Jonathan Gresham: If You Had Told Me Years Ago That I’d Willingly Enter A Deathmatch Tournament, I Probably Would Have Laughed

This weekend, “The Octopus” Jonathan Gresham enters the world of deathmatch wrestling, as he heads into his first deathmatch tournament ever, Game Changer Wrestling’s Tournament of Survival.

The 20 year professional wrestling veteran, shared his thoughts on the upcoming tournament and his opening round match against Masashi Takeda.

Today is June 4th, and I’m on my way to New Jersey to rest and prepare for my first-round match against Takada in GCW’s Tournament of Survival. Before that, though, I get to spend time at Catch Point and take a class taught by Tracy Williams. That alone has me excited. Every time I’m around Tracy, I leave inspired. I leave thinking differently. Learning differently. Seeing wrestling through a new lens. I truly believe he is one of the brightest minds in professional wrestling today, and I’m grateful that I’ll get two days to learn from someone whose passion for the craft is as deep as his understanding of it. Then comes the next chapter. After those two days, I’ll step into the ring with a deathmatch legend Takeda. If you had told me years ago that I’d willingly enter a deathmatch tournament, I probably would have laughed. But after returning to the ring, something changed. I felt blessed simply to be here again. Blessed to compete. Blessed to learn. Blessed to experience this life through professional wrestling. That feeling opened a door in my mind. I no longer want to see only one side of this art form—I want to experience all of it. Every style. Every challenge. Every lesson hidden behind a different set of ropes. Professional wrestling is a vast world, and I want to walk every path it offers. So this is my next step. Deathmatch wrestling. I look forward to testing myself, embracing the unknown, and carrying the spirit of pure wrestling and MAG with me into an environment where it rarely exists. Different roads. Different philosophies. Same pursuit of growth. As always, I am a student of the game. And this weekend, the classroom just happens to be a tournament of survival. With the fire and spirit of the originals, I am the foundation.

Tournament of Survival 11 will take place this Saturday, June 6 at The Showboat in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The event is set to stream live on TrillerTV+.