For the past two years, Ring of Honor fans have become familiar with Lee Moriarty’s unique gait. Moriarty sashays down to the red and black canvas with the Ring of Honor Men’s Pure Championship in tow, adorned in his ceremonial tiger mask.
It’s a striking image. It’s TAIGASTYLE. All caps.
Moriarty is a champion’s champion, defending his title against all-comers without compunction, and becoming the standard-bearer for Pure Wrestling in the process.
“It means a lot to me because, growing up, I watched older Ring of Honor shows, and that was the title that, as a kid, I dreamed of having. Once it was brought back into activity, again, as an active professional wrestler, that was the title that was a goal. Once Tony Khan bought Ring of Honor, it became a realistic goal. And then that’s what I’ve been chasing ever since: to now hold the same title that the guys who inspired me, like Samoa Joe, Bryan Danielson, Jay Lethal, and Nigel McGuinness, held. Now, I’m the longest-reigning champion, breaking their records. That’s very special to me.”
Pure Rules wrestling is a style of wrestling unique to Ring of Honor. The conceit is simple: return professional wrestling to its catch-as-catch-can roots. While professional wrestling’s rules are, at times, dubious, Pure Wrestling has its own commandments:
- 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.
In 2004, Ring of Honor created the Pure Championship as a unique secondary title. However, it was deactivated shortly thereafter in 2006, after Bryan Danielson unified it with the ROH World Championship.
The Pure Ruleset was abandoned in large part due to the fans’ contempt for it in the mid-aughts. It requires conditioning to appreciate its intricacies. At the time, fans felt like those intricacies were contrivances.
However, that all changed in 2020, when Ring of Honor sought to revive the Pure Championship. Fans had a newfound appreciation for the Pure Ruleset, believing the style to be synonymous with Ring of Honor’s heyday.
A tournament was held to re-educate fans and crown a new champion in the process. Jonathan Gresham accepted the responsibility of carrying the lineage into the 2020’s, turning the Men’s Pure Championship into appointment viewing.
Lee Moriarty etched his name into history on July 26, 2024, defeating Wheeler Yuta to capture the championship. It’s safe to say he hasn’t looked back.
TAIGASTYLE is more than an epithet. It’s the champion’s ethos.
In his own words:
“TAIGASTYLE is versatile. TAIGASTYLE is infinite. TAIGASTYLE is like the quote from Bruce Lee, ‘be water, you flow.’
“Anytime I’m in the ring with someone, I will adapt to [their style], and then I’ll wrestle them because I am the best pure wrestler on the planet. That’s what this title says, and I’m confident when I say that.”
Moriarty’s style is the strata of numerous artistic influences. The mask he wears to the ring pays homage to his favorite wrestler, the original Tiger Mask, Satoru Sayama. In the ring, he draws influence from catch wrestling, lucha libre, puroresu, and British wrestling’s World of Sport.
Moriarty is similarly influenced by his promoter, Shane Taylor.
“Shane is both a coach and a cornerman, like you’d see in a boxing or MMA match. He’s also a promoter. So, he’s the guy that gets the big match deals done. He makes the big paydays, but he also helps me train and study[…] So, I think he’s just someone that has helped me tighten up some of these areas and make me do what I do best in the ring easier.”
For the past three weeks, Moriarty has been preparing to defend his Men’s Pure Championship against the aforementioned Nigel McGuinness at “Death Before Dishonor” in Philadelphia’s vaunted 2300 Arena.
Less than 48 hours before their match, McGuinness was forced to withdraw from the competition. In McGuinness’ stead, Katsuyori Shibata has emerged as Moriarty’s number one contender.
“I’m very focused. I know I have an uphill battle, going from someone like Nigel McGuinness, who I’ve beaten twice in singles matches, to someone like Katsuyori Shibata, who I’ve never been in a singles match. That’s a very different challenge, but when the stakes are this high, and my record is on the line, I’m going to pull out everything I can to make sure that I walk out of the 2300 Arena still the Ring of Honor Men’s Pure Champion.
