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Jonathan Gresham is one of the best independent professional wrestlers right now, but there was a time when his career could have been over.
Gresham revealed in August 2025 that he suffered two strokes that could have been a complication of a “severe case of COVID.” He promised 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 Pak Gazette Digital)
He spoke with Pak Gazette Digital about what keeps him going after the sudden medical issue.
“I am, what do you say? I hope I’m using this term correctly, but I’m an empath. I feel for people. I realized this after I recovered from my strokes,” Gresham said. “Before my strokes, and I actually talk about this a lot, before my strokes, I was a very introverted person, but I cared a lot about people, but my connections with people were not what I expected and I always got discouraged about these things. After my stroke, I remember sitting there in bed and my whole left side was paralyzed and I couldn’t move and I prayed and prayed and prayed and the next day, God gave me the ability to walk. So I saw it as a second chance at life. life in a different way.
Gresham said he has since found the ability to open up to people more. He wanted to focus on helping other professional wrestlers on the independent scene try to find their place in the industry.
“Since then, I’ve gotten 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 airplanes, in malls, at the movies, I talk to people, I meet people, I do everything I can to talk to people and meet people,” he said. “And because of this, I have created relationships that I would never have had before.
Jonathan Gresham and Tiger Mask compete in a match during 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 now I look at life very differently. And that makes me feel more for my comrades in the wrestling business. When I see them aimlessly wandering around the independents and not knowing where to go and when to 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 professional wrestling can be. I want them to explore the professional wrestling that they have in their minds.”
Part of it, Gresham suggested, is that increased access to professional wrestling emboldens fans to criticize everything a wrestler does.
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He doesn’t want young people, who are trying to break down a door in the business, to be the subject of constant criticism.
“So, a great example: When I started wrestling, I was madly in love with Rey Mysterio and Bam Bam Bigelow. So, I had time to perform and do what I loved about professional wrestling and from there, 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’s on is being streamed or shown on YouTube. So I can ride and suck and have fun without that,” he explained.
Jonathan Gresham and Tiger Mask compete in a match during 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 who grow up in pro wrestling, any show they do, it’s going to go straight to YouTube or some streaming platform. So the problem is now they’re going to be criticized, not just by their coaches, but by fans who don’t know their story or don’t care about their story and are saying the meanest things to them or about them and in a space where they can understand it instantly. So, they’re on their phones and they’re getting nothing but negative things about them online and it kind of ruins the pro wrestling journey a little bit. from the beginning 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 faced off against Fuminori Abe at the first PRODUCE by Orange Crush event on Monday. He was a co-producer of the program.
The second event will take place on July 16 at White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, New Jersey.
