Timing is everything and Kenny King says it’s the perfect time for Ring Of Honor to go back to the “pure style” that put them on the map.
King recently spoke with WrestleZone about the return of the ROH Pure Championship; King is one of sixteen competitors in the tournament to crown a new champion and he faces Josh Woods in the first round of Block B action this weekend. King acknowledged the time off because of the pandemic, noting it’s probably the first time in twelve years he’s had this much time off but said he’s feeling great physically. He’s looking forward to facing Josh Woods and praised his fighting and wrestling background, but King says he has an advantage with experience.
“He runs around with Silas Young like he’s a lost puppy. I believe that he’s going to come into this tournament with too much to prove, and having too much to prove is going to allow me some opportunities.”
King says he doesn’t believe in ring rust, noting that at this stage it’s about conditioning and he didn’t take too much time off from training.
“It boils down to this—the fans wanted it and as much as the style of Ring Of Honor is, you could say the foundation for the current style of pro wrestling, the foundation of Ring Of Honor was ‘pure style.’ It was something that no one else was doing and it allowed people to see really skilled technicians—not brawling or high-flying—and really see what you could do. Nigel McGuinness and what he was capable of, AJ Styles and Bryan Danielson, the names go on and on and I think that’s why the fans really took to that style when it first came out.”
“I think now because the Ring Of Honor style is so well-adapted and everybody does it, the fans are starting to yearn for something different, and something different is going back to those rules, those basic grappling skills. The other thing is, you have to have enough talented wrestlers to do it and for the longest time, there maybe wasn’t sixteen guys in a company that could [make up the Pure bracket] but Ring Of Honor can, and Ring Of Honor does. I think that it’s just the perfect time with the roster we have, the guys that we assembled is great.”
Read More: Matt Sydal Ready To Test His Limits, Looks To Carry On The Legacy Of The ROH Pure Championship
King was asked for some final words for his first-round opponent in the B Block of the tournament and he said Woods is going to need all the help he can get to beat him.
“If I were him, I would lose Silas Young’s number. I would call John Kreese, I think Johnny Lawrence is now teaching students. I’d call Rickson Gracie, I’d call everybody and get them in his corner because he’s going to need it. Call Megatron, call Inspector Gadget, call everybody. Let them be there and have everybody corner him,” King said, “because I’m going to bring it.”
King is one of the 16 entrants in the ROH Pure Championship tournament and his match against Josh Woods will air this weekend on ROH TV.
Related: Return To Excellence – The History And Future Of The Ring Of Honor Pure Championship
