By: Steven R. Jackson
Note: Please contact Kane Wharton (@Kane_B13) if you are interested in any of the photos embedded in this article
First and foremost as wrestling writers, we are wrestling fans. There is nothing I love more than honest, classic professional wrestling. And I believe no wrestler today encompasses that philosophy more than “The Foundation” Jonathan Gresham.
Honing his craft in puroresu, Gresham has risen in popularity – among his cohorts, and with fans of technical spectacles – to imaginably earn the title of Most Well-Respected Pure Wrestler in the world. I not only got the opportunity to speak with Gresham about his experiences in Japan. But, I got Gresham’s first hand thoughts on arguably the biggest match of his career, facing “The King” Minoru Suzuki at GCW Highest in the Room!
Monthly Puroresu:
So I’ll start with the big question, how did it feel when you got the call about facing Suzuki at Highest in the Room?
Jonathan Gresham:
Brett Lauderdale had already booked me and I had no clue what he was going to do. He books me in matches and I go “okay let’s do it.” So I was just waiting to find out through social media who was I going to wrestle. But for this one, he actually texted me! Lauderdale goes “Hey you versus Minoru Suzuki.” No question mark. Nothing. That’s what he said. And I said “Fuck yeah!”
I didn’t ever think I’d wrestle Suzuki. I thought “Oh, it’d be cool to wrestle him.” Because I saw him get announced against other guys. But then when Lauderdale hit me up and he was like “You and Suzuki.” I mean, can’t say no to that! So let’s do it!
Monthly Puroresu:
It’s incredible! It’s interesting because GCW have built such a reputation presenting different styles of wrestling. There are death matches. But there is also pure wrestling, with one of the main attractions being Bloodsport. Harking back to the hybrid wrestling of UWFi, you have both taken part in Bloodsport. It was an experience to see you take on Masashi Takeda, and Suzuki face Josh Barnett. Are you excited you’ve both had that experience going into Highest in the Room?
Jonathan Gresham:
Suzuki’s been shoot fighting for years. But I just really hope that we can tell a good story. That to me is the essence of professional wrestling. Us both having the background with Bloodsport is great. But at the end of the day, what we’re going to get in the ring to do is professional wrestling. And, to me, telling a story is the most important part. Suzuki can definitely do that and I hope that we can make something special.
Monthly Puroresu:
Absolutely. On that point, it’s really cool you brought the “Pure Rules” style back into focus in Ring of Honor Wrestling. With it being reintroduced, the Pure Wrestling Championship has returned too. And with that background, are you going to bring that into the match with Minoru Suzuki? The disciplines of not touching the ropes much or using closed fists? Or are you going to go out there with all guns blazing?
Jonathan Gresham:
The number one thing with me and pure wrestling is that everybody thinks pure wrestling is all about technical wrestling. It’s really not about technical wrestling. The technical wrestler may work best in a pure wrestling setting. But, in the beginning, professional wrestling had rules. Every sport has rules. And the way I look at wrestling today is that you can’t really name the rules. Besides a ref counting 1, 2, 3. Right now, in professional wrestling, it is chaos in every company you look at really. But pure wrestling, it brings it back to having rules again. So for me, I hope that we can go out there and have a good contest in between the rules.
Monthly Puroresu:
It’ll definitely be an exciting atmosphere with the GCW fans!
Jonathan Gresham:
They are going to want him to kill me! [laughs]
Monthly Puroresu:
Well, I’ll definitely be in your corner! It’ll be really interesting to see how it pans out with the fans. It’s also really cool because as well as facing Takeda in GCW, you’ve also faced another Japanese wrestler in GCW; Shinjiro Otani. When you wrestled in Japan for the first time, you went to Zero-1 (Otani’s company). Was it cool being able to face Otani given your connection with Zero-1?
Jonathan Gresham:
It was really cool! In Zero-1, the main trainer was Ikuto Hidaka. But Tanaka-san and Otani-san showed up from time to time, to help train some of the wrestlers. So it was really cool for Otani-san to see where I was then and how I was in GCW. To actually be able to get in the ring with Otani, share knowledge and understand. I learned a lot from that match and I think he saw my progression from 2013. It’s just the ride of wrestling. You never know who you’re going to meet again. It’s always funny to come back around to the people that trained you. Now you’re working with them on a big stage. So it’s funny how that works out.
