Jonathan Gresham was 15 years into the business when he became Ring Of Honor World Heavyweight Champion in 2021. It was a show of respect from the organisation for a wrestler that had paid his dues, earned the billing and even managed to sustain his popularity through a pandemic that was rough enough on wrestlers that worked for the majors let alone the extremely minor league ROH had become by then.
Staving off meat-and-potatoes workrate accusations and completely misguided/wilfully ignorant criticisms of his size, Gresham proudly ascended, and even landed a unique look with an Octopus/Cthulhu mask that became key to his entrance and aura as the organisation's top guy. Unfortunately for him, Tony Khan didn't particularly see it that way when he purchased the promotion wholesale in 2022, and decided to turn him heel on an edition of Rampage ahead of switching the belt to Claudio Castagnoli in the opener of Death Before Dishonor. It emerged that Gresham had read the tea leaves and requested his release before the match, perhaps explaining the boo-boo/disinterested that was completely visible because he'd entered without his mask and without much interest in what he had coming up.
It wasn't ideal, but it wasn't a one-off. This isn't some shot across the bow at All Elite Wrestling or Ring Of Honor having a sloppy shop on Gresham's behalf. It's just as prevalent in WWE, whether the performers have cared to admit it or not. Even vaunted locker room leaders get the lip on...
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