“Shane and I watched a little bit of tape very early this morning, studying for Shibata, to figure out a game plan going into this match.”
True to himself, the champion is a student of his craft, constantly studying tape from all corners of the globe and eras.
“Recently, I’ve been watching some World of Sport. I’ve been watching some of the New Japan G1, Joshi, lucha libre, you know… We just had a show down there, “Grand Slam Mexico,” so I’ve been following along with [CMLL]. I just try to watch as much wrestling as I can.”
Moriarty’s influences aren’t solely confined to the squared circle, though.
“I try to study things that aren’t pro-wrestling. I’ve implemented techniques from drunken master movies, and I think that’s like what helps me stand out: studying not just professional wrestling, but all forms of combat.”
In keeping with his core philosophies of universality, professional wrestling isn’t his only creative outlet.
Moriarty is an accomplished painter, hosting his first art gallery in 2024 at NADA Miami. All eight of his paintings, featuring masked men’s luchadores in both mundane and natural settings, sold at his inaugural showcase.
One of those pieces was purchased by the Perez Art Museum Miami, making Moriarty the first active professional wrestler to have an art piece hosted in a major museum’s permanent collection.
Equal parts athlete and artist, Moriarty carried that creative spark into last month’s PRODUCE Wrestling Vol. 2, an independent wrestling show that Lee Moriarty co-produced alongside PRODUCE Wrestling’s Orange Crush.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s definitely a process. It’s something that I learned, like, putting together two or three matches on a show… I can definitely say, I don’t think I ever want to book an entire wrestling show because it’s a lot of stress,” Moriarty said in jest.
“I was glad I got to do, especially like, just bringing in people that I’ve gotten to work with on the independent scene and to showcase them. And, the event aired on MyAEW, and that’s a big audience. It was really cool.”
In the main event of that show, Moriarty defended his Men’s Pure Title against Jonathan Gresham; a full-circle moment for the champion.
“Yeah, Jonathan Gresham is definitely one of the people I studied a lot coming into professional wrestling. If you watch me early on, you can see some of those inspirations. He was also the first Pure Champion when the title got reactivated. So, to defend it against him and to walk out still the champion: that’s a lot. And, to do it in the main event of that co-produced show was special.”
When Moriarty won the Men’s Pure Championship, he promised to usher in a renaissance for Pure Wrestling. 757 days later, it’s safe to say he’s made good on his promise.
“I think that everything has gone better than I expected, given what my mission was. You look at day one, when I won this championship, to now, 760-odd days later: I’ve defended the championship in Mexico and Australia. I’ve broken the record for the most days. I’ve broken the record for the most defenses. We now have a Ring of Honor Women’s Pure Championship. I feel like Pure Wrestling is in a much bigger spotlight than it was before I had the title, and I’m gonna keep pushing, and hopefully, we can get the Pure Title in the main event of a Ring of Honor pay-per-view. And, just keep going further and further, so that this title inspires generations to come, just like it did for me years ago.”
***
One month ago, I had an opportunity to interview Maya World, shortly after her match against Mercedes Moné.
I asked World who she looks to for guidance behind the curtain. The first wrestler she named was Lee Moriarty.
“That really — it means a lot to me, because my goal in professional wrestling is to make professional wrestling a better place. That’s what I was taught, to leave professional wrestling better than I found it. So, the fact that I can help anyone and it helps them live their dream; it means a lot to me.
“Maya is someone that’s also helped me; she’s someone I train with regularly when we’re here at the shows. And I think it’s a case of iron sharpening iron. We just all try to make each other better.”
***
“Death Before Dishonor” (2026) is set to take place at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, Aug. 21, emanating from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.
The show is available to stream on HonorClub and MyAEW for fans in the United States, Canada, Mexico and India.
The show will be exclusively available on MyAEW for fans in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Europe.
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