Wheeler Yuta knows first-hand how beneficial Pure Rules matches can be.
WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard spoke with ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta ahead of AEW Worlds End. Yuta’s first title defense after regaining it from Katsuyora Shibata was against “Filthy” Tom Lawlor.
The UFC veteran made his ROH debut in that match. Yuta says it was great to finally work with him in the ring, but he’s happy the Pure Rules aided him in one area.
“Yeah, it was really exciting to wrestle Tom. Tom is someone that I’ve known for a long time, but we’ve never actually wrestled in any capacity. Not even a tag, if my memory serves me correctly. But being able to wrestle in that ruleset is really fun. Tom is actually a big fan of Rings and UWFI. So, a lot of that kind of stylistically plays well with the Pure Rules set,” he explained.
“That’s a big perk for me”
“Of course, it’s a little bit different, but a lot of that we could draw on those influences and things like that. So, being able to mix it up with him was cool. It’s nice that whenever you’re fighting a UFC fighter that he can’t punch you in the face. That’s a big perk for me,” Yuta added. “But it was really enjoyable to have that match, and I’m glad that we got to do it at Final Battle, the biggest show for Ring of Honor every year.”
Pritchard joked that we don’t want Yuta to bleed if he doesn’t have to, as he’s already proven he can do that in AEW.
“Yeah, I think I’ve proven I’m pretty good at that. So if I can avoid it, I’ll take it.”
Watch our full interview with Wheeler Yuta below:
If you use any of these quotes, please credit WrestleZone with a link to this article for the transcription.