Photo Credit: twitter.com/kane_b13
Monthly Puroresu:
I feel Otani is one of those guys, like Jinsei Shinzaki and The Great Sasuke, who’ve also wrestled in GCW, where they are timeless. They can have a great match with anybody anywhere! And another timeless Japanese wrestler you were very fortunate to share the ring with was Jyushin “Thunder” Liger, when you were in NJPW. You teamed with Liger in Korakuen Hall. For me, and many others, watching Liger as a fan is one thing. But tagging with Liger, it must have been such an honor.
Jonathan Gresham:
To be honest with you, I’m kind of weird. So in the moment, it doesn’t really resonate with me. I’m more concerned about what’s going on between the bells. Getting things right. But then when a tour is coming to an end, I start to reminisce on everything that happened, the people I’ve hung out with, the friendships I made, and things like tagging with Liger. There’s pictures of he and I in the back. I was like “Wow! That happened!” I was in the ring with someone that legendary and now they’re retired. More than likely won’t wrestle again. I had the small opportunity to be part of their career. That’s cool.
Monthly Puroresu:
What was it like being in a legendary venue like Korakuen Hall?
Jonathan Gresham:
Well, my debut in Japan took place at Korakuen Hall! I wrestled Danshoku Dino from DDT. So my first time being there was huge. I’d seen all these crazy matches from Dragon Gate that happened in Korakuen Hall. So to get there in 2011 and be one of the matches on the card. Then come back in 2012 where I actually main evented against Hidaka-san in the Tenka-Ichi Junior Tournament Final. It’s gradually become just another arena.
But it’s always interesting to go back and see my writing on the wall from when I first went. My name is still there. So that’s really cool. To see the other people that showed up and wrote their names on the wall. So it’s always fun to go back and see things that are still the same. Or see things that have changed about the building.
Monthly Puroresu:
It’s such a historic venue and got such a legacy. Thanks to holding so many amazing matches and so many amazing talents going through it. Now that things are opening up, after COVID restricted travel, is Japan somewhere you’re really excited to head back? And is there anyone you have seen who you like to face from Japan?
Jonathan Gresham:
It’s not so much a single individual right now. Everybody’s super high on New Japan, and New Japan is great. But I have to admit, when I was growing up, I was watching a lot of companies alongside New Japan. I was watching Dragon Gate, Pro-Wrestling NOAH, All Japan, and really enjoying a lot of what all those guys were doing. Even Michinoku Pro!
I have this in my mind where I know I need to make a living. I make my living from wrestling. But there’s also this part of me that just wants to wrestle for every company. I want to wrestle all these guys. Some matches will probably never happen because I work for Ring of Honor. And Ring of Honor only works with New Japan. But, I would really love to wrestle in front of AJPW crowd. I would really love to wrestle in front of a Dragon Gate crowd. I’d really love to wrestle in front of a Michinoku Pro crowd. Work with those talented guys on those rosters. Just to see what I can learn and see what combinations of good matches I can have. So not just one person. I want to wrestle all over Japan for every company. That would be the dream for me. Just be able to do that back and forth.
Photo Credit: twitter.com/kane_b13
Monthly Puroresu:
That’d be awesome! I spoke to Primal Fear who you trained in the Ring of Honor Dojo. They said you showed them a lot of Dragon Gate matches to study. They mentioned you talked about their conditioning, the speed they work, and the chemistry shared between those guys. Me, as a fan, watching that period in the 2000s with Masato Yoshino, CIMA, Naruki Doi, YAMATO, and, of course, Shingo Takagi, who’s the current IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, was fantastic!
You actually faced Takagi in the 2019 Best of the Super Jrs. Tournament. With him coming from Dragon Gate, was it exciting wrestling someone who had come through that system and with an aura like Takagi has?
Jonathan Gresham:
It was. But sometimes there’s situations where someone’s aura, can – not overshadow, – but, kind of …squash someone else unintentionally. So the situation I was in, was that there was really no hope for me to even make it seem like I could beat to Takagi. But this was before “The Foundation” had been officially born. So at that point, I built a reputation being a technical wrestler. But I had not built a character around it. The character around it came after the BOSJ.
