We have some more details to pass along regarding to ongoing situation between Jonathan Gresham and Ring Of Honor (ROH).

As we’ve noted, there have been some issues between Gresham and All Elite Wrestling (AEW) president/ROH owner Tony Khan.

Gresham requested his release from the promotion shortly after an incident with Khan before the ROH Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view (PPV). 

In an update from Mike Johnson of PWInsider, Gresham is not expected back “in any form” with AEW or ROH. That’s unless he and Khan are able to make amends with one another.

Their last conversation was said to be “ugly and unprofessional.” There are multiple versions of the story going around.

One suggests that Gresham “cursed out” Khan, while others say he tried to use his ranking in the Pro Wrestling Illustrated magazine’s PWI 500 list as a reason why he should be used better.

Neither Gresham nor Khan have publicly commented on the situation, however, Gresham’s wife, Jordynne Grace, did write the following on Twitter.

“I promise that you don’t have to believe everything you read online. 95% of “dirt sheet” news is exaggerated, completely made up, or taken out of context.”

It should be noted that Jonathan Gresham recently dropped the ROH World Championship to Claudio Castagnoli at ROH Death Before Dishonor on July 23.

Tony Khan recently spoke with Steve Fall of NBC Sports Boston about his relationships with the members of the AEW roster and the range of connections he has to them. 

Criticism Regarding Communication

Following the ROH Death Before Dishonor event on July 23, a report emerged stating that Jonathan Gresham had requested his release from Ring Of Honor (ROH).

The former ROH World Champion had been told that creative decisions needed to go through Khan, but Gresham couldn’t get in contact with Khan until only a few hours before Saturday’s show.

There seems to be quite a bit of criticism regarding the lack of communication within AEW; from stars such as Joey Janela, Marko Stunt, and Chavo Guerrero. However, it does seem that it is not all across the board as many wrestlers have praised their relationship with the AEW Owner.

Tony Khan: “I Am A Boss And Try To Be A Friend”

When speaking with Steve Fall of NBC Sports Boston, Tony Khan discussed his relationships with AEW wrestlers and how they vary.

“I think in most cases, I am a boss and try to be a friend. I mean, I guess in every case, if you work for AEW, I’m a boss, but if you know it’s somebody I’ve gotten to spend time with I try to at least be very friendly and make it a fun place to work. 

And there are a lot of people I have different relationships with some people are older and you know, I can learn a lot from them. And a lot of the young wrestlers, I do try to give advice to and give them ideas and things they can use on TV on Wednesday night dynamite on TBS, or on Friday night rampage on TNT and hopefully things that they can use to develop their skills and also to make them more interesting to the wrestling fans who watch the shows.”

Watch Steve’s interview with Tony Khan here:

We have some more information to pass along regarding Jonathan Gresham requesting his release from Ring Of Honor (ROH).

Initial reports suggest that Gresham, the now-former ROH World Champion, has requested his release from the promotion after an argument with ROH owner and All Elite Wrestling (AEW) president Tony Khan.

Now, Fightful reports that Gresham met with Khan just before the ROH Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view (PPV). He was already more heated than usual in regards to his booking and character.

Although their conversation was behind closed doors, details of the discussion leaked out due to how loud the conversation got. Even the building’s security could hear what was going on. The site claims Gresham “cussed out” Khan.

Gresham had been disgruntled with the creative decisions regarding his character, specifically being against the idea of turning heel. He also had “a vision for his creative direction” that Khan did not agree with.

The former ROH World Champion had been told that creative decisions needed to go through Khan, but Gresham couldn’t get in contact with Khan until only a few hours before Saturday’s show.

Fightful clarifies that the AEW creative process is for talents to speak to AEW coaches as well as Christopher Daniels, QT Marshall, and Pat Buck, who then go to Khan. While Khan does try to speak to talent directly, that has slowly stopped “due to the changing of the world and travel in general.”

There seems to be quite a bit of complaints going on regarding the lack of communication within AEW; from stars such as Joey Janela, Marko Stunt, and Chavo Guerrero.

It remains to be seen if Jonathan Gresham will ultimately be granted his release.

According to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, Jonathan Gresham has asked for his ROH/AEW release.

In the report, there was a conversation between Gresham and Tony Khan that was said to have involved Gresham “cussing out” Khan.

Sapp would go on to tweet, “There seems to be a lot of lack of communication between talent relations and talent that we’ve heard from. We’ve had stories of Gresham, Marko, Cage, Janela, and others not being able to get answers or responses.”

In an interview with WrestlePurists.com ahead of his recent ROH World Championship defense, he spoke about his communication with the AEW President.

“To be honest, I’ve not really talked to him. I don’t know what he thinks about me. Ive had very short conversations with him, when I say short I mean short. So I dunno. I would hope that he values me, I don’t know though. So we’ll find out in the coming weeks, months I guess.”

