Lee Moriarty signed a full-time AEW deal in 2021, and he has finally got himself a championship. "Taigastyle" defeated Wheeler Yuta at ROH Death Before Dishonor 2024 in July to become the new Pure Champion, a title he has already successfully defended once, and shows no signs of slowing down. Speaking on the "Monteasy Musicology" podcast, Moriarty admitted that, while it has sunk in that he has gold around his waist, there is a lot of work to be done as champion.
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"To an extent, it has settled in, but I feel like there's a lot I need to accomplish with this championship," Moriarty said. "Getting to the match was one thing, winning the championship is another thing, now I have to defend it. Now I have to elevate this championship, because that's what I said I was going to do. I said I was going to usher in a new era of the Pure division."
Moriarty explained that the Pure division was at a certain level and going at a steady pace, but now that he is on top, he wants to bring the title back to the days when some of the greatest wrestlers of the modern era were fighting tooth and nail to get their hands on it.
"From Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe, Nigel McGuinness, AJ Styles, all these guys that are going to be legends, or already are legends of professional wrestling, they've influenced what wrestling is today\ And I want to live up to that, and I want to uphold this championship to an extremely high standard." As far as who's next, anyone can challenge him, but he's going to be the one that leads by example.
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Please credit "Musicology" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/Tto Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
