[9.0] "MOTN without a shadow of a doubt. This one ruled and due credits to Gresham for putting over Mike using only a few moves from his arsenal and made them look impressive and in the process Mike ended up looking good and competitive as well. Mike only used the lariats , arm lock, drop kick and the pile-driver but Gresham did a hell of a job in elevating his minimal talent and presenting it as something interesting. Definitely one of the best performances of Mike's career. Gresham is a master technician and his marvelous story telling ability helped establish a very exciting story accompanied with convincing psychology factor too. The story presented here was Gresham working on and targeting the right arm of Mike who sold it in a appreciable manner to keep psychology intact and provide a realism feel. Mike struggled with his power moves due to the damage and pain inflicted on the arm. Gresham did not consider Mike a worthy opponent as shown by his over-confidence in the initial moments which would not yield preferable results for the champ as he would lose one rope break. Gresham would soon regain control after the concentrated and superb arm work and during this time would act cocky and arrogant which would backfire as well. This occurred when Gresham was controlling the match for a good amount of time and then decides to do high flying moves such as the mid rope moon sault as a sign of disrespect to his opponent that he could still have the upper hand over him despite stepping out of his playground or comfort zone however Mike is able to connect with a super kick which sends him down. This act of disrespect and arrogance earlier in the match angers Mike who is livid and thus unleashes all his offense in a flurry on Gresham which ends with a bunch of hard-hitting lariats and the pile-driver and Bennett successfully pins him shoulders down to the mat but in a surprising turn of event, it turns out that Gresham is still in the fight as his foot was under the rope and so he avails his last rope break advantage and now both men have o rope breaks to use to benefit themselves. Gresham locks Bennett in a painful submission lock as Bennett screams in excruciating pain and since he has no rope break to tend to and he taps out but not without giving Gresham one hell of a competitive match earning Gresham's respect too. The story telling was very complete and detailed. The pacing was wonderful and Gresham's technical work was very neat with brilliance in execution. The match had the momentous energy and the fiery intensity too. There was tons of drama in it especially with the controversial Gresham pin which was not actually a legit pin. The match overall was fantastic and I enjoyed it a lot. ****1/2"
[8.0] "Another brilliant Gresham performance under what's become one of my favorite rulesets in wrestling. His destruction of Bennett's arm is masterful and the way he plays the brash champion who's met his match works incredibly well. They do a good job of giving Bennett hope spots, namely the 3-count fakeout on a Piledriver. Eventually, the damage to Bennett's arm is too much and he's forced to tap. ***3/4"
[9.0] "4. 25 Stars - This was a damn good match and the best ive seen bennett. with his all time bad run in WWE, he really looked hungry and wanted a lot out of this. him and gresham were clear with there influences of mcguiness and Danielson and honestly i prefer this then irony indy stuff thats been going on the last couple of years. Gresham looked viscous and since being pure champion theyve really played to his strength and made him look like a killer. The story was simple and effective with Gresham not respecting Bennett and Bennett did look outclassed with Gresham, which he should for the story but he had the babyface fire and focused on bombs at the end to try get past him, whilst gresham focused really well with the limbs. The best pure match ive seen in a while"
[7.0] "There were a few exciting spots. The rest was just Pure Rules at it's finest. I didn't like the finish, because Bennett was still in shock after his victory decission was turned down. I want a rematch."
[6.0] "Fine technical wrestling. The ending of the match was great. A couple of pros putting on a nice wrestling match, but it was not a classic. It was good."
[8.0] "Mike Bennett was historically below average in the Ring Of Honor World and he had such an all time bad run in WWE but he was so game in this match . You could tell that he wanted this and wanted to prove something and with Gresham - one of the best wrestlers in the world - alongside him, it clicked for him. This, being a Pure Rules match, was mostly built around submissions. Gresham had zero respect for Bennett? s wrestling, even only using his legs to apply an arm bar which is so disrespectful and while Bennett is far below him, Bennett surprised Gresham enough to gain some respect. Gresham was forced to use all of his rope breaks, the same as Bennett. One of which had me convinced that the match had ended. Bennett actually pinned Gresham but Gresham had his foot under the rope, triggering the last rope break. Outstanding false finish. Eventually Gresham? s work on arm the work paid off and he retained the title but it was a hell of an effort by Bennett. Great submission wrestling involving a non submission wrestler. Great match. MOTYC. ****"
[6.0] "Match was okay, felt kind of dull. I'm the last woman in the world to complain about size, but a lot of this match came off as more than a little unbelievable given the difference between the two. It was also like 8 minutes too long, in that kind of unnecessary way. Not bad, but not that good either. ***"
[8.0] "Jon Gresham again pulling an awesome match out of someone I don't care for, I was very scared they'd give the title to Bennett, I think Bennett's decent at best, but he worked great here, Gresham as good as always, Gresham working the arm the whole match only to take out the leg was interesting, the false finish really scared me, great match, possibly the best of the night."
[9.0] "I reckon that I had some doubts concerning Mike Bennett in a Pure Rules match. He killed it. He proved that he stills a reliable worker even if his misery run in WWE. Type of match which reintroduce who Bennett is. So much drama and storytelling : each man has his pride and during the match, each pride fell. Gresham was excellent, as always. Not nicknamed The Octopus for nothing. So much great selling from both men. Bennett's acting was also very effetive. he was willing to do anything to beat Gresham. A masterpiece. Surely Gresham's best defense of the Pure title."
[7.0] "Strong match! Probably the best one I've seen with Kanellis. And definitely the best at the time of the show. This is a good strong match between two mid-carders. ***1/2"
[9.0] "Amazing technical match between Gresham and Bennett here, by far the best match of Bennett's career and another proof that Gresham is the best technical wrestler of his generation, yes I say it loud and clear he's untouchable in this category. Each of his defenses with this Pure Championship are must-see but this one was of a higher level, it's the best match of his reign and I'm very happy that he continues it because he's so fantastic in what he does. With him it's all in the details, it's a pure joy to watch and analyze his performances because he always brings something fresh to the table. Sometimes these kind of matches won't captivate a crowd but when it's Gresham it's different, simply because everyone knows how damn good he is. Mention to Bennett as well because although Gresham was the star of the match, a good match doesn't just happen. His few comebacks and arm selling was top notch. I loved the sequence where Bennett set up his Piledriver and all his best moves but Gresham didn't kick out of it, simply because he was lucky enough to still have a rope break, it was so brilliant to protect Bennett's finisher. Technical masterclass from these two."
[7.0] "Pretty well done match. There was some little moment wish looked akward, but over all they did a good pure rules match. You could see from miles away Benett will it the pilerdriver and Gresham leg will be under the bottom rope wish makes the spot really lose in interest. The last minutes work better, as Benett almost suprise Gresham after countering a sort of school boy."
[9.0] "Freshman is my favorite wrestler in roh right now and his run with as the pure champion has been excellent. Good stuff from both here and match of the night."
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