So for me, it helped me realize I needed to start creating my character and that aura around myself. That was something I felt when I was out there. I felt it while we were planning the match. I felt it the entire tour. They told me at some point I would wrestle Tagaki. So when I found that out, I felt it straight away. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling. But it was a humbling feeling. It made me understand what the next step was for me.
Monthly Puroresu:
That makes sense. It’s interesting you mention “The Foundation” because “The Foundation” are such a cool stable. Yourself, Tracy Williams, Jay Lethal and Rhett Titus. The success you’ve had in ROH and the matches you’ve had have been brilliant! I’d really like “The Foundation” to take on Suzuki-Gun. Suzuki is the pure wrestler of New Japan. You are the pure wrestler of Ring of Honor. I think it would be exciting to see that as a multi-man tag match. Would you like “The Foundation” to wrestle some Japanese factions?
Jonathan Gresham:
Personally, I’m not a big fan of the multi-man matches. I like to watch them. I like to watch guys, like the Dragon Gate guys, put those matches together. But, I typically only like normal singles matches and normal tag matches. I feel the structure is less chaotic. I like to stick close to rules of wrestling. The rules of wrestling help tell stories. The more people you put in the match, the harder it is to get people to want to follow the rules of wrestling. So I typically only want to do singles or tag-team matches. But I also come out of myself and say, “Okay, I can’t always be selfish and want what I want. This is also about the fans too.” So if the fans want to see it, then I’m all for it!
Monthly Puroresu:
Awesome! Because before “The Foundation” was formed, you teamed with Chris Brookes in the “Calamari Catch Kings”. Brookes is currently over in Japan for DDT. But, like yourself, has wrestled all over Europe and the USA. He’s been doing great things in DDT and has essentially become the face of the company! Would you like to tag again and re-form the CCK over in DDT? Or even face Brookes in singles competition?
Jonathan Gresham:
I never want to fight Chris Brookes again. The last time we had a singles match I remember he kicked me so hard in my throat! Brookes claimed that he saw when he did it. And he was like “Oh shit! I’m so sorry!” So I don’t want face him in a singles matches again! But, I really, really enjoy, tagging with Brookes so much. I texted him around a week ago. I was like “Hey man. We got to figure out a way to tag, sometime soon!” So I’m really hoping we can make that happen, sooner rather than later.
Monthly Puroresu:
I’d love to see that! As well as being known as “The Foundation” you’re also known as “The Octopus”. You’re able to twist people around and manipulate people’s joints. With this match coming up against Suzuki, he’s well-known for being a submission specialist. To counteract Suzuki, are you always looking at ways to develop your submission style? New submissions or new counters to submissions? The influences of catch wrestling? Is that something you’re always wanting to develop?
Jonathan Gresham:
Of course! I just finished doing a two day seminar and I did three different four hour classes. And guys from all kinds of backgrounds showed up to the class. I had pro MMA fighters. I’ve had a catch wrestler. I’ve had different guys from the independents. And when they come, I try to make an environment where they’re not afraid to speak up and show something they’ve learned. We can all learn from each other. I don’t care if you’re six months in, a year in, or 15 years in. We can all learn from each other.
We’re all from different backgrounds, and outside of professional wrestling, we have job and experiences too. So we can still learn from those things. I like to set the stage where people are not apprehensive to speak up and say “Oh, you can also do this from here.” If you’ve got ideas, I like to see it. It may resonate with me and help me with my matches. I definitely encourage them. But I try to stay closer to psychology. I try to build things that help tell in-match stories. In-ring stories. To me, that is the essence of professional wrestling. We are storytellers. We’re telling stories with our bodies. I know the moves are cool and the transitions are cool. But at the end of the day, it’s all about the story and making it clear and easily digestible to the fans that are watching.
Photo Credit: twitter.com/kane_b13
Monthly Puroresu:
Absolutely. And the final question. If you had one message for Suzuki going into Highest in the Room, what would that message be?
Jonathan Gresham:
I’m a different animal!
Date:
September 17, 2021
