ROH superstar Jonathan Gresham recently spoke with TV Insider to hype up this Saturday’s Final Battle PPV, where the Octopus will be taking on AEW’s Jay Lethal in the show’s main event, which has been dubbed “The End of an Era.” Gresham was originally set to challenge Bandido for the ROH world title, but that bout was pulled after Bandido tested positive for COVID-19.
Highlights from the interview are below.
Says Lethal owed it to himself to go to AEW:
“Jay Lethal owed it to himself to depart from Ring of Honor, regardless of the company’s situation. He accomplished everything. I’m very happy to see him go elsewhere to show the rest of the world what he is capable of. Hopefully, he can become a champion in AEW. [But] Ring of Honor continues to be where the best wrestlers of the world have grown and been impacted by being there. Stylistically, Ring of Honor has influenced wrestling for the last 20 years. I wouldn’t be surprised if more people show up when they return from hiatus.”
Says he feels honored about the many names in the industry who want to work with him:
“I’m taken aback by a lot of it, but I think my passion for Ring of Honor and wrestling and the industry as a whole shines through my matches. I think people who are like-minded and have similar visions are thinking highly of me. It’s great because they are the ones giving back to the industry. They are shining a lot on me with their positive words. I appreciate it and hope one day when I’m in their position I can do the same for another. A lot of people wouldn’t go out of their way to mention me like that. I want to let them know I appreciate it because it has helped my reputation and my career.”
On the pressure he feels moving beyond ROH:
“I feel pressure, but I also feel a bit lost. My entire trajectory was always in the back of my mind to be in Ring of Honor and be champion, but I never said that out loud [before]. I always made small goals because my journey to Ring of Honor was difficult. My skin color and height played a huge role in suppressing me from getting a lot of opportunities in the business. I started to feel good about myself, which has led me to be in the main event of an end of an era show. It’s not the ideal situation, but I always wanted to create and have a legacy.”