ROH World Title Match Set For GCW Debut at Hammerstein

Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) has been on a phenomenal pace in the U.S. indies over the past few years, firmly establishing itself as the most popular independent promotion in the United States. As it continues to solidify its legacy, it is now looking towards January 23, 2022, when it is scheduled to make its eagerly awaited debut event at the historic Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, which will feature the return of The Wrld on GCW. On Monday night, GCW revealed the very first match announcement for the huge SOLD-OUT show and it’s a doozy – newly crowned Ring of Honor World Champion Jonathan Gresham will defend his ROH World title against Blake Christian.

https://twitter.com/GCWrestling_/status/1473118456203513857

Jonathan Gresham is no stranger to GCW – he made his GCW in March of 2019 with a victory over Colby Corino at GCW Code of the Streets in Philadelphia. Since then, he’s competed in GCW Bloodsport, faced top international talents like Shinjiro Otani and Minoru Suzuki, and taken on such GCW stars as Tony Deppen, Alex Zayne, and Starboy Charlie, as well as GCW regular and AEW star Lee Moriarty. But now Gresham has something he never had during most of his prior GCW run – the Ring of Honor World Championship. At ROH Final Battle last week, following ROH World Champion Bandido not being cleared to compete, Gresham defeated former ROH World Champion Jay Lethal to be crowned the new ROH World Champion. But with Ring of Honor going on hiatus until Spring of 2022, it seemed he may become a paper champion. But then he brought his World Championship to the ring of GCW. This past weekend at GCW Blood on the Hills in Los Angeles, Jonathan Gresham had his first ROH World title defense, defeating former GCW World Champion AJ Gray in a hard-hitting Pure rules match. And now he’s set to defend his ROH World title once more in a GCW ring, this time in the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.

His opponent is none other than one of the U.S. indies breakout stars of 2019 in Blake Christian, whose meteoric rise was instigated from his GCW debut in Nashville at GCW Lights Out that July. By the end of 2020, Christian had become of the most coveted indies stars, competing for multiple top indie promotions across the country, as well as appearing for the likes of New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and IMPACT Wrestling. In early 2021, Blake Christian signed with NXT and debuted as Trey Baxter, immediately debuting with an NXT Cruiserweight Championship match against champion KUSHIDA, followed by a strong showing in the annual NXT Breakout Tournament. By October, he was released from the company. He’s returned to the independent scene with a vengeance, returning with GCW in early December, followed by big matches with Beyond Wrestling and Warrior Wrestling shortly after. Shockingly, championship gold has eluded Blake Christian so far since his 2019 debut – despite an incredible run towards the GCW World Championship that ended in defeat against then-GCW World Champion Rickey Shane Page this past January before he headed to NXT. Also shockingly, he has yet to face Johnathan Gresham in a match. But on January 23, 2022, at least one of these things will be rectified. Two of the U.S. indies’ finest performers will be meeting up for the first time, with the Ring of Honor World Championship on the line, as GCW sets to make history in the annals of U.S. independent wrestling.