Before Steve Maclin etched his name into the record books as IMPACT World Champion at IMPACT Rebellion, he made history of a different kind on the January 20, 2022 episode of IMPACT Wrestling when he challenged Jonathan Gresham for the ROH Championship.
It was the first time ever the ROH Title had been defended on IMPACT TV and only the second time the title had been defended in IMPACT.
Speaking to Jeremy Lambert and Joel Pearl on In The Weeds, Maclin reflected on the bout.
"Pure technical genius, he is," Maclin said of Gresham. "One of the best in the world. Doesn't get enough credit. I know people talk about it, but he needs to get more credit for how good he is. That was one of those matches going into that I was open-minded. 'This is your realm, teach me how we can make these rules work and put into a story and how we can make this work to be pure awesomeness.' For the 12 minutes we had in the match, I think we made the most of that story and telling that story, especially with the rules that go into it. That is one of those things in pro wrestling and tag wrestling, where, if you abide by the rules and make them mean something, it makes the story and the match so much better. That was one of those matches that I'm very proud to have. A lot of people have come to me and said, 'I really enjoyed that match between you and Gresham, I would love to see it again.' Maybe down the road that is somewhere we go. I would love to do another match like that because it pushed me to my limits on the technical side. I'm not the most technical wrestler in the world, but I know how to adapt to it and work with it. I'm very proud of that one."
Gresham was victorious in the bout against Maclin. Though he returned to ROH following the company being purchased by Tony Khan, he left the promotion at the end of 2022 and returned to IMPACT in December 2022.
Elsewhere during the interview, Maclin called out KENTA for a match at IMPACT x NJPW Multiverse United 2. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
Fans can check out the full interview with Maclin in the video above.
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