Jonathan Gresham on communication with Tony Khan

The backstage incident seemed to play a part in Gresham’s mood going into his match against Claudio Castagnoli at Death Before Dishonor.

Gresham made his entrance without his signature octopus mask, robe or flag. Twitter user @HeelWillMahoney described it as him being called into work on his day off.

Castagnoli ended up defeating Gresham with the Ricola Bomb to become the new ROH World Champion.

Since his loss to Claudio, the former champion has deactivated his Twitter account.

More details on this story to come.

Last month saw the AEW debut of former WWE star Cesaro, now using his real name again, Claudio Castagnoli. Following Bryan Danielson’s injury, Bryan handpicked Claudio as a mystery opponent for Zack Sabre Jr at AEW and NJPW’s joint show Forbidden Door.

Castagnoli also ended up taking Danielson’s spot as a member of the Blackpool Combat Club in the Blood and Guts match a few days later against the Jericho Appreciation Society. But was this always the plan for Claudio Castagnoli’s All Elite Wrestling debut?

During the Death Before Dishonor media scrum, Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated asked Tony Khan if the original plan was to debut him at the Ring of Honor PPV.

“It was the original plan. Yeah, it was originally. He was going to debut here and it would have been a different build to the pay-per-view than what we did. And I think in a way that, you know, everything worked out perfectly.”

Tony goes on to say:

“So originally my vision when we spoke, was that Claudio was going to come back at Ring of Honor and he would debut and he would be a mystery wrestler and I think there would have been a lot of anticipation for who was going to be.

Tony Khan on original plan for Claudio Castagnoli

“But I also think that it would have been a great delivery and I honestly think that like, you know, if the fans had gotten drawn to the possibility of who could be associated with Ring of Honor, who is a name that is so important to the history of Ring of Honor and also, was certainly, I believe the best free agent wrestler in the world, then I believe it would have been a lot of fans assuming, hoping, wishing, wanting to see it be Claudio.

“But things change and I also knew when we spoke, there was a possibility that you would come in, as the alternate replacing Bryan Danielson as Zack Sabre Jr’s opponent at Forbidden Door, and also replacing Bryan Danielson in the Blood and Guts match. And so everything’s worked out great.”

Last night Claudio Castagnoli competed against ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham in the opening match of ROH’s Death Before Dishonor.

Castagnoli came out the victor against Gresham, ending the 224-day reign of Gresham who had previously won the vacant championship at ROH Final Battle 2021 back in December.

Please H/T SEScoops if you use any quotes from this article

A big heel turn has taken place at the AEW Rampage taping.

The heel-babyface turns in pro wrestling continue on. Fans recently witnessed Christian Cage turn his back on Jungle Boy, nailing him with the Killswitch and a Conchairto.

Add another turn to the list.

AEW Rampage was taped following the July 6 episode of Dynamite. The action was held inside the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, NY. At the conclusion of a tag team match, one major champion turned on his partner.

Jonathan Gresham Turns Heel

On this week’s edition of Rampage, set to air on July 8, ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham teamed with Lee Moriarty to take on Tully Blanchard’s Gates of Agony team.

The Gates of Agony won the match as Gresham walked out on Moriarty. He has now aligned himself with Tully Blanchard.

ROH’s Death Before Dishonor PPV is coming up on July 23.

While it hasn’t been made official, the direction certainly seems to be leaning towards an ROH World Title Match between Jonathan Gresham and Lee Moriarty.

Keep it locked on SEScoops for live coverage of ROH Death Before Dishonor on the event date.

Jonathan Gresham sustained an injury at last week’s AEW Battle of the Belt tapings that prevented him from traveling to the UK over the weekend.

Gresham was expected to make appearances for Progress Wrestling this week. However, the company posted a video of him apologizing to fans for not being able to appear as scheduled.

“Hello, everyone,” said Gresham. “Unfortunately, I will not be able to make it to London this weekend for the Sunday and Monday events due to an injury, I have not been cleared to compete.

So, I do want to apologize to Progress and the fans for not being able to make it this weekend. I really wanted to but my health comes first and I have to just take a little time off.”

He assured Progress fans that he’ll be back to perform for the organization once he’s healthy. He also asked fans to keep him in their prayers.

While the exact details of his injury are unknown at the moment, it appears he sustained the injury during his match against Dalton Castle that aired at Battle Of The Belts on Saturday.

Gresham was checked for a possible concussion following his successful title defense, according to Fightful. Details about the injury are still trickling in, but there was a moment in the match where he landed on his head while taking a gut wrench suplex.

SEScoops wishes the AEW star a speedy recovery.

• Jonathan Gresham Feared His Career Was In Jeopardy During COVID-19 Pandemic

Ring Of Honor (ROH) World Champion Jonathan Gresham has officially signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) – and by extension, ROH as well.

