The ROH Pure Championship is a secondary pro-wrestling title contested in Ring of Honor. After the ROH was purchased by Tony Khan in 2022, it has also been contested on the AEW programming. The current ROH Pure Champion is Wheeler Yuta, who is in third reign with the title.
Who is the current ROH Pure Champion
Wheeler Yuta is the current ROH Pure Champion in his third reign with the title. Yuta was born on October 26, 1996, and is currently signed to AEW where he is a member of The Blackpool Combat Club alongside Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley, and Claudio Castagnoli. He made his pro-wrestling debut at the age of 18 and has since then worked for AEW, ROH, NJPW, PWG, Combat Zone Wrestling, and Major League Wrestling.
On the November 25 episode of AEW Rampage, Wheeler Yuta defeated then-champion Katsuyori Shibata for the title. With this victory, he also became the first wrestler ever to win the ROH Pure Champion on three occasions.
Pure Wrestling Rules - ROH Pure Championship Rules
The ROH Pure Championship is not defended under any random stipulation. It is always conducted under “Pure Wrestling Rules”. The current Pure Wrestling Rules are as follows, and the title is always defended under these stipulations:
Each wrestler has three rope breaks to stop submission holds and pinfalls.
After a wrestler exhausts his rope breaks, submission and pin attempts on or under the ropes by his opponent are considered legal.
No closed-fist punches to the face are permitted.
Open-handed slaps or chops to the face are permitted.
Punches to the rest of the body are allowed, excluding low blows.
The first use of a closed fist to the face receives a warning.
The second use of a closed fist to the face results in disqualification.
The title can change hands via disqualification and count out.
Outside interference will result in automatic termination from the roster for the wrestler who interferes.
If a title match reaches its time limit without a winner being declared, the winner is decided by a panel of three judges.
One of the most attractive rules of the ROH Pure Championship is that it can legally change hands via DQ and Count out, something which is rarely seen in all of pro wrestling. Further, anyone who interferes in the ROH Pure Championship match gets terminated from the roster. A wrestler has only three rope breaks allowed, after which he can be defeated without giving effect to the rules of rope breaks, which further increases the anticipation in the match.
ROH Pure Championship Trivia
| First Champion | AJ Styles |
| Current Champion | Wheeler Yuta |
| Longest Reign (Single) | Nigel McGuiness - 350 Days |
| Longest Reign (Combined) | Nigel McGuiness - 350 Days |
| Shortest Reign | Bryan Danielson - A few minutes |
| Most Reigns | Wheeler Yuta - 3 Reigns |
ROH Pure Championship History
Ring of Honor is a pro-wrestling promotion founded in February 2002. It created the ROH World Championship in 2002. It introduced a second individual title for wrestlers named the ROH Top of the Class Trophy. However, it was made only for younger wrestlers. In 2004, it introduced another title called the ROH Pure Championship which served the purpose of a secondary title.
Upon introduction, it was called the ROH Pure Wrestling Championship. The inaugural champion was crowned in an Eight-man tournament that was contested in a single night. In the finals, AJ Styles faced CM Punk where The Phenomenal One got the better of The Second City Saint. At the time, Styles wrestled for TNA or Impact Wrestling and competed in the tournament due to the working partnership of the two promotions. However, he had to relinquish the gold after the partnership of the two promotions came to an abrupt halt.
In 2006, in the first-ever ROH Title vs. Title match, ROH Pure Champion Nigel McGuiness defeated ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson via countout. However, the World Championship does not change hands via count-out, so a rematch was organized which Danielson won, retiring the ROH Pure Championship. In 2020, after about fourteen years of retirement, Ring of Honor brought back the title and organized a 16-man tournament to crown the champion. Jonathan Gresham won the tournament to welcome the title back to the Ring of Honor.
All ROH Pure Champions
| Champion | Date | Event | Location | Reign | Day | Defense |
| A.J Styles | 14-Feb-04 | Second Anniversary Show | Braintree, MA | 1 | 70 | 1 |
| Vacated | 24-Apr-04 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Doug Williams | 17-Jul-04 | Reborn: Completion | Elizabeth, NJ | 1 | 42 | 3 |
| John Walters | 28-Aug-04 | Scramble Cage Melee | Elizabeth, NJ | 1 | 189 | 6 |
| Jay Lethal | 5-Mar-05 | Trios Tournament 2005 | Philadelphia, PA | 1 | 63 | 2 |
| Samoa Joe | 7-May-05 | Manhattan Mayhem I | New York, NY | 1 | 112 | 6 |
| Nigel McGuinness | 27-Aug-05 | Dragon Gate Invasion | Buffalo, NY | 1 | 350 | 17 |
| Unified | 12-Aug-06 | Unified | Liverpool, England | — | — | — |
| Bryan Danielson | 12-Aug-06 | Unified | Liverpool, England | 1 | <1 | 0 |
| Jonathan Gresham | 30-Oct-20 | Ring of Honor Wrestling | Baltimore, MD | 1 | 317 | 7 |
| Josh Woods | 12-Sep-21 | Death Before Dishonor XVIII | Philadelphia, PA | 1 | 201 | 5 |
| Wheeler Yuta | 1-Apr-22 | Supercard of Honor XV | Garland, TX | 1 | 159 | 3 |
| Daniel Garcia | 7-Sep-22 | Dynamite | Buffalo, NY | 1 | 94 | 2 |
| Wheeler Yuta | 10-Dec-22 | Final Battle | Arlington, TX | 2 | 111 | 4 |
| Katsuyori Shibata | 31-Mar-23 | Supercard of Honor | Los Angeles, CA | 1 | 239 | 5 |
| Wheeler Yuta | 25-Nov-23 | Rampage | Pittsburgh, PA | 3 | 2+ | 0 |
FAQs
A. Wheeler Yuta is the current ROH Pure Champion in his first reign with the title.
A. AJ Styles was the first-ever ROH Pure Champion.
A. Wheeler Yuta has won the ROH Pure Championship three times, the most by any wrestler.
A. ROH Pure Championship is known as such because it is always contested in Pure Wrestling Rules.
A. AEW co-owner Tony Khan is the owner of Ring of Honor. He purchased the company in March 2022.
