Ring Of Honor TV – March 23, 2022 (Best Of Jonathan Gresham Part 1): He Deserves Two Parts

Ring Of Honor
Date: March 23, 2022

We continue the road to the relaunch and this time around we are looking at one of the most important people in the company’s recent history. The next two weeks will look at Jonathan Gresham, the reigning World Champion, including his rise through the company. Gresham has been one of the best things about Ring Of Honor for a long time now so let’s get to it.

Quick video on Gresham.

From Final Battle 2021.

Ring of Honor World Title: Jonathan Gresham vs. Jay Lethal

For the vacant title, as Bandido is out with Coronavirus. The fans are rather happy with this one as they trade wristlocks to start with no one getting anywhere. A headlock takeover doesn’t do much for Lethal either as they’re certainly starting technical. Gresham manages to send him outside and catches Lethal with a kick in the arm on the way back in. A headlock takeover with an armtrap keeps Lethal down but Lethal cartwheels into the basement dropkick to get a breather.

Lethal slams him down to work over the back a bit more but Gresham small packages him for two. A slap to the face drops Gresham and a flapjack does it again. It’s too early for the Lethal Injection and the Figure Four, as Gresham rolls him up for two more. Another kick to the arm cuts Lethal back down and Gresham needs a breather. They chop it out with Lethal getting the better of things but telling Gresham to chop him again.

A ripcord powerslam plants Gresham again but he catches Lethal on top. What looked to be a superplex is broken up so Lethal tries Hail to the King. Lethal is ready for Gresham’s raised knees but can’t get the Figure Four either. Instead it’s a reverse Regal Roll to set up Hail to the King to give Lethal two more.

Gresham is right back on the arm and grabs a crossface chickenwing. Lethal flips forward for a cutter and they’re both down again. That means it’s time for the locker room to come out and watch as Gresham hits some running forearms for two each. The arm gives out and Gresham hits another forearm for two. The Lethal Injection is countered into a rollup for two, setting up the Octopus to make Lethal tap at 15:35.

Rating: B. Gresham absolutely had to win here as that is the story that has been set up for months. I can imagine that this would have been the ending whether Bandido had been around or not and that is the right way to go. Gresham has been the workhorse of the company since its return and going with the Pure Rules wrestler as the final shot at the final show is a smart move.

The celebration is on, including Gresham’s wife, Jordynne Grace, getting in the ring.

Gresham talks about what Lethal means to him and how much it meant to win the title from Lethal.

From GCW Blood On The Hills on December 17, 2021.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Jonathan Gresham vs. AJ Gray

Gresham is defending and this is under Pure Rules. Gray grabs a lockup to start and takes him to the mat to hammer away but Gresham is back up to start in on the leg. Another shot sends Gray outside and there’s the big flip dive through the ropes. Back in and Gresham slaps on a Figure Four but Gray escapes.

We’re clipped to Gray getting pulled down into an ankle lock before a German suplex gives Gresham two. Gray is right back with a powerbomb into a lariat for two. Gresham is right back up with the Octopus and pulls him down to the mat for the rapid fire right hands to the face. That’s enough for the stoppage at 11:10 (total match time).

Rating: C+. We didn’t get to see much here but they were beating each other up fairly well. Gray is someone I’ve liked before and I could go for seeing more of him in the future. Gresham is someone who can work well with anyone in any promotion and it was nice to see him having another one of his matches here rather than doing more of a brawl as you might expect from GCW.

From New South Wrestling’s The Dump Sanders Holiday Special on December 22, 2021 (not 2022 as the graphic says).

Ring Of Honor World Title: Jonathan Gresham vs. Adam Priest

Gresham is defending and we’re joined in progress with the two of them fighting over wrist control. That’s fine with Gresham, who takes him to the mat and cranks away on the foot. Priest reverses into a Figure Four as we get a rare edition of Gresham losing a grapple on the mat. Gresham grabs a rope for his first break before pulling Priest down by the legs to take over.

With that broken up, we’re clipped to Priest suplexing him down but Gresham reverses into an Octopus. Priests uses his first break to escape so they lock hands and chop away at each other. That’s good for a double knockdown and we’re clipped again to Priest hitting a top rope superplex but their legs interlock to give Gresham two. They go to the mat again with Gresham grabbing a few rollups, with the second one getting the pin to retain the title at 16:34 (total match time).

Rating: C+. This was another match that seemed like it could have been a lot better if I could have seen the whole thing. I’ve seen Priest a bit before and he is often treated as one of the bigger deals in southern independent wrestling. It was weird to see someone getting the better of Gresham on the mat, but that makes him look better when he comes back and retains the title on the mat in the end.

From Impact Wrestling’s Hard To Kill on January 8, 2022.

