Here we are at the semi-finals of the Pure Title Tournament. We've got Johnathan Gresham vs Josh Woods and Jay Lethal vs Tracy Williams. Plus Vincent (that's Vinnie to me) versus Matt Taven as well. Sounds like a good show! Gonna try not to spoil anything!

Match #1
Woods vs Gresham - This starts out really good with Gresham trying to wrestle Josh. We really see Woods size advantage here. Gresham is 5'4" and just does not have the frame to be out grapple someone of Woods size and amateur background. The Octopus is stymied and goes to the outside early after getting stopped in his tracks and tossed. Then, we get a commercial break which seemingly cuts out 5 minutes of the match!? And apparently these 5 minutes set-up the story of the bout. Both guys are hurt from this and plays into the final 5 minutes. I'm at a loss why they cut 5 or so minutes from a 12 minute match!? (I didn't pay attention exactly so maybe it was a minute or two less). What was shown was good but, I'd have to think it was better if shown in full.

Match #2
Taven vs Vincent - Taven gets jumped coming down the steps and this is basically Vinnie's revenge for Matt coming out two weeks ago and laying the smack down. Vinnie goes off the ladder to put Matt Taven through a table. Did they cut Woods/Gresham for this? I mean I thought this was a fun segment but, its the pure title tournament. Focus on that especially on the second to last show...

There's an EC3/Shane Taylor promo in there that was nice. Will be nice to see that feud as well as tag wrestling.

Match #3
Williams vs Lethal - Well, that was the in the top 2 matches of the tournament...that was a great match! I think it could have been more if fans were there cheering. This featured a fantastic story and work-a-body part wrestling. Lethal looked well...Lethal. Hot Sauce showed so much heart and intensity. Man, and what a great finish to a excellent fight. If they cut down Woods/Gresham in order to only shave a minute or two off this for TV then, it was worth it. Perhaps this is the top match so far. Tracy Williams has the two best matches if you're keeping track. This one and last week's against Fred Yehi.

OK so, I'm going to try and do my best not to out-and-out spoil anything here. I'm going to try and not suggest anything either by avoiding talking about the outcomes or booking hypotheses. I want to focus on the performances of the final four competitors throughout the tournament.

Jay Lethal - Jay's first two matches (Castle & Finlay) were good but, nothing to write home about. They seemed pretty formulaic but, this week's match was great stuff. He carried over the wear and tear of the previous fights into this match. It really made it stand out.  

Josh Woods - They were smart to pair him with vets like Kenny King & PJ Black early on. Josh showed a lot of potential and this week's match with Gresham seemed to be his most comfortable (despite the clip job). He is a big guy and should be suplexing the heck outta smaller guys like he was here. ROH doesn't have Jeff Cobb but, Woods could be that next suplex machine. I think he could be a better one too. A few more years and he could be a destroyer. He's got a great sense of humor and is a natural babyface. If he can tap into his killer instinct during the matches, he has the wrestling/MMA background to be a American Dragon type talent.

Jonathan Gresham - He said that he's got a bad leg and I don't know if that's true but, his matches have been rather subdued in comparison to what he is capable of. His first two bouts (Yuta & Sydal) had really clever finishes but, we're not seeing him necessarily wrestling circles around folks. And in the Woods match this week, we're not seeing a smart Gresham either. The size disadvantage was rather stark so, after getting gut-wrench suplexed a few times, one would think he should try a war of attrition to break the bigger man down.

Tracy Williams - Hot Sauce has really impressed me the most all tournament. He and Yehi but, I really thought they were just tossing Tracy into the tournament for the heck of it. But, man all of his matches have been a joy to watch. The stories are there, the intensity is there...yeah the drama is there too. They have GOT to do something with Hot Sauce in 2021. He's really proved himself during this tournament. I hope they don't drop the ball.

OK so, next week is the finals and I really hope they don't cut anything from it. I'm sure they will for commercials but, we'll just have to see. I'm feeling they might have the EC3/Taylor 6 man match next week along with the finals. That could be quite a good show! I'm not really sure what ROH's plans are after the tournament is done next week. I don't know if they thought the COVID stuff would be done and they could resume touring or what. At this point, its safe to assume they're going to keep doing the empty arena shows in Baltimore. That's fine by me! They could just keep rotating the match ups between all of the competitors of the Pure Tournament for the next 2 months and I'd be OK with that. I'm OK with that for longer than that if you've read my other posts on this There's so many good match ups left on the table. They could keep doing different tournaments and round robins like Gabe was doing Year One & Two. Plus you've got the Briscoes, EC3, Taven, Vinnie, Shane Taylor and his crew. I mean, you
could just have that be the full roster! Again, bring the lucha guys in here and there like Gabe did with the Dragon Gate/NOAH guys in '06-07. Gimmie the book already!!! Hahaha

I hope you're staying safe and having fun watching wrestling. Thanks for reading!