ROH World Title Match Announced For Death Before Dishonor

By Matthew Carlins

Ring of Honor World Champion Jonathan Gresham now knows who he will face at the Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view, and it's a big name from ROH's past.

It was announced during Friday night's episode of "AEW Rampage" that Claudio Castagnoli will get the title shot against Gresham. Castagnoli confronted Gresham earlier in the episode after Gresham's successfully defended his title against Lee Moriarty.

Gresham boasted he would be appearing on AEW programming every week going forward. He vowed to outclass and outwrestle all of the favorites of the AEW audience. Gresham declared himself "the best hold-for-hold wrestler in the world". Gresham's new manager Tully Blanchard continued to hype up his client until they were interrupted by Castagnoli.

Castagnoli wrestled in Ring of Honor between 2005 and 2011. He won the ROH World Tag Team Championship on two occasions with his longtime partner Chris Hero as The Kings of Wrestling. However, singles gold eluded Castagnoli in ROH.

Castagnoli spent more than a decade in WWE before leaving the company after his contract expired earlier this year. He made his AEW debut as the newest member of the Blackpool Combat Club at the Forbidden Door pay-per-view as the surprised opponent for Zack Sabre Jr. Filling in for the injured Bryan Danielson, Castagnoli got the win.

Just days later, Castagnoli forced Matt Menard to submit to the Sharpshooter to win the Blood & Guts match between the BCC and the Jericho Appreciation Society. Castagnoli scored another win in AEW on this past Wednesday's "Dynamite" when he defeated Jake Hager.

Gresham has held the ROH World Championship for more than 200 days. His trajectory took an unexpected turn during last Friday's episode of "Rampage" when he turned on Moriarty during a tag team match and revealed himself as the newest member of Tully Blanchard Enterprises. The stable also includes Brian Cage and the recently formed tag team Gates of Agony: Toa Liona and Kaun.

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