The report comes from Fightful, which confirms that Gresham has signed an AEW contract, that will also see him wrestle for ROH. He’ll also continue to do work for IMPACT Wrestling, as he’s scheduled to compete at IMPACT Wrestling Rebellion on pay-per-view (PPV) on April 23. AEW and new ROH owner Tony Khan continues to allow his guys to work for various promotions, an aspect fans have been enjoying as of late.

Samoa Joe recently won the ROH World TV Championship on the April 13 episode of AEW Dynamite. The week prior, FTR defended their Tag Team Titles against The Young Bucks. It will be interesting to see what Khan decides to do now that he’s inked Gresham, the ROH World Champion, to an AEW contract.

Jonathan Gresham captured the ROH World Championship by defeating Jay Lethal at the ROH Final Battle PPV this past December. The 34-year-old has worked for several notable professional wrestling companies; such as Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), NWA, ROH, and IMPACT Wrestling. Gresham is a former CZW World Heavyweight Champion, ROH World Tag Team Champion (with Lethal), and of course the current ROH World Champion.

He recently added another title to his collection when he defeated Cara Noir at Chapter 130 for the Progress Wrestling World Championship. Now, he’ll have a brand new slew of challengers for the ROH World Title now that he’s inked to the AEW roster. He already has a few names in AEW he’d like to defend the title against.

It’s a big week for Ring of Honor Wrestling on AEW television.

Despite the future of ROH itself being unknown, their championships have been featured this week on national television. Wednesday night’s edition of AEW Dynamite saw Samoa Joe defeat Minoru Suzuki for the ROH Television Championship in the main event of the broadcast. It was a fantastic match that unfortunately was somewhat overshadowed by some loud criticism surrounding the way the end of the show was booked with Satnam Singh’s debut.

That being said, it was also announced on Wednesday night that ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham will defend his championship against Dalton Castle this Saturday night during the second edition of AEW Battle of the Belts on TNT.

Other matches announced for AEW Battle of the Belts II include:

AEW Women’s Championship Match
Thunder Rosa (c) vs. Nyla Rose

AEW TNT Championship Match
Scorpio Sky (c) vs. Sammy Guevara

• What to Expect From Tony Khan’s ROH

There has been lots of gold on the line this week. In addition to the aforementioned ROH TV Championship match, Dynamite this week also featured Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus sucessfully defending the AEW Tag Team Championships against reDRagon (Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish).

The AEW World Championship will also be on the line this week, though that bout will occur Friday night on Rampage. “Hangman” Adam Page will put the title on the line against Adam Cole in a Texas Deathmatch.

Make sure to check out the Top Rope Nation wrestling podcast for your weekly dose of pro wrestling talk featuring interviews, analysis and exclusive news: Apple – Spotify – YouTube. 

Jonathan Gresham was in a good spot financially when the COVID-19 pandemic first took effect but he thought his in-ring career could be over.

Gresham has been renowned for his technical wrestling and his hard work has paid off. He is the current ROH World Champion and is set for a big undisputed title match with Bandido at Supercard of Honor on April 1.

While it looks to be smooth sailing for Gresham now, there was some uncertainty back in 2020.

Jonathan Gresham On Dealing With Pandemic

Jonathan Gresham appeared on The Kurt Angle Show and said that from a financial standpoint, he was more worried about wrestlers who were on per appearance deals and didn’t have a job guaranteed. With that said, he was still concerned about his own career (h/t Fightful).

“Yes. I try to stay optimistic. I’m a pessimist from the start, but when it hit I was financially in a pretty good situation but I was more concerned about my comrades, guys that were coming up and on pay-per-appearance with Ring of Honor. So, I was really thinking about them.

“ROH did a really good job of keeping us on payroll the entire pandemic, so I was concerned but I was also thinking, ‘Okay, I’m going to jump to what next?’ I spent my entire adult life becoming a professional wrestler, so there was really nothing else I could really use that knowledge for, so that was kind of scary.

“But yeah, I thought it was over for me. But I was just going to ride the wave of the contract. Money was still coming in and hope for the best.”

It’s safe to say that Gresham will be sticking around in the wrestling business. Reports have already surfaced claiming that Gresham could very well be in business with both ROH and AEW for the foreseeable future.

Jonathan Gresham captured the Progress World Championship on Sunday.

Gresham’s ROH Championship was on the line when he ended Cara Noir’s 2-year reign at Progress Chapter 130: Dodge, Dip, Duck, Dive, Dodge from London, England.

This is a big win for Gresham. He now holds the title prize for multiple promotions as he looks ahead to his next big match ROH Supercard of Honor during WrestleMania 38 weekend from Dallas, Texas.

The Supercard of Honor main event will see Gresham and Bandido clash in a “Winner Take All” match to determine an Undisputed ROH World Champion. The event begins a new era for ROH under the ownership of AEW President Tony Khan.

