9 Live Observations From ROH Supercard Of Honor XV

3. Josh Woods (c) Vs. Wheeler Yuta

Samoa Joe ROH
ROH

Ahead of Tony Khan's purchase of Ring Of Honor, the future didn't look bright for the Pure Championship.

It had been made public that the intent of company heads was just to focus on the top singles title for men and women and the tag belts, but Josh Woods and Wheeler Yuta were perfectly place to pull the belt back from the brink.

Khan presumably wanted to help them here, and judging from the response from the live crowd for the gripping action, keeping it around feels wise. There may have been some in the building that might not have been aware of the specific rules, but the booking of the match focused so heavily on them (limiting rope breaks to three only, no hitting in the face) that they added unique wrinkles of drama that kept the match fresh amongst other rippers elsewhere on the show.

Yuta's win marked yet another intriguing crossover bit of business between both AEW and ROH too, and his style suits his position within each role.

 
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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett