count Outs and DQ’s will result in a title change. If it goes to the time limit, it will be called by some judges at ringside. Yuta & Garcia would kick things off with some forearm strikes, and Garica would already use his closed first and get warned… only for Yuta to punch Garcia in the jaw.
Sending Garica to the floor, Yuta would drive him right into the barricade. Garcia would hit a snap backdrop on the floor, before catching Yuta with a chop on the barricade. Yuta would have his head stomped into the turnbuckle supports, before doing the same thing to Garcia. Garcia would kick the leg of Yuta, causing him to fall throat first on the steel supports.
Back into the ring, Garcia would force Yuta to use his first rope break by applying a chokehold near the ropes. Yuta would be thrown across the ring, before Garcia applied a Surfboard Stretch in the ropes, and again Yuta was called out for using a rope break to get free. If Yuta uses another, he can not be saved by the ropes.
Garcia & Yuta would trade chops in the middle of the ring, with Yuta being caught in the throat. A Super Dragon style curb stomp would follow, before Yuta would have his ear yanked. Garcia would take the atomic drop and the enziguri before taking Yuta out of the sky with a chop before locking in the Dragon Sleeper – forcing Yuta to use his final rope break.
Wheeler Yuta Becomes The First Ever Two Time Pure Rules Champion
Yuta would have to fight more carefully, using a hotshot over the top rope before a flying forearm smash. Painthriller would be blocked into an armdrag, before Yuta would look for a German Suplex and ended up in the Sharpshooter in the middle of the ring instead. Yuta can’t use the ropes, he needs to break the hold using wrestling.
Garcia would lean too far back and end up in a chokehold, struggling free before nearly being rolled up. Yuta would be dropped with a dropkick, before catching Garcia with a brainbuster to get a chance to breathe. The German Suplex would be blocked again, but the third attempt would finally land.
Painthriller would follow, getting a two count before Yuta came off the top rope and met the knees of Garcia. Again, he’d look to apply the Sharpshooter – with Yuta using the ropes to not break the hold, but apply a chokehold in the ropes to drag Garcia to the floor. They’d trade strikes on the apron, before Garcia tried for a piledriver and took the backdrop instead.
Leg trapped Piledriver in the middle of the ring would get a two count, before Garcia took some Hammer & Anvil elbows. Yuta would keep hammering down until a referee stoppage was forced – giving us a new ROH Pure Rules Champion – and the first time ever that someone has won the belt twice.
Who will challenge Yuta first as champion? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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