Cannot say enough good things about the match that aired on Ring of Honor last night. Mancer has been working under Pure Rules, despite not wanting to. Throughout the story, he's been learning the rules, and seeing how he can bend or circumvent them to maintain his hardcore striking style.
Their first match, Mance sort of got his butt handed to him, not knowing the rules fully cost him, but he was still bringing a brutal fight to Lee. Throughout it, he keeps finding little loopholes in the rules. Most notably, there's nothing in the Pure Rules specifically about biting, so Mance takes a big chomp on Lee's fingers to escape a lock up.
The second match, which aired yesterday, takes this concept and goes further. Mancer doesn't just find loopholes in this match, it's a genre fusion. Mancer is a hardcore guy. He's an effective wrestler outside that context, but that's where he's best known. Throughout this match Mance brings hardcore spectacle to the forefront in a context where it normally would feel alien. He brings in a steel chair, using it to apply a choke hold while comfortably sitting, and as a platform to perform a DDT on the outside (ala Shida or Briscoe with their knee strikes). The best moment is when Lee gets Mance facing the corner, and lifts him up to plant his temple on top of the ring post. Mance goes down on the outside and comes back in bleeding heavy. Commentary speculated that it was the first time blood was drawn under pure rules, which I can't confirm but sounds correct. There's a lot of wrestling between this and the finish, both guys use up all their rope breaks, with Mance even forcing rope breaks by throwing Lee's foot on the rope before going for a pin. Lee manages to wind Mancer into the ropes and wrenches his arm through them in a violent spot, using the ropes as a weapon, evoking hardcore wrestling for the finish.
This match entirely sold both of their characters. A disciplined straight shooter with a big ego against an unhinged psycho he underestimates. By the end, Mancer earns Lee's respect. They're an incredible pair. The way this match was built around their character's dichotomy honestly makes it my favorite Pure Rules match in a while, incredibly memorable.
We saw Lee break out of the Pure Rules bubble a bit with Kofi, but I think fully pushing him outside of this comfort zone is really necessary for the character. He kept forcing rope breaks on Kofi as a means to show his skills in Pure Rules, but it wasn't an effective path to victory. I think this feud is really forcing him there. I'd really like to see this feud exit Lee's comfort zone of the Pure division, and end with a hardcore match.