The ROH Pure Championship is a professional wrestling championship contested for in the American professional wrestling promotion Ring of Honor (ROH). The championship is generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which participants execute scripted finishes rather than contend in direct competition. The current champion is Wheeler Yuta, who is in his record-setting second reign. Pure wrestling rules Matches for the ROH Pure Championship are conducted under "Pure Wrestling Rules." As of 2023, the rules are as follows: Each wrestler has three rope breaks to stop submission holds and pinfalls. After a wrestler exhausts his rope breaks, submission and pin attempts on or under the ropes by his opponent are considered legal. No closed-fist punches to the face permitted. Open-handed slaps or chops to the face are permitted. Punches to the rest of the body are allowed, excluding low blows. The first use of a closed fist to the face receives a warning. The second use of a closed fist to the face results in disqualification. The title can change hands via disqualification and countout. Outside interference will result in automatic termination from the roster for the wrestler that interferes. If a title match reaches its time limit without a winner being declared, the winner is decided by a panel of three judges. History The title was originally named the ROH Pure Wrestling Championship and A.J. Styles defeated CM Punk in the final of an eight-man, one night tournament to crown the first champion. The tournament took place at the Second Anniversary Show and also featured John Walters, Chris Sabin, Doug Williams, Matt Stryker, Josh Daniels and Jimmy Rave. Styles was forced to vacate the Pure Wrestling title in the wake of the Rob Feinstein controversy that resulted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) abruptly ending its talent-sharing agreement with ROH (pulling all of its contracted performers, including Styles, from all ROH shows). However, for almost ten years ROH considered the Pure Wrestling Championship and the Pure Championship two distinct titles—not a single title that was merely renamed/re-branded. There was no mention of Styles on ROH's website as having held the Pure Championship, and it was seldom, if ever, acknowledged in commentary that Styles held the previous version of the title or that it even existed until in January 2014, when ROH released a DVD about Styles, describing him as the first ROH Pure Champion. Doug Williams would win the