PROGRESS Wrestling sent in the following press release detailing Gresham’s victory:

Jonathan Gresham Crowned PROGRESS Wrestling World Champion at Chapter 130: Dodge, Dip, Duck, Dive, Dodge

Sunday 20th March 2022, London, England: After a titanic title vs. title bout with two of the most prestigious titles in wrestling on the line, Jonathan Gresham defeated Cara Noir to add the PROGRESS Wrestling World Championship to his Ring Of Honor Championship at Progress Chapter 130: Dodge, Dip, Duck, Dive, Dodge.

The finish of the match saw Cara Noir’s record-setting 26-month reign come to an end after interference from Spike Trivet who nailed Noir with a vicious chair shot. Gresham immediately capitalized on the situation by hitting Noir with an illegal low blow before pinning the champion to end his reign at the 791-day mark. Immediately following the bout, PROGRESS fans surrounded the ring, hammering on the apron en masse to pay tribute to the now-former titleholder.

The win means that Gresham may now make the first defense of his newly won title in his scheduled bout with Malik at Wednesday’s Everything Patterned: London event.

Gresham’s win means that for the first time in history, the PROGRESS Wrestling World Championship is in the hands of an American wrestler.

Chapter 130 was the start of a monumental Anniversary Week for PROGRESS Wrestling who will also promote their first-ever all women’s event, Who Run The World?, on Tuesday 22nd March at The Dome, Tufnell Park, London as well as their landmark, sold out 10th Anniversary Show from The Garage in London. This show will see Cara Noir face NXT UK Champion Ilja Dragunov.

Game Changer Wrestling held their first event at Center Stage Theater in Atlanta, Georgia, with GCW: Astronaut.

The main event saw H8 Club vs. Second Gear Crew for the GCW Tag Team Championship. GCW: Astronaut also had ROH Champion Jonathan Gresham vs. Blake Christian in a non-title match. GCW wanted to have the match at The Wrld on GCW, but Gresham couldn’t make the show. The event aired live on FITE and is available for on-demand purchase for $13.99

GCW: Astronaut is the last Pay-Per-View before GCW: The Collective at Fair Park in Dallas, Texas. GCW: The Collective will occur from Mar. 31 to Apr. 2, with 12 PPV events. Wrestling fans can buy each event individually or buy the bundle for $139.99 on FITE.

GCW: Astronaut Quick Results

• AR Fox defeated Nick Wayne
• Gringo Loco defeated Ninja Mack
• Matt Cardona did a in-ring promo before his match. He talks about GCW’s Joey Janela’s Spring Break 6 in Dallas, Texas and said he should be challenging for the GCW World Championship, instead of wrestling Chris Dickinson.
• Matt Cardona defeated “Action” Mike Jackson
• After the match, Cardona did a in-ring promo disrespecting Jackson and said he was going to beat Dickinson at GCW’s Joey Janela’s Spring Break 6. Dickinson comes out and Cardona leaves the ring. Jackson beats up Cardona and throws him in the ring. Dickinson tries to Powerbomb Cardona, but Cardona escaped.
• Tony Deppen defeated ACH
• Alex Colon defeated Jimmy Lloyd, Jordan Oliver, Zen Shi, Cole Radrick, and Manders in a Six-way Scramble Match
• Bobby Flocko and Cavron Canyon vs Ash Bennett and Rico Gonzalez ends as no contest after Joey Janela interrupts the match and attacks everyone.
• Janela did a in-ring promo and vows to “Kill” Sean Waltman at GCW’s Joey Janela Spring Break 6. He also claims GCW wouldn’t be where it is without him and demands that people should “Give him his flowers” at GCW’s Joey Janela’s Spring Break 6.
• Allie Katch defeated Jordynne Grace
• AJ Gray defeated EFFY to retain the GCW Extreme Championship
• Jonathan Gresham defeated Blake Christian
• Christian did a in-ring promo after the match thanking the fans
• H8 Club(Nick Gage and Matt Tremont) vs. Second Gear Crew(Mathew Justice and Mance Warner) for the GCW Tag Team Championship ends in a draw

After the match, fans chanted for the match to be restarted. Tremont challenged Second Gear Crew and The Briscoes to a three-way dance at GCW’s Joey Janela Spring Break 6. The fans still booed, but Gage thanked the fans to a lukewarm response, and the show ended.

Ring of Honor has announced its first match for the ROH Supercard of Honor event on April 1.

Since going on hiatus, ROH Supercard of Honor will be the company’s first event back. After releasing all of its wrestlers last year, ROH planned to revamp its business strategy. To promote their ROH Supercard of Honor event, the company also revealed that Jonathan Gresham would challenge Bandido to decide the undisputed ROH World Champion.

