AJ Styles vs. CM Punk

[8.0] "Historical significance for this one, the finals of the first ROH pure title. Also significant is that this is one of the very few times these two met in the ring; this is probably their most well known clash. Both guys make great use of the outside despite the possibility of a count out. The gimmick of the limited rope breaks is brought into play in the story of the match quite well. AJ bumps around like a madman, and punk is no slouch as well. As good as any match you'll see in ROH; I don't understand some of the criticism of this match. It isn't overly long like a lot of ROH matches can be and it is paced pretty well, especially considering both guys wrestled earlier in the night. Well worth your time."

[8.0] "Aj attacking Tracy for no reason, as she wasn't interfering in this match, was so funny. The ending was so good, like the Pele kick to Punk after he attempted the Pepsi plunge, then going for the middle rope Styles Clash, NOT to mention when Punk had Aj in the Boston crab, but because of pure rules, it wasn't a traditional Boston crab, making it so Aj could climb the ropes to get an advantage and kick his way out of the submission. Oh my god, this was so good"

[10.0] "I didn't have high expectations for this match because I'd heard rumors, and I wasn't sure if Punk and AJ Styles had a good relationship. I thought they might not gel well due to that and fail to deliver a good match...! But man, this match was seriously good. Tajiri, in my opinion, slightly outperformed Punk, but certain moments from this match keep replaying in my head--like the elbows they were throwing and Styles' clash from the top... It was genuinely a great match."

[7.0] "It was a good match, but I thought it would be better. In a way, all the build up with AJ's leg being damaged led to nowhere in this match, as it wasn't a factor that affect the outcome, nor AJ sold it. Also, at some points it seemed they were more focused on showing the Pure Rules, than wrestling the match itself. But even if those things annoyed me a bit, I think it was a good ending for the tournament and that gives Punk lots of material to work for the future. The match starts fast with Punk diving into AJ's leg to hurt it more, but AJ dodged him and they lock up. AJ grabs Punk's arm and he uses the rope to do a somersault flip, which the referee considers the first rope break. After that, AJ goes for the Styles Clash, but Punk scapes and attacks the leg forcing AJ to lose his first rope break. After that, they tie up again falling to the floor to show the 20 count. They get back to the ring, to just go back to the floor where AJ hurts his legs with a dropkick. Then he does his guardrail jump spot, just to Punk diving over the rails, a cool counter. They got back to the ring, where Punk locks on a Boston Crab after countering the nip up hurricanrana and makes AJ use his second rope break. And then, AJ locks Punk on a tarantula on the ropes and somehow that is Punk's second rope break. Later, they exchange some more moves and AJ uses his last rope break to escape a half crab. Punk uses his third rope break in another weird action. And then, they both exchanged nearfalls with some big moves as a super gourbuster or a discus lariat by AJ, a Shinning Wizard by Punk, and obviously the Styles Clash and the Devil Lock DDT. Then Punk goes for the Pepsi Plunge, for AJ resists, hits a pele kick into a second rope Styles Clash to win the match. Punk's foot gets on the ropes, but as he was out of rope breaks AJ wins. After the match, Punk is pissed off and then Samoa Joe comes to the ring and congratulates AJ, but tells him that the belt means nothing, as it only exists cause he couldn't beat him for the World Title. That plants some interesting seeds for the future. Samoa Joe being the dominant champion that don't accept even the existence of another belt, AJ as this underdog champion, and Punk being pissed off because the referee's constant decisions of rope breaks, all being weird and that ending with his foot on the ropes."

[7.0] "There was quite a lot to digest here. The match is fairly rich with ideas, but I think they probably needed to just pick one or two of them and stick with it. AJ's knee injury that had been building all tournament was not nearly enough of a factor, and was not very well sold by AJ, and I think the sense of tension suffered for it. I also thought that the layout was very questionable and ill suited to be the first ever Pure Title match. They spent a lot of time fighting on the outside (initially to establish the countout rule, but then seemingly just for the sake of it), and what the referee decided constituted a rope break did not make a lot of sense. I can forgive the second as even within kayfabe it makes sense that the ref might make some bad calls for a new set of rules, but it still felt strange and awkward. I did really like how they incorporated the ropes once they ran out of rope breaks, and the finish was awesome (don't think I've ever seen AJ hit the Styles Clash quite like that before). I enjoyed the match overall and thought it was worth watching, but this really needed a bit more thought put into it just on a conceptual level, and while I appreciate the amount of ideas here, I think the match would have been much stronger if they took a more focused approach."

[7.0] "Solid match here between 2 guys who would eventually become legends in this business. Awesome to see them clash here years before they would hit their peaks. As a match its a solid match that got better As it hit its closing stretch. Ill cut them some slack too as they had both already wrestled multiple times earlier in the show 3.75/5 nice little hidden gem"

[7.0] "A cool historical nugget here as two of the greatest of all time went toe to toe to crown the first-ever Ring of Honor Pure Champion. It was admittedly a little awkward at times, as the production quality was rough and the establishing of the rules felt a little dragged out. That said, they pulled out some incredible spots and offered a coherent story. Punk diving into the crowd to counter a signature Styles spot was great. Both Shining Wizards, attempted and countered, were fantastic. Additionally, the closing sequence was Grade A. If the match went longer, I have a feeling that the rating would? ve been significantly higher. 3.5 stars, 7 out of 10."

[6.0] "For the first Pure title match, it wasn't a bad one but they spent a lot of time laying out the rules of the match and they hadn't perfected them to make a great match. Once all the ropebreaks and dodgy rules were through, things escalated with the great Styles Clash nearfall and the Clash off the top for the win - ***1/4"

[6.0] "This match didn't live up to its potential. The rules sounded promising at first, but they never really let it play much of a role in the match. It was kind of a chaotic match in which they did things for no rhyme or reason."

[6.0] "This just never clicked. So scattered with ideas that it can't justify key events early on. The Pure Rules stipulation arguably detracts from the work being done, as neither wrestler or the the referee stick close enough to the rules for them to play a factor in the match. Punk loses his first rope break in questionable fashion before leveling the playing field just moments later, but the second is laughable to even consider a rope break; even commentary weren't defending it. There's some fun fighting on the outside, but it also doesn't make sense why the ref count was delayed for so long. Blind spots like these also hindered the finish both in the moment and in hindsight. A foot on the rope that no longer breaks a pin could be a very interesting way to further this rivalry, at least on a conceptual level. But why should one care so much if the match couldn't follow its own rules? There's a good match here once both men use up all their rope breaks, but I expected better overall. ***"

[7.0] "This is a good match, but not as good as their match at The Tradition Continues, aaand they both also had better matches on this same night; Punk against Doug Williams + AJ against Rave & Stryker. It's still very good though - a nice tournament finals bout, which also sets up the rematch between them nicely with the controversy~!"

[6.0] "Decent but ultimately not compelling enough. The rules were good but they didn't really play into them which is a shame. Not a ton of drama. Although the moves were well done. ***"

[7.0] "A good match. Awkwardly paced at some points, but this match definitely had its strong points. Some little limbwork by both men. And I loved the finish. ***1/4"

[6.0] "The pace was too slow for such a short match, the refereeing decisions were very strange and straight up wrong which the announcers picked up on, it was hard to tell who the heel and who the face was as it wasn't made too clear and the crowd weren't that great either. The match quality wasn't amazing and I expected more, maybe it's cause they'd wrestled so much already previous in the night. However it did pick up by the end and actually still was a decent match though I feel could have been so much more. My rating ***1/4."