Folks, it's the man who once watched Jason X on purpose, me, James E. Couture.  If you've noticed a trend with these profiles, it's that I tend to review/revise the less heralded major championship reigns, your Ken Shamrocks, your Billy Gunns, heck, a Rey Mysterium or two.  Well, tonight, uh, today, well, whenever the hell you read this, as part of my ongoing effort to go all Michael Cole and make sure every profile is MAKING HISTORY, I dare venture into the world of major indy wrestling.  That's right, it's the first ever Profile of Honor, it's AJ Styles as Pure Wrestling Champ!!

Valentine's Day, 2004.  The 2nd Anniversary Show of Ring of Honor. Samoa Joe (the samoan one) was THE champion in Ring of Honor. But, perhaps he was too "THE".  Come hell or high water, or, heck, even a competent challenger, good ol' SJ would still come out on top.  Therefore, in an effort to give some of the other guys, like ROH Legend Biohazard, something to do, the Pure Wrestling Title was created.  Um...scratch that last sentence and replace it with "to accomodate the OVERWHELMING popularity of Pure Wrestling matches, Ring of Honor created the Pure Wrestling Title".  Yeah, that sounds classier.


"It's true, Josh Daniels puts asses in seats. I can't tell you how many times I'm walking down the street and people ask me 'what's up in the world of Josh Daniels?'"
-Josh Daniels, "I'm Josh Daniels: The Josh Daniels Story", Pendell Publishing, 2005


But, the catch was that "Pure Wrestling" matches didn't really equate with "pure wrestling matches".  Indeed, since all forms of competition were welcome in ROH, the "Pure Wrestling" matches included all the normal high flying bullshit (be a pal and catch me, would ya?), as well as the wacky "rope break" stipulation, in which breaks for holds on the rope were limited to three, and punches to the face were penalized by one rope break. Once said rope breaks were used up, your opponent could punch you in the face at will, because, honestly, isn't that what pure wrestling is all about?  Anyway, these convuluted stipulations were what made up "Pure Wrestling."  

So, at the ROH Anniversary 2: Steve Corino Strikes Back, a tournament was to be held.  And since it was for the Pure Wrestling Title, only the finals would be under Pure Wrestling rules (makes sense).  Also, since it was a one night tournament, with no "home field advantage" to speak of and no byes, the combatants were seeded numerically (makes it seem sporty!).  The field of 8 was set: 1. AJ Styles, then Doug Williams, John Walters, The Future Chris Sabin (well, this would be the past Chris Sabin), Matt Stryker (the good one), CM Punk, hometown boy John Walters, THE Josh Daniels, and 8. Jimmy Rave.

Would Jimmy Rave go Cinderella on us and go from last seed to El Dorado?  Hell no.  After a heated exchange in which Styles injured his knee, Styles took out the toothpick in pleather pants.  Then they hugged, probably trying to earn bonus "Code of Honor" points.


"Awesomely f---ing unbelievable.  WWE SUXXXX!!!!!"
     -user "pimpjuice11", message board, ROH Discussion, stinkfaceweekly.net


In the 2nd round, Ray Jay Styles took on Matt Stryker.  Stryker had gotten his 1st round opponent, THE Josh Daniels, to tap to the Stryker Lock (especially lame deathlock) after being in it for about 0.4 seconds, upsetting the man they call Josh.  Luckily, though, all AJ needed was a few minutes and his knee got "better" so that he could stay in the Stryker Lock for about 4 years, before showing his real Pure Wrestling ability and making it to the ropes. AJ showed his mettle for the metal and defeated the Field of Honor winner, an illustrious distinction if I ever heard one.


"Unbelievably f---ing awesome! I hope Randy Orton gets AIDS a little!!!!"
-user "Hardcore_2Dogg", message board, ROH Discussion, 12grapple.edu


It was all set for the finals.  In one corner, the current future of the industry, AJ Styles. In the other corner, the future future of the industry, CM Punk.  Somewhere, Frankie Kazarian and Chris Sabin cried together while listening to Billy Ray Cyrus' "It Could Have Been Me", though Cyrus tends to make a lot of people break down emotionally.

In a promotion where every match tries to be good, much akin to the USWA, this match was one of them.  Despite, the Fancy Feast, uh, pedigree of the combatants, this match proved why one night tournaments, in a word, suck.  At that stage, each man was a little tired and had "played their hand" in the other two matches.  I mean, AJ Styles looked especially worse for wear, as he had hurt his knee and yet somehow, SOMEHOW, managed to make it to the finals.  I'd never seen anything like it!!!


"Oh, you forgot about the '94 Rumble, eh?  Owen kicked me IN THE LEG but I still went out there, acted like it didn't hurt for a while, and picked up half the victory"
     -Bret Hart, "Canadian to English Dictionary: Aboot to Zamboni", 2004


Still, the two did put on a decent match, earning my "mad props", and AJ Styles proved why he represented pure wrestling, Greco-roman Styles Clash and all, picking up the win.


"AJ Styles did do an unbelievably awesomely f--- job, though we should acknowledge CM Punk did turn two lepors into wine whilst on his way to the arena."
-user "GAH", message board, ROH Discussion, worldwrestlingabsurdity.com, 2004


AJ held the belt for a few months, defending it against CM Punk once, then was stripped when he "went Hollywood (Florida)" and committed to TNA.  
Still, as Pete Gas proved, awesome wrestlers don't always have awesome title reigns.

Well, until Paul Heyman announces that the ECW Television title will be resurrected in the first ever 6-man Extreme Tuxedo Match, I am, in fact, James E. Couture.

...Oh, and you do not want to see the "Hot Photo Galleries" on stinkfaceweekly.net