ROH Pure: Josh Woods Is In It To Win It, Fighting To Earn Respect From His Peers
Josh Woods is in it to win it.
Woods is one of the 16 entrants in the ROH Pure Championship tournament and he spoke with WrestleZone before the tournament began airing about his first-round matchup against Kenny King. Woods said there’s definitely a respect factor, noting King has more experience in pro wrestling but he has more overall experience in combat sports. He said he’s not only looking forward to facing off with King one more time, but win or lose he’s looking to earn some respect.
“There’s obviously a respect factor. Kenny has done a lot in wrestling and I respect him above anything and everything as a friend and a pseudo-mentor. Kenny has been a big help to me in the back, so as a talent alone I respect him a lot. What is cool about any combat sport is anyone can win at any time. He might have been wrestling in professional wrestling for 19 years, but I’ve been doing amateur wrestling since 2000, plus on top of the MMA experience and pro wrestling. I think I outweigh Kenny as far as experience in general, and yeah he has the pro wrestling experience, but it was cool just to be in the ring with him again. We wrestled once in Vegas and I was still pretty new to Ring Of Honor and I think I’ve grown a lot since then,” Woods said. “I think more for me, this match is about earning Kenny’s respect because having [the respect] of guys you look up to and commend you or give you praise, it’s a really awesome experience. Aside from the competitive nature of the match, just being in the ring with Kenny from then to now is an awesome experience and that’s what I look forward to the most, regardless of the outcome, was earning his respect whether I win or lose. I really just wanted that ‘Hey man, good job.’ That was really important to me.”
Before the tournament began airing, WrestleZone also spoke with King, who was asked for some final thoughts on Woods before their match aired. King playfully took some jabs at his opponent, claiming Woods would need help from everyone from The Karate Kid’s Johnny Lawrence to Inspector Gadget. Woods responded to the trash talk from King and said he’s not here just to show up, and King is going to get the fight he’s after.
“I came to fuck shit up. Straight up. I didn’t enter this tournament with hopes to just make it in. I entered the tournament to win it, so eat shit! [laughs] No, he wanted competition and that’s what he’s going to get,” Woods said, “and that’s what people are going to see. They’re not going to see the same old stuff from either one of us, and he’s going to work, that’s for sure. He’s going to learn.”
Woods also spoke about the taping process, noting that the matches were blocked out to ensure safety protocols were followed. He noted that he usually watches matches as a learning tool but the social distancing measures changed that up a bit, but still feels like the Pure Style rules suit him well and his amateur background will help him in the ROH Pure tournament.
Fans can watch Woods’ match against Kenny King tonight at 7 pm EST on FITE.
Related: Kenny King Eyes Pure Title Win In ROH Return, Says Josh Woods Needs All The Help He Can Get