Wrestling (amateur and pro) turned his life around, and now he is in the ROH main event
Through amateur wrestling, pro wrestling, Ring of Honor and his mom, Jonathan Gresham turned his life around for the much better.
Today, he is one of the top professional wrestlers in the world, ranked No. 20 in the PWI 500 for 2021.
(Update: Gresham will now face Jay Lethal in the main event of Ring of Honor Final Battle: End of an Era on Saturday, Dec. 11 via Fite TV. Lethal, who is with AEW, was allowed by AEW to compete for ROH. This former ROH standout replaces ROH Champ Bandido, who can not compete because of Covid. ROH thanked AEW publicly.)
In my video interview with Gresham (conducted prior to the match change), he discusses wrestling in the main event of ROH Final Battle: End of an Era on Saturday Dec. 11 via FITE TV from Baltimore, challenging ROH World Champ Bandido for the title at Final Battle, being a part of ROH, how Jay Lethal helped him, his time growing up near Atlanta, how amateur wrestling and pro wrestling and his mom saved his life, will this be the last of ROH, what the future holds for him, what he and his wife did for Thanksgiving, their Thanksgiving favorites, dealing with depression during the pandemic, a love for their pets and more.
A troubled youth who constantly fought, Gresham attended several schools. As a last resort, his mom sent him to Miller’s Military Academy under the direction of Commander/Reverend Gabriel Miller III in Lithonia, Georgia. That’s where he learned amateur wrestling and began to turn his life around.
He longed to become a pro wrestler; so he then embarked on that journey. He trained the pro style at the WWA4 Wrestling School, led by Curtis Mr. Hughes and Jay Fury in Atlanta. He made his pro debut in 2005.
Gresham wrestled for Booker T’s Pro Wrestling Alliance/Reality of Wrestling, Chikara, Combat Zone Wrestling, Pro Wrestling ZERO1, Impact Wrestling and Evolve along the way.
Thanks to Jay Lethal, Gresham not only had an opportunity to land in Ring of Honor (his dream job) but also compete against and with the multi-talented and helpful Lethal.
That leads us to Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021, when Gresham challenges ROH World Champ Bandido in the main event of ROH Final Battle: End of an Era via FITE TV and PPV from Baltimore.
In its historic and trendsetting 19-year history, this is the final ROH show, until at least April 2022 as the company’s status is pending.
On Oct. 27, 2021, ROH announced that all talent and staff would be released from their contracts in December 2021.
Gresham, 33, of Atlanta is loyal to ROH, which has afforded him tremendous opportunities to grow and excel.
He is a former ROH Pure Title champion and ROH Tag Team champion with Lethal as part of The Foundation (Gresham, Lethal, “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams, Rhett Titus).
Gresham, who will be wrestling again for wXw in Germany in 2022 and has an open door to compete in New Japan Pro Wrestling, will be running his own indie show in January.
He is married to Impact Wrestling Knockout and powerlifting world champion Jordynne Grace. They have three dogs and two cats.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheJonGresham
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/JonathanGresham/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreshamWrestling/
Ring of Honor Final Battle:
End of an Era Main Event
ROH Champ Bandido vs. Jonathan Gresham
After his huge win over Brody King at Honor For All, Jonathan Gresham has moved into the No. 1 spot in the ROH World Title rankings and will challenge champion Bandido in the main event at Final Battle: End of an Era on Dec. 11 in Baltimore.
Bandido and Gresham have been in the ring together several times, but this will be the first-ever one-on-one meeting between the sensational luchador and outstanding technician.
Gresham dominated the Pure division after leading the charge to resurrect it last year. He won the Pure Title Tournament and held the championship for a year before losing it to Josh Woods at Death Before Dishonor two months ago.
Gresham subsequently announced that he was leaving the Pure division and setting his sights on the ultimate prize -- the ROH World Championship.
“The Octopus” wasted no time proving that he belonged in the ROH World Title division by defeating the monstrous King, who has rarely been pinned during his three years in ROH and has victories over former ROH World Champions Jay Lethal and Dalton Castle and former ROH Television Champion Shane Taylor.
Bandido reached the pinnacle when he defeated the nearly undefeatable RUSH for the ROH World Title at Best in the World in July.
“The Most Wanted” has been a fighting champion, making successful title defenses against King, EC3 and Demonic Flamita in a Four Corner Survival Match, former ROH World Champion Matt Taven, Flip Gordon and Alex Zayne.
Will Gresham fulfill what he believes is his destiny? Or will Bandido continue to reign supreme?
Join ROH live in Baltimore, on pay-per-view via Fite TV or streaming for HonorClub to find out.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheJonGresham
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/JonathanGresham/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreshamWrestling/
ROH PRESENTS
FINAL BATTLE: END OF AN ERA PPV
SATURDAY, 7 P.M.
CHESAPEAKE EMPLOYERS INSURANCE ARENA (FORMERLY KNOWN AS UMBC EVENT CENTER)
1000 HILLTOP CIRCLE
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND 21250
THE FINAL CARD of THE ERA
NEW MAIN EVENT
JONATHAN GRESHAM vs. JAY LETHAL
ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH CANCELED:
CHAMP BANDIDO vs. JONATHAN GRESHAM
(Bandido can not compete because of Covid.)
CO-MAIN EVENT
ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH:
CHAMPS THE OGK (MATT TAVEN & MIKE BENNETT) vs. THE BRISCOE BROTHERS (MARK BRISCOE and JAY BRISCOE)
ROH WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH:
CHAMP ROK-C vs. WILLOW NIGHTINGALE
ROH TV TITLE FOUR CORNER SURVIVAL MATCH:
CHAMP DALTON CASTLE vs. vs. JOE HENDRY vs. RHETT TITUS vs. SILAS YOUNG
ROH PURE TITLE MATCH:
CHAMPION JOSH WOODS vs. BRIAN JOHNSON
ROH SIX-MAN TAG TITLES:
CHAMPS SHANE TAYLOR PROMOTIONS (JASPER KAUN, MOSES MADDOX, O’SHAY EDWARDS) (with RON Hunt) vs. THE RIGHTEOUS (VINCENT, BATEMAN, DUTCH) (with VITA VonStarr)
GRUDGE MATCH: SHANE TAYLOR vs. KENNY KING
DRAGON LEE vs. REY HORUS
CHELSEA GREEN & THE HEX (ALLYSIN KAY & MARTI BELLE) vs. MIRANDA ALIZE & THE ALLURE (ANGELINA LOVE & MANDY LEON)
10-MAN WILD-CARD TAG TEAM MATCH
TEAMS WILL BE CHOSEN AT RANDOM
And more.
Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman will call the action in English. Rich Lobezno in Spanish.
FITE TV: https://www.fite.tv/watch/roh-final-battle-2021/2paci/
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This story was originally published December 9, 2021 at 4:24 PM.
