9 Ups & 3 Downs From IMPACT Wrestling Hard To Kill 2022

4. Pure Wrestling Is Magic

Your reaction to Jonathan Gresham and Chris Sabin's ROH World Championship outing will largely depend on your fondness for technical wrestling. It served wonderfully as an engaging representation for the Ring Of Honor product for potential first-time viewers.

Contested under traditional pure wrestling rules, Gresham and Sabin worked fast from the opening bell, exchanging technical holds and refraining from going too far outside the expected Gresham technical masterpiece. When the harder spots did come, such as Sabin's Over Easy DDT and near-match-ending Cradle Shock, they were more crucial to the story. So crucial was the Cradle Shock, it resulted in Gresham utilising one of his three rope breaks to evade dropping Ring Of Honor's top prize.

A series of quick, snappy rollups concluded the bout, Gresham and Sabin each attempting to one-up the other. It ended in favour of The Octopus, who showed a sign of respect to Sabin post-match as per the Code Of Honor; it was the only fitting end to such a piece of pro wrestling artistry.

Props, too, to Ian Ricabboni, who joined D'Lo Brown and Tom Hannifan on commentary for the bout, and to Bobby Cruise, who took over from David Penzer on ring announcing duties. Ricabboni's dedication to the craft was on full display; he did a phenomenal job of introducing Gresham and ROH to new viewers.