The Undisputed ROH World Championship Situation

ROH has found itself in an intriguing situation with Gresham and Bandido. The company wanted Gresham to challenge Bandido for the ROH World Championship at Final Battle on December 11, 2021. However, Bandido had tested positive for Covid-19, and ROH had Gresham challenge Jay Lethal for the ROH World Championship. After winning the title, ROH allowed Gresham to defend the title for other promotions like Impact Wrestling and Game Changer Wrestling.

Bandido returned to successfully defend his ROH World Championship at Terminus against Baron Black on January 16. At the same event, Gresham also retained his title against Josh Alexander. After the match, Bandido confronted Gresham to tease a unification match.

It’s unclear what ROH plans to do with the ROH World Championship after the ROH Supercard of Honor event. The company plans to book talent for appearances instead of signing exclusive deals. Regardless, Gresham vs. Bandido is an intriguing match that ROH hopes can excite wrestling fans to watch their upcoming event.

Last night in Atlanta, the first-ever Terminus event produced by Jonathan Gresham and Baron Black took place. In the main-event, Gresham defended the ROH World Championship against Impact’s Josh Alexander. The finish of the match saw a double-pin take place.

Gresham and Bandido then went face-to-face. Bandido had held the ROH World Championship before being unable to appear at the promotion’s Final Battle PPV last month. Santana then interrupted both of them and challenged Gresham to a match at Terminus’ 2nd show which will take place on February 24th.

Bandido vs Gresham could possibly take place at ROH’s recently announced show on April 1st.

Gresham has one scheduled defense of the ROH title before then, however. He’ll face Blake Christian at the “WRLD on GCW” show for Game Changer Wrestling next Sunday from the Hammerstein Ballroom.

Terminus Debut Show Results 1/16

The show took place from the Salvation Army Kroc Atlanta.

1. Lee Moriarty defeated Josh Woods (8:54)
2. 4-Way Elimination Match
   Daniel Garcia defeated Adam Priest and Invictus Khash and JDX 
3. Mike Bennett defeated Moose by DQ (6:38)
4. Diamante defeated Janai Kai (7:25)
5. Impact Digital Media Championship
   Jordynne Grace (c) defeated Kiera Hogan (8:18)
6. Bandido defeated Baron Black (14:05)
7. Dante Caballero & Joe Keys defeated Fred Yehi & Tracy Williams (14:26)
8. ROH World Championship
   Jonathan Gresham (c) vs. Josh Alexander – Double Pin (16:52)

Ring of Honor Champion Jonathan Gresham successfully defended his title at the IMPACT Wrestling Hard To Kill PPV event.

Gresham faced TNA/IMPACT and ROH legend Chris Sabin on the card, and both men put in a fantastic hard-hitting performance.

The ROH Champion will now be heading to the TERMINUS event to defend his title against another IMPACT Wrestling star, Josh Alexander.

Should Gresham be successful there too, he will likely be defending the title in the UK as part of the February 6th card for PROGRESS Wrestling.

Jonathan Gresham Retains ROH Title

The show is available to watch now via FITE TV, with replays ready to stream following the conclusion of the event from Texas.

Here’s the full card for the event:

• Ace Austin vs. Chris Bey vs. Mike Bailey vs. Laredo Kid in a Fatal 4-Way Match
• IMPACT X-Division Championship Match – Trey Miguel (c) vs. Steve Maclin – if Maclin loses he can’t challenge for the championship again whilst Trey Miguel is champion
• IMPACT World Championship Match – Moose (c) vs. Matt Cardona vs. W. Morrissey
• IMPACT Knockouts Championship Texas Deathmatch – Mickie James (c) vs. Deonna Purrazzo
• Knockouts Ultimate-X Match – Alisha Edwards vs. Chelsea Green vs. Jordynne Grace vs. Lady Frost vs. Rosemary vs. Tasha Steelz
• ROH World Championship – Jonathan Gresham (c) vs. Chris Sabin
• Josh Alexander vs. Jonah
• Eddie Edwards, Rich Swann, Willie Mack, Heath and Rhino vs. The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) and Violent By Design (Eric Young, Deaner, and Joe Doering) in a 10-man Hardcore War

Impact Wrestling talent Chris Sabin is looking forward to challenging Jonathan Grisham for the ROH World Championship. The anticipated match will take place at Hard to Kill on January 8th.

The Sportster’s Denise Salcedo interviewed Sabin ahead of his match with Grisham. He shared that he didn’t know that Impact Wrestling booked the match until they announced it online. Salcedo mentioned that Sabin would join the likes of Samoa Joe, Austin Aries, and Eddie Edwards to win the ROH Championship and the Impact(Formerly TNA) World Heavyweight Championship. When asked what winning the ROH World Championship could mean for Sabin, he discussed how it adds to his career.

