This past Saturday marked the end of an era for Ring Of Honor. A few months ago, ROH announced that the company would be going on a hiatus after its Final Battle show. Well if it was the end of ROH for an extended amount of time, the company and its stars went out with a Bang.
In the final match of the show, Jonathan Gresham faced off against former and thirteen-time champion Jay Lethal. Lethal was booked for the match after it was found that the current title holder Bandido had tested positive for COVID-19. Gresham and Lethal went on to have a banger of a match filled with many technical spots, but once all was said and done Gresham would come out victorious.
In an interview with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Gresham reflected on the night and shared what he would like to do next.
“Final Battle was a night that was full circle for me. I spent a lot of time with the fans at ringside. There were so many people there I knew—from the independents, from seminars, fans from smaller independent shows, like NOVA Pro [in Virginia], guys that stayed on my couch during our travels—and everyone kept telling me they had to see me win the Ring of Honor title. I have enjoyed this entire ride, so all of that meant the world to me. As champion, it is up to me to keep the spirit and the essence of Ring of Honor alive. I will preserve and protect Pure wrestling as Ring of Honor world champion. I am going to make this championship the best wrestling title in the world. In order to do that, I need to wrestle two men who helped make the Ring of Honor title the best in the world: Bryan Danielson and CM Punk. At one time, being the Ring of Honor champion meant that you were the world’s best professional wrestler. But that moniker was taken away, and my mission is to restore honor to the title. I need to step in the ring with those two men. Until then, I’ll take on all challengers for the Ring of Honor title. I plan on defending the title, but I will only defend it under Pure professional wrestling rules, which is the way it always should have been.”
While the future is still unknown for ROH, Gresham is sure to have plenty of options available to him. Only time will tell when and where we see Jonathan Gresham again.
(h/t to Fightful for the transcription)
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