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Jonathan Gresham is one of the best professional wrestlers on the independents right now, but there was a moment in time when his career could have been finished.
Gresham revealed in August 2025 he suffered two strokes that could have been a complication from a “bad case of COVID.” He vowed to return to the ring and he did. On Jan. 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 Fox News Digital)
He talked to Fox News Digital about what keeps him going after the sudden medical issue.
“I am, how do you say it? I hope I’m using this term correctly, but I am an empath. I feel for people. I realized this after I came back from my strokes,” Gresham said. “Before my strokes, and I talk about this a lot actually, before my strokes, I was a very introverted person but I cared very deeply for people but my connections with people wasn’t as I had hoped and I would always kind of be bummed out to myself about these 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 looked at that as a second opportunity to live life a different way.”
Gresham said, since then, he’s found the ability to open up to people more. He wanted to focus on helping fellow pro wrestlers on the independent scene try to find their footing in the industry.
“So, since then, I’ve grown closer to people that I’ve known for years in the business. That’s because I’ve opened up more to them. Random people, that I meet on the street and on planes, at 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 because of this, I’ve created relationships that I would have never had before.
Jonathan Gresham and Tiger Mask compete in a bout during the New Japan Pro-Wrestling ‘Best Of Super Jr.’ at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on May 23, 2019. (Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)
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“So, I’m looking at life a lot differently now. And that kind of makes me feel more for my comrades in the wrestling business. When I see them aimless wandering 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 young people are and I desperately want to create a space to explore what pro wrestling can be. I want them to explore the pro wrestling they have in their mind.”
Partly, Gresham suggested, is that the increased access to pro wrestling gives emboldened fans to critique everything a wrestler does.
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He doesn’t want to have young people, trying to kick down a door in the business, be subjected to constant criticism.
“So, prime example: when I started wrestling, I was head over heels in love with Rey Mysterio and Bam Bam Bigelow. So, I had the time to perform and do what I loved about pro wrestling and from that, I grew into who I am today. Today, I started around 2005, YouTube was around but it wasn’t to the point where every show that takes place was being streamed or shown on YouTube. So, I can go around and suck and enjoy myself without that,” he explained.
Jonathan Gresham and Tiger Mask compete in a bout during the New Japan Pro-Wrestling ‘Best Of Super Jr.’ at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on May 23, 2019. (Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)
“But now, all the kids growing up in pro wrestling, whatever show they do is going straight to YouTube or some streaming platform. So, the problem is now they’re gonna get critiqued, not just by their coaches, they’re gonna get critiqued by fans who don’t know their story or care about their story and they’re saying the most mean things to them or about them and in a space where they can get it instantly. So, they’re on their phones and they’re getting nothing but negative things about them online and it kinda spoils the pro wrestling journey early on. And I want to help create a space where they don’t have to worry about that or go through that anymore.”
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Gresham recently went up against Fuminori Abe in PRODUCE by Orange Crush’s first event on Monday. He was a co-producer for the show.
The second event is set to take place on July 16 at White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, New Jersey.