“…That’s something that you could always go back to and reference as some sort of history in wrestling that you made,” said Sabin. He continued, “…It’s not easy to really to do something new and solidify your name and on such a historic level like that by winning two world championships and two different companies like that. But yeah, it would mean a lot, and it would just, you know, add to my credentials of my career, and it was something I would be proud of.”

Chris Sabin Thoughts on Jonathan Gresham

In the interview, Sabin had positive things to say about his opponent. He praised Gresham’s work ethic and his style. Sabin also credited his opponent for being influential to other wrestlers.

“…I respect John a lot. I mean, he works really hard to be a unique talent just to be something different,” said Sabin. He explains, “Obviously, he works hard in the gym, he works hard when he’s training in the ring outside of wrestling, and you can just tell by his body of work. He’s just an amazing talent.”

Jonathan Gresham Title Defense

Sabin vs. Gresham for the ROH World Championship will be the first time an ROH champion will defend the title under Impact Wrestling. While it’s unclear who will win, Gresham is scheduled to defend the title at Terminus and The WRLD on GCW later this month. Regardless, Sabin will have the opportunity to make history when he challenges Gresham this Saturday.

Impact Wrestling has confirmed that the ROH world championship will be defended on an Impact show for the first time at the upcoming Hard To Kill PPV.

The company sent out a press release in which they confirmed that Jonathan Gresham will defend his title against Chris Sabin in a one-on-one match.

Gresham won the world title at the ROH Final Battle PPV earlier this month. Final Battle was ROH’s last show before their announced hiatus until April next year.

In the meantime, Jonathan has started defending the title in various promotions. His first successful defense was against AJ Gray at last Friday’s GCW Blood on The Hills.

Impact Hard To Kill Updated Match Card

This is the 8th announced match for the first Impact PPV of 2022. After the latest announcement, here is the updated match card for the show:

• Impact World Championship Triple Threat Match: Matt Cardona vs. W. Morrissey vs. Moose
• ROH World Championship Match: Chris Sabin vs. Jonathan Gresham
• Knockouts Championship Texas Death Match: Deonna Purrazzo vs. Mickie James
• X Division Championship Match: Steve Maclin vs. Trey Miguel
• Knockouts Tag Team Championship Match: Madison Rayne and Tenille Dashwood vs. The IInspiration
• #1 Contender Ultimate X Match For Knockouts Championship: Chelsea Green vs. Lady Frost vs. Tasha Steelz vs. Rosemary vs. Rachael Ellering vs. Impact Digital Media Champion Jordynne Grace
• Hardcore War: Heath, Rhino, Eddie Edwards, Rich Swann & Willie Mack vs. Violence By Design & Impact Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers
• Singles Match: Jonah vs. Josh Alexander

Impact Hard To Kill will take place from The Factory in Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas on Saturday, January 8, 2022.

The ROH World Championship will be defended on tonight’s Game Changer Wrestling show from Los Angeles. Not only that, Gresham’s match against AJ Gray will be contested under “Pure rules”.

The show is available on a pay-per-view basis on FITE.

GCW: Blood On The Hills Lineup:

• Gringo Loco vs. Arez vs. Jimmy Lloyd vs. Matt Vandagriffvs. Jack Cartwheel vs. Ninja Mack
• No Ropes Barbed Wire Death Match
  Atticus Cogar vs. Jordan Oliver
• Chelsea Green & Matt Cardona vs. BUSSY (Allie Katch & Effy)
• Blake Christian vs. Alex Zayne
• Tony Deppen vs. Nick Wayne
• Matthew Justice vs. Jacob Fatu
• ROH World Championship
  Pure Rules
  Jonathan Gresham (c) vs. AJ Gray
• GCW Tag Team Championships
  The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe) (c) vs. Brody King & PCO

Shortly after winning the ROH Championship at Final Battle, Gresham spoke to Sports Illustrated. He said that it’s up to him to keep the spirit of ROH alive. Gresham also noted that he wants to defend the title against CM Punk and Bryan Danielson.

“As champion, it is up to me to keep the spirit and the essence of Ring of Honor alive,” Gresham said. “I will preserve and protect Pure wrestling as Ring of Honor world champion.”

Jonathan Gresham defeated Jay Lethal in the main event of Final Battle 2021. The event represented the end of an era for Ring of Honor. The promotion is now moving forward without keeping any talent on contract. When the company announced its change in business plans, it also noted there are plans to hold a return event in April during WrestleMania week.

New ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham spoke to Sports Illustrated recently and noted that it is up to him to keep the spirit of ROH alive.

“Final Battle was a night that was full circle for me,” Gresham says. “I spent a lot of time with the fans at ringside. There were so many people there I knew—from the independents, from seminars, fans from smaller independent shows, like NOVA Pro [in Virginia], guys that stayed on my couch during our travels—and everyone kept telling me they had to see me win the Ring of Honor title. I have enjoyed this entire ride, so all of that meant the world to me.”

