Report: Further Details On Jonathan Gresham "Cussing Out" Tony Khan

ROH Death Before Dishonor 2022 opened with ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham dropping the title to Claudio Castagnoli, with Gresham reportedly requesting his ROH/AEW release ahead of the match.

Reports at the time suggested that Gresham and ROH President Tony Khan met beforehand, with Gresham allegedly ‘cussing out’ Khan, and a further report from Fightful Select potentially reveals more on the situation.

The report suggests that Gresham, Khan and others met around 4 pm the day of Death Before Dishonor, with Gresham ‘admittedly heated’ and not happy with the booking of or direction of his character. It was said to be agreed that the conversation and details would remain private, however, the report states that by the time the conversation had ended much of the locker room, staff, and allegedly members of building security could physically hear the discussion.

The apparent lack of communication within AEW/ROH is said to have been a major factor in Gresham’s frustration, echoing earlier stories from the likes of Joey Janela and others, with the report stating that Gresham had held productive talks with QT Marshall and Sonjay Dutt, but the buck stops with Khan. With Khan ultimately having the final say with creative, Gresham was supposedly told that any creative decisions had to be ran by Khan, and couldn’t get any answers nor was he able to meet directly with Khan until a few hours before the show.

As well as Marshall and Dutt, the report also revealed that names such as Pat Buck, Christopher Daniels, Megha Parekh, and AEW producers are go-betweens from talent to Khan, with all questions about creative and booking having to be relayed directly to Khan. 

From the AEW side of things, the report states that they believed Gresham came into the meeting with his ‘mind made up’, saying they had never seen him so heated before, believing it was Gresham’s passion about his vision for himself, his character, and ROH as a whole that drove it. Gresham and Khan/ROH disagreed on where things should go with Gresham creatively, with Gresham said to have been against his recent heel turn. ROH are said to have believed there was a ‘bigger picture’ for Gresham’s character and heel turn, and from the outside looking in it could certainly be suggested that ROH were about to position Gresham as one of the biggest heels in the company.

Gresham vs. Claudio was the second shortest match on the main DBD card at just 11:30, and Fightful’s report reveals that the finish to the match had been ‘at least hinted’ to Gresham, but it is unknown at this time if he knew ahead of Saturday.