Last night’s ROH: Death Before Dishonor event surprisingly opened with the ROH World Championship being defended by Jonathan Gresham, as he took on recent AEW signee Claudio Castagnoli. Castagnoli ultimately emerged with the victory to become the new ROH World Champion, in a match that many felt ended rather abruptly. After the match, Gresham appeared visibly frustrated, and recent report from Fightful Select has now indicated that this may have been the last time we’ll see Gresham in either AEW or ROH.
The report notes that the former ROH World Champion requested his release prior to last night’s event, with a lack of communication between himself and Tony Khan cited as a cause for frustration.
“Fightful Select has learned that former ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham asked for his release Saturday ahead of the ROH Death Before Dishonor show that saw him lose the championship. We’re told that there was a lack of communication between the company and Gresham leading up to the weekend, and Gresham was said to have felt disrespected by this.”
-Fightful
Gresham recently spoke to WrestlePurists ahead of his ROH title defence, where he confirmed that he’s had minimal contact with Khan since he purchased ROH earlier this year.
The Fightful Select report also notes that another tipping point leading to Gresham’s decision to request his release was the lack of time given to his ROH World Championship defence against Claudio Castagnoli, a sentiment echoed by numerous fans online.
Fightful Select then reported that a meeting between Khan and Gresham took place shortly before the show began. Gresham is said to have aired his frustrations with Khan at this meeting, eventually leading to him “cussing out” the AEW President according to various talents at the show.
Prior to signing with AEW/ROH, Gresham had considerable interest from Japan, Impact, and various other promotions, although it now appears, according to the report, that Gresham may be stepping away from the ring entirely, as Fightful noted that those close to Gresham believe he is “done with wrestling for the foreseeable future after this month.”
Another interesting note from Fightful’s report states that Gresham opted to wear his regular ring gear last night despite the occasion, as he wanted to be himself and see everything clearly for what could possibly be his last match.
As of writing, Gresham has not been officially confirmed as being released by AEW/ROH, and Fightful note that Tony Khan has yet to comment on the situation.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any updates regarding this developing situation as soon as we hear more.
