Brian Johnson has previously stated that he plans to “rewrite history” by winning the Ring of Honor Pure Championship. He’ll have the chance to do just that at ROH Final Battle: End of an Era on December 11. There, he’ll challenge Josh Woods for the title at the final pay-per-view ROH will present in this current era, as the company will go on hiatus in the first quarter of 2022 while it undergoes a “reimagination” process.
With this in mind, every title match at ROH Final Battle will be even more meaningful because the champions will go down in history as the final respective titleholders in ROH history (for now, at least), and “The Mecca” is well aware of these stakes.
In a recent interview with WrestleZone, Brian Johnson explained how winning the ROH Pure Championship would let him completely flip the narrative of his career with the company. While many fans have rallied around him throughout the pandemic era, Johnson has come up short in his few previous title matches. As a result, he noted that he’d feel somewhat empty-handed if his run ended today, but thankfully he’ll have one more opportunity to firmly stamp his name in the promotion’s legendary history.
“…My memories are that I came up short, and that’s if it ended today,” said Johnson. “But see I have a chance to change that and that’s why…when I get that Pure Championship Match, I can change my entire outlook on my Ring of Honor career in one night. I could go from a lot of bark to a hell of a bite and I’ll be damned if it’s Josh Woods, John Walters, s—-, it could Mr. Pure himself, whoever that is, I don’t give a crap.
“I’ll be damned if I’m not able to look back at my Ring of Honor career for everything that I did to get here, for everything that it took to get to this moment, if I don’t remember it positively, there’s only one way to do that, and that’s to come out with the W.”
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To be fair, “The Mecca” has made plenty of good memories in ROH, and he named his match against The Briscoes (at ROH Best in the World 2021) and his clash with EC3 (at ROH Glory By Honor Night 1) as two of these highlights. Still, he emphasized that these highs will only be meaningful if they’re part of his legacy as the ROH Pure Champion following a victory on Saturday.
“…I look back, there’s definitely some good moments,” said Johnson. “How could I forget Philadelphia? Against EC3, one of the most decorated worldwide professional wrestlers to step foot in ROH, and I was this damn close. This damn close. and then the Briscoe brothers. I mean that’s when I realized this locomotive was really taking off.
“We went almost 19 months, or 18 months or 16, whatever the hell the number was, without a pay-per-view with fans, right. And they said, ‘Man, we gotta kick this show off with a bang’, and who did they hand the microphone? Not anybody else on the roster who claims to be the best talker. No, no, no. They handed it to ‘The Mecca’. And that’s when it took off. So to start a pay-per-view with the Briscoe brothers, while against came up short, it was a highlight. But all of it means nothing if I don’t come out with that Pure Championship.”
To specifically comment on his match with Josh Woods, Brian Johnson took the opportunity to insult the champion by calling him “a complete airhead.” He also described that while Woods has a background as a successful amateur wrestler, he’ll be staring across the ring from a “Mecca-locomotive” that is purely fuelled by a love of pure wrestling. Johnson then expressed his firm confidence that he’ll take the title home on Sunday because Woods has never faced “The Mecca” during the hot streak the challenger is currently on.
“Well I mean have you ever spoke to Josh Woods? I just can’t wrap my head around someone with two scrunched-up ears like that, yet they still have the ability to have an entire cranium full of air,” said Johnson. “I’m shocked that even gets in there. The guy’s a complete airhead, floating out on cloud nine. Yeah, he can tie me into a pretzel, but this is around professional wrestling. This isn’t some amateur wrestling match. Because people actually pay to see us. And this isn’t around some octagon where he could come do some wrestling kick to my face. I guess he still could, but not as tactical.
“This is professional wrestling. It’s my world, and when I hear people tout Woods as he won some tournament six years ago and he beat Josh Woods [sic] because our referee made six bad calls. You know, great, the kid’s lucked into some wins. He’s never taken on The Mecca at the point that I’m at right now. And when he does, it’s a shame he’s got that championship around his waist because it won’t be there [much longer.]”
While @ringofhonor ends an era, I’m gonna rewrite history …
How do you spell Pure?#MeccavsEverybody #watchROH #FinalBattle pic.twitter.com/keUcitiY1e— Mecca (@Bjo_Mecca) December 1, 2021
Tune in to ROH Final Battle: End of an Era to see the star-studded ROH roster deliver an action-packed show with “the best wrestling on the planet” one final time on December 11. The show will be available for streaming on pay-per-view and HonorClub.
The card for ROH Final Battle: End of an Era is as follows:
- ROH World Championship: Bandido (c) vs. Jonathan Gresham
- ROH Tag Team Championships: The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) (c) vs. The Briscoes (Mark & Jay Briscoe)
- Fight Without Honor: Shane Taylor vs. Kenny King
- ROH Television Championship: Dalton Castle (c) Joe Hendry vs. Rhett Titus vs. . Silas Young
- ROH Pure Championship: Josh Woods (c) vs. Brian Johnson
- ROH Six-Man Tag Team Championships: Shane Taylor Promotions (O’Shay Edwards and Soldiers of Savagery) (c) vs. The Righteous (Vincent, Bateman and Dutch)
- ROH Women’s Championship: Rok-C (c) vs. Willow
- Violence Unlimited’s Brody King, Homicide & Tony Deppen vs. Taylor Rust, Tracy Williams & Eli Isom
- The Hex (Allysin Kay & Marti Belle) & Chelsea Green vs. Miranda Alize & The Allure (Angelina Love & Mandy Leon)
- Dragon Lee vs. Rey Horus
- Hour One: Ten-Man Wild Card Tag Team Match
WrestleZone will have full coverage of ROH Final Battle: End of an Era when it airs on December 11.
