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Jonathan Gresham is one of the best independent professional wrestlers currently, but there was a time when his career could have been over.
Gresham revealed in August 2025 that he suffered two strokes that may have been a complication of a “bad case of COVID.” He vowed to return to the ring and he did. On January 23, 2026, Gresham was at the Beyond Wildest Dreams event and defeated Ryan Clancy.
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Jonathan Gresham, right, appears in a Ring of Honor match. (Provided to PK Press Club Digital)
He spoke to PK Press Club Digital about what’s keeping him going after this sudden medical issue.
“I am, what do you say? I hope I’m using that term correctly, but I’m an empath. I feel for people. I realized that after I came back from my attacks,” Gresham said. “Before my stroke, and I talk about this a lot actually, before my strokes, I was a very introverted person but I cared very deeply about people but my relationships with people were not the way I had hoped and I was always a little disappointed by those things. After my stroke I remember sitting there on the bed and my whole left side was paralyzed and I couldn’t move and I prayed and I prayed and I prayed and the Next day, God gave me the ability to walk around. So, I considered this a second opportunity to experience life in a different way.
Gresham said that since then, he has found the ability to open up more to people. He wanted to focus on helping his fellow professional wrestlers in the independent scene try to find their place in the industry.
“Since then, I’ve gotten closer to people I’ve known for years in the business. That’s because I’ve opened up more to them. Random people, I meet on the street and on planes, in malls, at the movies, I talk to people, I get to know people, I go out of my way to talk to people and get to know people,” he said. “And through that, I’ve created relationships that I never would have had before.
Jonathan Gresham and Tiger Mask face off in a fight at New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s “Best Of Super Jr.” at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on May 23, 2019. (Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)
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“So I see life a lot differently now. And that makes me feel more for my peers in the wrestling business. When I see them wandering aimlessly among the independents and not knowing where to go and when they talk to me, I can feel their frustrations. I can feel how scared some of these kids are and I desperately want to create a space to explore what professional wrestling can be. I want them to explore the professional wrestling that they have in mind.”
Gresham suggested that increased access to professional wrestling partly gives fans the courage to criticize everything a wrestler does.
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He doesn’t want young people trying to break down a door in the company to be subjected to constant criticism.
“So, a great example: When I started wrestling, I was head over heels in love with Rey Mysterio and Bam Bam Bigelow. So I had time to play and do what I loved in professional wrestling and from there I became who I am today. Now, I started around 2005, YouTube existed but it wasn’t to the point where every show that took place was broadcast or streamed on YouTube. So I can walk around and suck and have fun without it,” he explained.
Jonathan Gresham and Tiger Mask face off in a fight at New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s “Best Of Super Jr.” at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on May 23, 2019. (Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)
“But now every kid growing up in pro wrestling, whatever show they’re on, they go straight to YouTube or a streaming platform. So the problem now is they’re going to be criticized, not just by their coaches, they’re going to be criticized by fans who don’t know their history or don’t care about their history and they say the nastiest things about them or about them and in a space where they can get it instantly. So they’re on their phone and they’re just getting negative things about them online and it kind of ruins the journey of professional wrestling at the beginning and I want to help create a space where they don’t have to worry about that or experience that anymore.
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Gresham recently faced Fuminori Abe at the first event of PRODUCE by Orange Crush on Monday. He was a co-producer of the show.
The second event is scheduled to take place on July 16 at White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, New Jersey.