“As champion, it is up to me to keep the spirit and the essence of Ring of Honor alive,” Gresham says. “I will preserve and protect Pure wrestling as Ring of Honor world champion.”

Gresham continued to say that he plans on making the Ring of Honor title the most important championship in wrestling. To do that, Gresham says, he has to wrestle CM Punk and Bryan Danielson.

“I am going to make this championship the best wrestling title in the world,” he says. “In order to do that, I need to wrestle two men who helped make the Ring of Honor title the best in the world: Bryan Danielson and CM Punk.”

Gresham is the 29th wrestler to win the ROH World Championship. His victory at Final Battle 2021 was the 36th title change in the championships lineage. Adam Cole is the only wrestler to win the title 3x. Jay Lethal has spent the most time as champion at 707 days. Samoa Joe holds the record for the longest single reign with the belt at 645 days.

The full article can be read here.

Jonathan Gresham discussed his ROH Final Battle opponent Jay Lethal ahead of their match on the PPV card Saturday night.

Speaking to Scott Fishman of TV Insider, Gresham talked about Lethal leaving ROH and joining AEW, with Lethal being officially revealed at the AEW Full Gear 2021 PPV event.

Gresham was originally slated to face Bandido in a match for the Ring of Honor Championship, until Bandido was unable to take the event due to contracting COVID-19.

“Jay Lethal owed it to himself to depart from Ring of Honor, regardless of the company’s situation” Gresham began. “He accomplished everything.

Jonathan Gresham on Jay Lethal

“I’m very happy to see him go elsewhere to show the rest of the world what he is capable of” the former ROH Pure Champion continued. “Hopefully, he can become a champion in AEW.

“[But] Ring of Honor continues to be where the best wrestlers of the world have grown and been impacted by being there. Stylistically, Ring of Honor has influenced wrestling for the last 20 years. I wouldn’t be surprised if more people show up when they return from hiatus” Gresham concluded.

Here’s the full card for the PPV event tonight:

• Jonathan Gresham vs Jay Lethal
• ROH Tag Team Championships Match: The OGK vs The Briscoes
• Ring of Honor Pure Championship Match: Josh Woods vs Brian Johnson
• ROH TV Championship Match: Dalton Castle vs Rhett Titus vs Silas Young vs Joe Hendry
• Ring of Honor Six-Man Tag Team Championships Match: Shane Taylor Promotions vs The Righteous
• ROH Women’s Championship Match: Rok-C vs Willow
• Fight Without Honor: Shane Taylor vs Kenny King
• Homicide, Brody King & Tony Deppen vs Taylor Rust, Tracy Williams & Eli Isom
• Dragon Lee vs Rey Horus
• Chelsea Green and The Hex vs Miranda Alize and The Allure

Jay Lethal will be returning to Ring of Honor to face Jonathan Gresham at Final Battle. Gresham had originally been scheduled to face Bandido for the ROH World Championship on the card. Bandido had to pull out of the show due to testing positive for COVID-19, however.

“This match is about more than winning or losing, more than who’s the best or what championship we hold,” Lethal said. “This match is about showing the world what this era of Ring of Honor is and I can’t wait to get back into the ring with one of the best wrestlers I know tomorrow night, Jonathan Gresham.”

ROH has said they will address the World Title situation during the first hour of Final Battle.

Gresham vs Lethal will be one-half of a double main event on the show. The Briscoes challenging the OKC (Mike Bennett and Matt Taven) will be the other. The updated lineup for the show is below:

1. Jay Lethal vs Jonathan Gresham
2. ROH World Tag Team Championships
   The OGK (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett) (c) vs. The Briscoe Brothers (Mark Briscoe and Jay Briscoe)
3. ROH Women’s World Championship
   Rok-C (c) vs. Willow Nightingale
4. ROH 6-Man Tag Team Championships
   Shane Taylor Promotions (Jasper Kaun, Moses Maddox, and O’Shay Edwards) (with Ron Hunt) (c) vs. The Righteous (Vincent, Bateman, and Dutch) (with Vita VonStarr)
5. ROH Television Championship
   Dalton Castle (c) vs TBD
6. ROH Pure Championship
   Josh Woods (c) vs. Brian Johnson
7. Kenny King vs Shane Taylor
8. Eli Isom, Taylor Rust, and Tracy Williams vs. VLNCE UNLTD (Brody King, Homicide, and Tony Deppen)

Following ROH’s Final Battle PPV on December 11th, it’s not clear what Ring of Honor will look like. Jonathan Gresham says he’s loyal to the company, however, and he will continue to work with them even without a contract. He recently spoke to Fightful about his plans.

“Everyone who knows anything about me knows that I am on this boat until it sinks. My contract will expire in December, but even with no contract, I am loyal to Ring of Honor until the end,” Gresham said.

Gresham also said that Ring of Honor changed his life, and he’ll always be loyal to them for that.

