Pro wrestler Jonathan Gresham talks drive to get back into ring after suffering two strokes

Jonathan Gresham is 1 of the champion nonrecreational wrestlers connected the independents close now, but determination was a infinitesimal successful clip erstwhile his vocation could person been finished.

Gresham revealed successful August 2025 helium suffered 2 strokes that could person been a complication from a "bad lawsuit of COVID." He vowed to instrumentality to the ringing and helium did. On Jan. 23, 2026, Gresham was astatine the Beyond Wildest Dreams lawsuit and defeated Ryan Clancy.

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Jonathan Gresham, right, appears successful a Ring of Honor match. (Provided to Fox News Digital)

He talked to Fox News Digital astir what keeps him going aft the abrupt aesculapian issue.

"I am, however bash you accidental it? I anticipation I’m utilizing this word correctly, but I americium an empath. I consciousness for people. I realized this aft I came backmost from my strokes," Gresham said. "Before my strokes, and I speech astir this a batch actually, earlier my strokes, I was a precise introverted idiosyncratic but I cared precise profoundly for radical but my connections with radical wasn’t arsenic I had hoped and I would ever benignant of beryllium bummed retired to myself astir these things. After my stroke, I retrieve sitting determination connected the furniture and my full near broadside was paralyzed and I couldn’t determination and I prayed and I prayed and I prayed and the adjacent day, God gave maine the quality to locomotion around. So, I looked astatine that arsenic a 2nd accidental to unrecorded beingness a antithetic way."

Gresham said, since then, he’s recovered the quality to unfastened up to radical more. He wanted to absorption connected helping chap pro wrestlers connected the autarkic country effort to find their footing successful the industry.

"So, since then, I’ve grown person to radical that I’ve known for years successful the business. That’s due to the fact that I’ve opened up much to them. Random people, that I conscionable connected the thoroughfare and connected planes, astatine malls, astatine the movies, I speech to people, I get to cognize people, I spell retired of my mode to speech to radical and get to cognize people," helium said. "And due to the fact that of this, I’ve created relationships that I would person ne'er had before.

Jonathan Gresham and Tiger Mask vie successful a bout during the New Japan Pro-Wrestling 'Best Of Super Jr.' astatine Korakuen Hall successful Tokyo connected May 23, 2019. (Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)

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"So, I’m looking astatine beingness a batch otherwise now. And that benignant of makes maine consciousness much for my comrades successful the wrestling business. When I spot them aimless wandering the independents and not knowing wherever to spell and erstwhile they speech to me, I tin consciousness their frustrations. I tin consciousness however frightened immoderate of these young radical are and I desperately privation to make a abstraction to research what pro wrestling tin be. I privation them to research the pro wrestling they person successful their mind."

Partly, Gresham suggested, is that the accrued entree to pro wrestling gives emboldened fans to critique everything a wrestler does.

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He doesn’t privation to person young people, trying to footwear down a doorway successful the business, beryllium subjected to changeless criticism.

"So, premier example: erstwhile I started wrestling, I was caput implicit heels successful emotion with Rey Mysterio and Bam Bam Bigelow. So, I had the clip to execute and bash what I loved astir pro wrestling and from that, I grew into who I americium today. Today, I started astir 2005, YouTube was astir but it wasn’t to the constituent wherever each amusement that takes spot was being streamed oregon shown connected YouTube. So, I tin spell astir and suck and bask myself without that," helium explained.

Jonathan Gresham and Tiger Mask vie successful a bout during the New Japan Pro-Wrestling 'Best Of Super Jr.' astatine Korakuen Hall successful Tokyo connected May 23, 2019. (Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)

"But now, each the kids increasing up successful pro wrestling, immoderate amusement they bash is going consecutive to YouTube oregon immoderate streaming platform. So, the occupation is present they’re gonna get critiqued, not conscionable by their coaches, they’re gonna get critiqued by fans who don’t cognize their communicative oregon attraction astir their communicative and they’re saying the astir mean things to them oregon astir them and successful a abstraction wherever they tin get it instantly. So, they’re connected their phones and they’re getting thing but antagonistic things astir them online and it kinda spoils the pro wrestling travel aboriginal on. And I privation to assistance make a abstraction wherever they don’t person to interest astir that oregon spell done that anymore."

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Gresham precocious went up against Fuminori Abe successful PRODUCE by Orange Crush’s archetypal lawsuit connected Monday. He was a co-producer for the show.

The 2nd lawsuit is acceptable to instrumentality spot connected July 16 astatine White Eagle Hall successful Jersey City, New Jersey.