Jonathan Gresham Returns To NJPW To Set Up Title Match

Former Ring of Honor World Champion Jonathan Gresham made a surprise appearance at New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Night Before Rumble on 44th Street.

After Strong Openweight Champion Fred Rosser defeated former WCW star Crowbar in a non-title match, he cut a promo, asking who was next. Gresham came out and answered the call to challenge for Rosser's Strong Opemweight Title Friday night at NJPW's Rumble on 44th Street event. NJPW later officially announced the title match has been added to the card.

Gresham has kept a relatively low profile since he lost the ROH Championship to Claudio Castagnoli at the Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view in July. Gresham cut ties with the relaunched ROH under the new ownership of AEW's Tony Khan, reportedly in frustration over the creative direction of his on-screen character.

Gresham's last NJPW match was last November when he defeated Gabriel Kidd on "NJPW Strong." In 2019, Gresham traveled to Japan to participate in NJPW's Best Of The Super Junior tournament.

Rosser has been the Strong Openweight Champion since May 15, when he defeated Tom Lawlor.

Other matches announced for the Rumble On 44th Street event include Kazuchika Okada and Eddie Kingston vs. Bullet Club (IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jay White and Juice Robinson); Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions Aussie Open (Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher) defending their titles in a three-way against The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) and the LA Dojo tandem of The DKC and Kevin Knight; and KiLynn King challenging Mayu Iwatani for the SWA World Championship. Also, Shota Umino, Homicide, and AEW star Wheeler Yuta will face Lawlor and West Coast Wrecking Crew (Royce Isaacs and Jorel Nelson).