Jonathan Gresham Wins PROGRESS Championship - WWE/AEW Implications?
Notes on Jonathan Gresham's PROGRESS Title win and what it may mean for WWE, AEW and ROH.
In a story with potential significance beyond a mere match result, Jonathan Gresham became PROGRESS Wrestling World Champion this weekend, defeating Cara Noir at the promotion's Chapter 130: Dodge, Dip, Duck, Dive, Dodge event in London, England.
Noir's record 791 days on top ended via interference from Spike Trivet, which Gresham capitalised on to take the strap. Gresham now advances to his first defence against Malik on 23 March's Everything Patterned: London show.
On top of becoming the first American wrestler to hold the PROGRESS strap, Gresham is now a dual-world champion, having reigned as Ring Of Honor's top title-holder since Final Battle 2021 on 11 December.
Gresham has defended the ROH World Title in 15 matches since taking the gold, including two bouts for PROGRESS. Those matches (vs. Chris Ridgeway on 6 February, vs. Dean Allmark on 20 February) were only seen by the live crowd, however, with the bouts cut from PROGRESS' uploads to Peacock in the United States and WWE Network elsewhere.
Whether or not Gresham's victory over Cara Noir will be shown when Chapter 130 is uploaded is therefore up in the air, despite it standing as the show's main event.
It was reported last week that Gresham has held talks with AEW and ROH owner Tony Khan, fuelling speculation of a potential deal with the AEW founder and his umbrella of promotions. The 34-year-old has been backstage at several episodes of AEW Dynamite lately. As ROH Champion, Gresham is effectively working under Khan already, albeit without a contract, having been a free agent since December.
PROGRESS, who have been in a working relationship with WWE since 2017, recently omitted a bout featuring AEW-contracted Anthony Ogogo from the WWE Network/Peacock upload of its 23 January Chapter 127: And The Word Was PROGRESS... event.