Jay Lethal comes back for one last dance in Ring of Honor.
Jay Lethal left Ring of Honor for AEW shortly after it was announced that Ring of Honor would be closing its doors for a brief hiatus following Final Battle.
The original main event of the show was scheduled to be Jonathan Gresham challenging for the world championship against Bandido. However, Bandido tested positive for COVID-19 and now, Ring of Honor needed a suitable replacement for what may be their final traditional pay-per-view.
Tony Khan had previously stated on today's episode of Busted Open Radio that he was going to send some help to Ring of Honor for this weekend's event and now, it is confirmed by Ring of Honor that Jay Lethal will be returning to face Jonathan Gresham in the part of the double main event for the show.
JAY LETHAL RETURNING TO FACE JONATHAN GRESHAM AS PART OF DOUBLE MAIN EVENT AT FINAL BATTLE: END OF AN ERA!
With ROH World Champion Bandido unable to appear at the Final Battle pay-per-view this Saturday night, ROH officials have signed a new match as part of a double main event that truly encapsulates what Ring of Honor has represented for two decades.
Two-time former ROH World Champion Jay Lethal, who for years was regarded as “The Franchise of ROH” before signing with All Elite Wrestling last month, is returning to take on Jonathan Gresham in a headline attraction at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore.
Gresham had been scheduled to face Bandido for the world title, but ROH announced yesterday that Bandido tested positive for COVID-19 and will not be on the show.
“This match is about more than winning or losing, more than who’s the best or what championship we hold,” Lethal said. “This match is about showing the world what this era of Ring of Honor is and I can’t wait to get back into the ring with one of the best wrestlers I know tomorrow night, Jonathan Gresham.”
ROH will address the ROH World Title situation during Final Battle Hour One, which airs free on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET on multiple platforms, including HonorClub, YouTube and Facebook.
In the other main event at Final Battle: End of an Era, The OGK (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett) put their ROH World Tag Team Title on the line against 11-time former ROH World Tag Team Champions Jay and Mark Briscoe.
Lethal and Gresham have a storied history together in ROH. The longtime friends are former ROH World Tag Team Champions and founding members of The Foundation, a faction dedicated to shining a spotlight on the Pure style of pro wrestling.
They also have had several classic matches as opponents. In two of the most memorable of those bouts, then-ROH World Champion Lethal prevailed over Gresham in a 30-minute Iron Man Match in 2019, and Gresham successfully defended the ROH Pure Title against Lethal on the 500th episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling this past April.
There had been dissension recently between Lethal and his fellow Foundation members, including Gresham, after a video surfaced of Lethal saying, “I don’t even like The Foundation.” Lethal claimed it was taken out of context.
ROH would like to publicly thank AEW for allowing Lethal to wrestle at Final Battle: End of an Era.
Watch Final Battle 2021: End of an Era this Saturday night starting at 8 p.m. ET LIVE on pay-per-view or as part of HonorClub at ROHHonorclub.com or via the ROH App on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, or Amazon Fire
Jay Lethal previously stated that he planned on retiring from Ring of Honor before they closed their doors. Learn more here.