Jonathan Gresham Dishes On Excessive False Finishes In Wrestling, Indie Talent That Are Just ‘Stealing Kenny Omega’s Shit’

Jonathan Gresham has a strong take on the current state of wrestling.

Many of today’s matches will often rely on the excessive use of finishers and false pinfall finishes to draw a reaction from the fans. This is a divided topic in the business, with many stars relying on the style despite receiving pushback from legends.

Speaking with Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp for a new interview, Jonathan Gresham admitted that he’s not fond of every match having “falsies”.

“So this one is probably not going to be a popular opinion. I am not fond of every match having falsies. I’m in locker rooms, I hear young guys, they’re the first match or they’re a dark match on the show and they’re just like, ‘Alright, so for falsies, we’re gonna do—’ and I’m like, ‘Why are there falsies?’ To me, falsies are for main events, title matches, contender matches, big exhibition matches that are like marquee matches for the show or feuds or something like that.”

Gresham went on to criticize promoters for encouraging this style of wrestling.

“I feel like guys don’t understand how to just go out there, have a TV eight minute match, where it just ends, somebody wins the match. Everything has to be epic now and big. I kind of blame the promoters for perpetuating this way of thinking, because they continue to reward the guys that go out there, jump off of something really high or do everything in one match no matter where they are on the card. They’re not rewarding the guy that promotes the show, that plays his spot on the card, that has good psychology, that has good techniques that’s not risking the life of his opponent. Are they paying attention to the guys that actually catch wrestlers on dives? He’s safe. He’s the guy that you can put with the guy that comes from AEW to your local show. You know that he’s gonna take care of that television wrestler because he catches
everyone. It’s like certain things like that.”

Gresham continued on and praised the wrestlers that are trying to do the right thing.

“That’s what I think is going unnoticed and I hate that because there’s so many guys out there trying their hardest to do the right thing, but then when they look up they see the guy that doesn’t care and just not really working on his techniques and being unique to the show. He’s just stealing Kenny Omega’s shit and doing it on some indie show. So the promoter goes, ‘Alright, let’s make him the main guy.’ You know what I mean? What the fuck? What are we teaching these younger guys? I’m not saying what Kenny Omega is doing is bad, but I’m saying we already have one. Be inspired, but don’t necessarily blatantly steal everything he’s doing. Because think about it, everybody that watched Dynamite or whatever the fuck he was on, they’re thinking the same thing. So you get a whole show of people trying to do Kenny Omega’s fucking thing.”

Fans can check out Fightful’s full interview with Jonathan Gresham in the video linked at the top of this interview.

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