Joe Keys vs. Jonathan Gresham

[7.0] "Very story-driven matchup where Gresham's worst tendencies aren't so much of a hindrance. Repeated headscissors and headlock takedowns early on do well to emphasize the student-teacher dynamic at play, forcing the challenger to use his first rope break. Keys had quite the showing here though, impressing first with a passionate promo prior to the match and also getting a ton of shine while in control. He targeted the back with solid backbreakers and a great Vertical Suplex, but also managed to force all of Gresham's rope breaks. Kudos to Caprice on commentary for pointing out that Gresham didn't waste a single one for the entire Pure title tournament last year, proving just how much of an objective disadvantage he had here towards the finish. However, Keys' lack of experience gets the better of him, missing a second Diving Headbutt that's quickly followed by him succumbing to a deep Hammerlock. Another good showing for the Pure champion and Keys selling the arm afterwards is a nice touch. ***3/4"

[9.0] "Honestly, what an incredible technical match, the finish to the match was absolutely beautiful with the last five minutes being some of the most engaging I've watched in a long time, Gresham is one of the best mat wrestlers on the planet right now and is putting in his claim to be remembered as an all-time great in the technical aspect if nothing else. He said it was what he was gonna do and he's following through with reviving the standard of RoH wrestling. Now onto Joe Keys, that video package promo before the match, I just don't know where to begin, I'm instantly a fan of his for life, especially when he backed up such an impassioned promo with an engaging and brilliant PURE match. I'm definitely biased in that this type of match is what I consider to be my favourite wrestling style and the match didn't disappoint. RoH and the PURE division is single-handedly bringing my love for wrestling back."

[6.0] "Good match, but not very spectacular. It was exactly how Pure Rules match supposed to look like. Solid wrestling, grappling and submission work."

[7.0] "Jonathan Gresham has been the best wrestler in Ring of Honor since the return, hasn't had a match less than good since then, Joe Keys was pretty good, I'm excited for the guys from the ROH dojo."

[7.0] "Very good pure rules match here, with a solid performance by Jonathan Gresham first. We will see if this will have consequences next."