Jonathan Gresham Questions How Black Technical Wrestlers Are Viewed

Jonathan Gresham is currently one of the most talented technical wrestlers on the planet and has given insight into how black technical wrestlers are viewed overall.

In an interview with "WrestlePurist," Gresham opened up about the unique way he looks at wrestling. He said that he looks at it as lanes on a highway, with the fast lanes as the top guys such as Kenny Omega, Will Ospreay, and the Young Bucks wrestling in the new, hot style. Every other wrestler is chasing behind them, trying to catch up and do whatever is needed to get to the front of the line.

He went on to say that when he started, nobody was on the same level as the two most prominent technical wrestlers in the world at that point in time: Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness, but he aspired to be like them.

"I thought to myself, 'I want to be a technical wrestler. At the time, there wasn't a lot of guys. Then I looked at, oh, how many black guys are known as technical wrestlers?"

Gresham added that he has always wrestled how he wants to without letting anyone influence him. He stated that he sees black wrestlers thrust into the role of entertainers because promoters feel it is the easiest thing for them to do.

"It bothers me that you can have white guy, number one with no character, and is great. Then you've got black guy — same, but he needs a character. But why? Why can't he just be a good wrestler? He's got to be so much more than the other guy that's World Champion, doesn't have a character."

Gresham asked for his release from Ring Of Honor a few days ago ahead of his ROH World Championship loss at Death Before Dishonor to Claudio Castagnoli. He reportedly got into a heated argument with Tony Khan ahead of the event regarding his character. Currently, there has been no indication that Gresham was released from his contract, but it was stated that Gresham is done wrestling for the foreseeable future after the end of the month.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit WrestlePurist with an h/t to Wrestling INC. for the transcription.