Ring of Honor World Title: Chris Sabin vs. Jonathan Gresham

Gresham is defending and it is under Pure Rules, meaning each wrestler only gets three rope breaks, closed fist punches are not allowed (warning for the first, DQ for the second) and 20 counts on the floor. Gresham flips out of a wristlock to start as they’re going technical early. Sabin flips him over and that’s good enough for a handshake. A takedown lets Gresham work on the leg but Sabin pulls him into a cradle for two.

You don’t do that to Gresham, who ties up the arms and cranks on the leg at the same time. Back up and Sabin sends him outside, setting up a hard kick to the chest to drop Gresham hard. They get back inside and fight over a backslide until Sabin plants him with a DDT for two. A hanging swinging neckbreaker drops Gresham again so he uses his first rope break to escape.

Gresham is fine enough to moonsault Sabin down and stomp on the arm, setting up the armbar with elbows to the head. Sabin has to use his first rope break to escape an armbar so Gresham slaps on the Octopus. That’s broken up as well and Sabin hits the Cradle Shock for three….but Gresham’s foot is underneath the rope for the second break. After the premature celebration ends, they lock hands to trade a bunch of chops. Make that overhand chops to the chest before they exchange enziguris. Sabin tries another enziguri but Gresham pulls him down into something close to a European Clutch to retain the title at 12:40.

Rating: B. That’s the kind of match you can expect from Gresham and it was another good one. He can work with anyone and the fact that it was someone like Sabin, who can hang in there with that style very easily made it even better. It’s so nice to see the Ring of Honor World Title sticking around, though I’m still not sure what the future holds for the whole thing. This was quite good though and a nice bonus for the pay per view.

From GCW Say You Will on January 15, 2022.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Jonathan Gresham vs. 2 Cold Scorpio

Gresham is defending and this should be good. Joined in progress with Scorpio getting the better of a test of strength before they go to a short pinfall reversal sequence. Scorpio flips away though and we’re clipped again to Gresham losing a chop off. Gresham tries to slap him in the face and is chopped right back down.

A rather loud yell sets up a forearm to drop Scorpio so Gresham snaps off a German suplex. We’re clipped again to Scorpio snapmaring him off the middle rope but Gresham grabs a choke. That earns him a flip into the corner for the break but Gresham pulls him into the rear naked choke for the win at 13:58 (total match time).

Rating: C. I could go for more of these two but that might be due to being a Scorpio fan for about thirty years. He’s definitely beyond the peak of his career but he is still looking good enough in a match like this. It’s more along the lines of a legends fight for Gresham and that is not a bad thing, as it would certainly get my attention more than Gresham fighting most current stars.

From Terminus: All Roads Lead Here on January 16, 2022.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Jonathan Gresham vs. Josh Alexander

Gresham is defending and this is under Pure Rules. They fight over wrist control to start (seems to be a common idea) and it’s an early standoff. We’re clipped to Alexander headlock takeovering him down and Gresham can’t get a headscissors to escape. Another technical off gives us another standoff and we’re clipped again to Gresham armdragging him out of the corner. A dropkick puts Alexander into the corner but he’s back with a running big boot. Alexander cranks on the foot on the ground and the ankle lock sends Gresham to the rope.

We take a break and come back with Gresham going after the knee and putting on a Figure Four. That means Alexander needs his first rope break so Gresham snaps off a springboard hurricanrana. Another Figure Four attempt is broken up with a right hand to Gresham’s jaw and we’re clipped to Alexander not being able to hit the C4 Spike. Clipped again to Gresham hitting the leg again and hitting a springboard moonsault to a standing Alexander.

Another moonsault is countered into a Tombstone for two on Gresham but Alexander’s knee is banged up. We’re clipped again to Alexander countering a Figure Four attempt into the ankle lock, which sends Gresham to the ropes. That means nothing this time though as he is out of rope breaks, meaning Gresham has to pull Alexander throat first into the ropes to escape instead. Alexander takes him to the middle rope and hits a superplex but the two of them interlock their legs and it’s a double pin at 16:52 (total match time), meaning Gresham retains in a draw.

Rating: B. Just hearing that it is Gresham vs. Alexander is all you need to hear as there was almost no way that it was going to be bad. Both guys can work well with anyone and they were able to do some very good stuff here. Then again there is only so much that you can get out of a match with this much clipping involved. Good match from what I could tell though, and that shouldn’t be a surprise.

Overall Rating: B+. Now this was a very different way to go and I liked it quite a bit. They went outside of the Ring Of Honor here and showed a bunch of different stuff, which is a lot more interesting than seeing the same promotion over and over. Gresham really is a star today and he is able to overcome the size issues to the point where you forget that they are there. Great show here and I’m looking forward to the second part next week (because there is a second part next week).

 

 

 

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