“It definitely has been a huge part of my life and it changed my life. I was on a different path and a different road, getting in trouble, and then I found Ring of Honor. I was already wrestling, but I found Ring of Honor and I became obsessed.”

Gresham also recently announced he’s starting his own promotion:

Dalton Castle Comments On His ROH Status

Former ROH World Champion, Dalton Castle, also recently commented on his ROH status. Castle noted that the most recent television tapings felt meaningless, and that everyone knows they are out of a job soon.

“I’ve only got two months left on my contract before I am completely fired … Ring Of Honor is giving us all the boot at the end of the year,” Castle said on The Gentlemen’s Club’s Night Cruisin’ Podcast.

“It all feels meaningless actually. We just did a recording, like, three days ago and it was weird because we showed up knowing our jobs are ending,” he continued to say about the most recent tapings.

H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions on Dalton Castle’s comments.

The Sept. 17 edition of GCW Highest in the Room has come to a close and the results are in.

This event was held inside the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Los Angeles, California. Highest in the Room saw Japanese wrestling legend Minoru Suzuki take on former ROH Pure Champion Jonathan Gresham. Suzuki won the match and afterward, he found himself in a brawl with Nick Gage.

Fans also got to witness comedian Ron Funches in action. He took on Tony Deppen in a losing effort.

It wouldn’t be GCW without a deathmatch and the promotion didn’t disappoint here. Alex Colon defeated G-Rave in the special death match for the night.

MLW World Champion Jacob Fatu was in action as well. He lost to Chris Dickinson by way of disqualification.

Here’s a look at the rest of the GCW Highest in the Room results from Sept. 17.

• ASF def. Arez, Eli Everfly, Everett Connors, Gringo Loco, & Jimmy Lloyd
• 2 Cold Scorpio def. Effy
• Alex Zayne def. Jordan Oliver
• Atticus Cogar def. Ninja Mack
• The Second Gear Crew def. Lucas Riley, Nick Wayne & Starboy Charlie
• Death Match: Alex Colon def. G-Raver
• Chris Dickinson def. Jacob Fatu via DQ
• Tony Deppen def. Ron Funches
• Minoru Suzuki def. Jonathan Gresham

Ring of Honor star Jonathan Gresham lost his ROH Pure Championship over the weekend at the Death Before Dishonor PPV event.

Gresham lost the title to Josh Woods via pinfall after a back and forth contest on the card.

Speaking to WrestlingINC following the loss, Jonathan Gresham discussed how the Pure division is in ‘good hands’ with Woods going forward.

Jonathan Gresham on ROH Title Loss

“I’m deflated, to say the least, but the Pure Division is now in good hands with Josh Woods,” Gresham began. “I just have to figure out what I need to do next because my goal is still purifying this company.”

“I don’t necessarily think it needs to be thought about like that — the number one thing is keeping this company pure,” Gresham began. “The owner of the Pure Championship must believe in the pure way. As long as Josh Woods stays loyal to that idea, Ring of Honor will be okay.”

Gresham is set to face PROGRESS star Chris Ridgeway in an official ROH PURE Rules Match for Wrestle Carnival on October 9th. The full event will also be streaming to ROH Wrestling’s Week By Week.

It is not confirmed if Jonathan Gresham will remain in the Pure division of ROH or if he will be moving into the ROH Championship picture.

You can read the full results from Ring of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor 2021 here on SEScoops.

Ring of Honor held their Death Before Dishonor 2021 event over the weekend from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Four Championship matches were confirmed for the night, with the main event seeing Bandido defend his ROH Championship against Demonic Flamita, EC3 and Brody King.

Jonathan Gresham also defended his Pure Championship against Josh Woods, Shane Taylor Promotions defended their ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championships against La Bestia del Ring, Dragon Lee & King and Rok-c faced Miranda Alize to determine a new ROH Women’s Champion.

Ring of Honor Death Before Dishonor Results

Here are the full results from the show:

• 15-Man Honor Rumble – Alex Zayne wins and earns a future ROH World Championship Match.
• Dalton Castle b. Eli Isom.
• Taylor Rust b. Jake Atlas.
• Homicide, Chris Dickinson and Tony Deppen b. John Walters, LSG and Lee Moriarty.
• The OGK (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett) b. The Briscoes (Mark and Jay Briscoe).
• ROH Pure Championship Match – Josh Woods b. Jonathan Gresham – Woods beat Gresham to become the new ROH Pure Champion
• Ring of Honor World Six-Man Tag Team Championship Match – Shane Taylor Promotions (c) b. La Bestia del Ring, Dragon Lee and Kenny King
• ROH Women’s Championship Match – Rok-c b. Miranda Alize – Rok-c becomes the new ROH Women’s World Champion
• Ring of Honor World Championship Match – Bandido (c) b. Demonic Flamita, EC3 and Brody King