Jonathan Gresham returns to the ring tonight for Beyond Wrestling
The former Ring of Honor champ is healthy and ready to re-enter the ring
A decade ago, Jonathan Gresham made a life-altering decision.
Molding his passion into a career was proving to be impossible. As much as Gresham loved professional wrestling, he needed to support his family. It was time to walk away and start a more stable one.
Then fate–in the form of wrestling mastermind Drew Cordeiro–intervened. Cordeiro was booking talent for his Beyond Wrestling promotion, and he envisioned Gresham as the next breakout talent from territory. But Gresham was hesitant. Promoters, after all, are known for their hyperbole, so Gresham listened, albeit cautiously.
“Around that time, my [now] wife and I had moved to York, Pennsylvania,” said Gresham. “Before the move, I was about to quit wrestling. That’s when I spoke with Drew, who told me he was going to give me a whole new platform.”
For Gresham, who wrestled the majority of his matches in Japan, England, Ireland, Hong Kong, Scotland, Wales, Amsterdam, it was a well-deserved, long-awaited opportunity. He finally had the chance to showcase his work in the United States, doing so on Beyond shows against established opponents like Chris Hero, Davey Richards, Eddie Edwards, and Colt Cabana.
Gresham’s career then began to flourish in a whole new manner. For a talent that had once been boxed in by his size–at 5’4”, Gresham was supposed to be a high-flyer–he finally found a canvas where he could display a brilliant form of technical wrestling.
Later that year, as Gresham was wrestling Zack Sabre Jr. in a trilogy of highly acclaimed bouts, the thought of leaving the business was no more than an afterthought.
“Beyond went above and beyond to give me a platform, and those matches with Sabre cemented me as an up-and-comer,” said Gresham. “It all goes back to that conversation with Drew. In a roundabout way, Beyond is the reason I’m still wrestling today.”
A lot has happened in the ensuing decade. Gresham found a new place to ply his craft in Ring of Honor, excelling in their Pure Wrestling Rules matches. He worked his way up the card to ROH world champion, but opted to ask for his release shortly after AEW owner Tony Khan purchased the company.
Gresham spent some time in TNA, then entered free agency at the start of 2025. Yet he has been out of action since last summer after suffering two strokes that were complications from a severe battle with Covid.
“Everybody already knows I had two strokes,” said Gresham. “They were Covid-related strokes. Now I’m fully ready to go. I’m 100 percent and I’m off to the races.”
When asked if he had a message for those who doubt him, Gresham flashed a quick smile.
“Good luck to them,” he said. “My goal is to encourage the younger generation to do what you love about pro wrestling–by doing what I love about pro wrestling.”
For his first match in nearly six months, Gresham returns to Beyond Wrestling. He is set to wrestle “Fancy” Ryan Clancy at tonight’s Wildest Dreams show, which airs live on IWTV.
“Beyond did so much for me,” said Gresham. “It gave me a platform to show the world what I could do. It’s only fitting to come back and give young individuals the opportunity to wrestle people more experienced than them on a big stage.”
