Jonathan Gresham Opens Up About Explosive ROH Exit, Last Meeting With AEW's Tony Khan

Former ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham has detailed his exit from AEW and the exchange with Tony Khan that led to it. 

Speaking on the matter on "Grapsody," Gresham said that he was "really depressed" about it for a long time, because he had spent time building a reputation that had been affected by the rumors it spurred on. 

"I was trying to make my argument in the worst way. I will admit that," he continued to say. "Let me go ahead and say upfront, the way I reacted to things was not right. If I could change anything, I would change the way that I tried to express myself."

Gresham joined AEW after Tony Khan acquired Ring of Honor in 2022, Gresham the reigning ROH World Champion at that point in time.

He worked just four matches on AEW programming after retaining his title at Supercard of Honor 2022, and his last match under Khan saw him lose his ROH World title to Claudio Castagnoli before departing. 

Gresham explained that frustrations grew during this period over the changes made to his character and presentation, having gone from the leader of the faction, The Foundation, to being aligned with Tully Blanchard Enterprises, a faction that was later acquired by Prince Nana as a revived Embassy.

He explained, "What was told to me is, 'You will have creative input on everything you do going forward.' So, in my mind, I am 'The Foundation' Jonathan Gresham. I have a story going on in this company that is pretty successful... I was part of a faction that was doing pretty well."

"So I arrive at television and there's T-shirts of me created with people that I don't work with," he continued. "They said I have creative input on everything that I do. So let me ask for a meeting because I don't think I should be doing this. I had a successful voice, successful persona. Why not have this successful persona and voice on your national worldwide program? Why are we deleting it when it was working? It didn't make sense to me."

Gresham said that he asked for a meeting, and was told that it would happen. But then that did not happen, so he tried to set up a virtual meeting before learning that wasn't an option. He said he then got an email to set up another meeting that never transpired.

"Now I'm kind of bothered," he recalled. "On the third time I was like, you know what? I'm going to take the initiative and find this dude and talk to him... So then I meet him at Gorilla and I start trying to talk to him. He turns to me and goes, 'Hey, this is my girlfriend,' and I was like, 'Oh, nice to meet you.' As I turn around, this dude is walking down the corridor away from me."

Gresham said that at this point he was beginning to feel disrespected, and couldn't understand why he kept being blown off.

He admitted that, during the meeting ahead of his title loss, he did bring up his ranking in the PWI 500 and the fact he was World Champion, because he was trying to justify the time he was asking for to discuss his issues.

"I don't know what else I can do to get your attention to give me five minute of your time," he said. "And when I, this is one really big thing that was left out that nobody wants to talk about, I brought up the situation during the time of elephant in the room; there wasn't people that looked like me as a champion. So I brought that up... I just want my side to be understood to why I decided to go off the way that I did. I was laughed at when I brought that up. He looked at me and he laughed at me."

Gresham said that when he was laughed at, he "lost it" and that led to him quitting on the spot. He clarified that he would do the show, as he did, and told Khan that he would not be working with him anymore.

He dismissed the notion that he didn't want to lose to Castagnoli, and found that a hurtful narrative more for the admiration he has for Castagnoli and those he calls "The Originals."

"Promoters stopped working with me after that. My way of living changed dramatically. If it wasn't for the money I had saved and my wife [Jordynne Grace] being who she is, I would have been f***ed," he said. "The only people that kept me on and kept me relevant and kept me moving, that made me feel like I can still be a wrestler, was Brett Lauderdale from GCW and Adam Abdalla from PRODUCE."

Gresham said that he was heartbroken by the departure and knowing the match with Castagnoli would be his last, because he had spent his adult life dreaming of becoming a ROH wrestler, as opposed to WWE or TNA.

He said that after the events that led to his departure, he was told by his wife that he shouldn't have quit on the spot. But he did not reckon what was to come with it. He has since continued to have an active career on the independent circuit, both with GCW and PRODUCE but also with the likes of Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling and House of Glory.