Former ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham detailed his exit from AEW and the exchange with Tony Khan that led to it.
Talking about the question “GrapsodyGresham said he’s been “really depressed” about it for a long time, having spent time building a reputation that was affected by its inflammatory conversations.
“I was trying to present my argument in the worst possible way, I’ll admit it,” he continued. “Let me go ahead and say up front that my attitude was wrong. If I could change anything, I would change the way I tried to express myself.”
Gresham joined AEW after Tony Khan captured Ring of Honor in 2022, Gresham was the current ROH World Champion at that point in time.
He has only worked four matches on AEW programming since retaining his title at Supercard of Honor 2022, and his last match under Khan saw him lose his title. ROH World Title to Claudio Castagnoli before leaving.
Gresham explained that frustration grew during this period due to the changes in his character and presentation, going from the head of the faction, the Foundation, to Tully Blanchard Enterprises, which was later acquired by Prince Nana as the revived Embassy.
He explained. “I was told. “You will make a creative contribution to everything you do in the future.” So, in my mind, I’m “Foundation” Jonathan Gresham. I have a story that takes place in this company that is quite successful… I was part of a faction that was doing quite well.”
“So I get on TV and there are my covers created with people I don’t work with,” he continued. “They said that I have a creative input on everything I do. So let me date because I don’t think I should. I had a successful voice, a successful personality. Why not have this successful person and voice in your national global program? Why are we deleting it when it was working? It didn’t make sense to me.”
Jonathan Gresham remembers not being able to talk to Tony Khan
Gresham said he asked for a meeting and was told it would happen. But then that didn’t happen, so she tried setting up a virtual meeting before learning that wasn’t an option. He said he then received an email to set up another meeting, which never happened.
“Now I’m kind of worried,” he recalls. “The third time I was like, you know what? I’m going to take the initiative, find this guy and talk to him… So I meet him at Gorilla and start trying to talk to him. He turns to me and says. “Hey, this is my girlfriend,” and I said. When I turn around, this guy is walking down the aisle away from me.”
Gresham said that at this point, he started to feel disrespected and couldn’t understand why he was constantly being booed.
He admitted that in the match before losing his title, he did bring up his PWI 500 ranking and the fact that he was world champion as he tried to justify the time it took to discuss his issues.
“I don’t know what else I can do to get your attention to give me five minutes of your time,” he said. “And when I, this was a really big thing that was left out that no one wants to talk about, I told the situation during the elephant in the room. there were no people like me as a champion. So I brought it up… I just want my side to understand why I decided to go the way I did. I was laughed at when I looked at myself and he laughed.
Jonathan Gresham denies he didn’t want to lose to Claudio Castagnoli
Gresham said that when he was laughed at, he “lost it” and it led to him quitting on the spot. He clarified that he will do the show as he did and Khan told him that he will not work with him again.
He dismissed the idea that he didn’t want to lose to Castagnoli, and found it an offensive story more for the admiration he has for Castagnoli and those he calls “The Originals.”
“After that, the promoters stopped working with me. My lifestyle changed drastically. If it wasn’t for the money I saved and my wife (Jordyn Grace) not being who she is, I would have made up my mind,” he said. “The only people that kept me going and kept me relevant and kept me moving, that made me feel like I could still be a wrestler, were Brett Lauderdale from GCW and Adam Abdallah from PRODUCE.”
Gresham said he was heartbroken to leave and to know that the match with Castagnoli would be his last, as he spent his adult life dreaming of being a ROH wrestler as opposed to WWE or TNA.
He said that after the events leading up to his departure, the woman told him that he should not have quit on the spot. But he didn’t think what would happen to it. He has since gone on to an active career on the independent circuit with both GCW and PRODUCE, as well as the likes of Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling and House of Glory.