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In case you haven't heard, Jonathan Gresham has reportedly asked for his release from AEW/Ring of Honor after a falling out with Tony Khan over his booking in the company (more on that here). While this news hasn't exactly soured the overall reception to Death Before Dishonor in the greater independent wrestling world, as most still feel the show was a resounding success, it has generated more than a few questions about how TK runs his shop, with Sean Ross Sapp pointing out that more than a few other performers have had similar issues with communication in the past.
There seems to be a lot of lack of communication between talent relations and talent that we've heard from. We've had stories of Gresham, Marko, Cage, Janela and others not being able to get answers or responses
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) July 24, 2022
So naturally, the Gresham discourse has branched out in a variety of different ways, with some bringing up the Big Swole situation and others, like Joey Janella, coming to Khan's defense.
Surely this is a story with much more to be told, but until then, what did the other members of Gresham's thrown-together faction, Tully Blanchard Enterprises, think of Khan's decision to transition over to the Embassy and to shift the leadership role from Blanchard – who is reportedly out with the company – over to Prince Nana? Well, two members of the team, Brian Cage and Toa Liona, have actually semi-addressed the situation and, in a, shall we say, interesting twist of fate, have actually come to the defense of their current boss – Khan, not Nana.
The Embassy is happy they have a home in Ring of Honor/AEW.
As unlikely as it may seem, Tony Khan is a big fan of Brian Cage; he signed him up a few months before he initially debuted in AEW, and picked up his option back in the spring despite being off of television since October with a spot in the new Ring of Honor in mind.
Surprising? Well, it shouldn't be, I mean, look at what the booker man told Wrestling Inc. himself back in April.
“I really like Brian Cage, I’ve always really liked Brian Cage it was funny because when I first started thinking this might be a possibility [purchasing ROH], I hadn’t worked Brian Cage back into my plans yet. I couldn’t tell Brian Cage [about ROH], especially when it’s confidential. Based on where we were going with him I thought Team Taz are in a really strong position right now and with Swerve and Keith Lee coming in, it didn’t make any sense having Brian fighting with Ricky and Will because right now Swerve had a great main event with Ricky and this week Will had a great main event with Keith [on Rampage]. It was a kick a** match and a kick a** situation after.
“For Brian, I didn’t think it made sense for him around Taz and those guys anymore. I also thought him and Tully here could be a good situation, especially when FTR and Tully were done. It’s funny because with the situation of confidentiality and stuff, I couldn’t tell Brian I wanted to buy ROH and debut you and repackage you here until about a month ago. It’s funny because Brian, gotta love Brian, he told the media I picked up his contract. I was like, ‘Jesus Brian, why did you tell people that’? I never told him not to, but I also couldn’t tell him what I was doing with it but I should’ve told him not to. That being said, I think it was good because people wanted to see him come back and it made it that much better.”
See what I mean? That is some surprisingly high praise. Now granted, Khan's statement is very much out of date, as the idea of pairing up Cage with Tully Blanchard is clearly no longer in the plans, but it's clear the double-duty CEO wasn't exactly waiting out the clock for the “Machine's” contract to run out.
So naturally, despite having his faction plans changed and watching Jonathan Gresham voice his displeasure with the situation, he showed gratitude on social media for the opportunity to wrestle once more on a much larger stage.
Finally………
Can we keep it going this time?#machine #deathbeforedishonor #makemymonstergrow #swolverine https://t.co/7mfsgVe0kh
— Brian Cage (@briancagegmsi) July 24, 2022
All things considered, that is an endorsement if you ask me (read more about Cage's indie run here).
Okay, one member of the faction down, two more to go. Did either member of the Gates of Agony, the Tully-assembled tag team, have an opinion on the show, its booking, or Khan specifically? Toa Liona did, as he shot off the following Tweet the very next day.
After having my wife & her family support me the last 3 years with my wrestling dreams it was really surreal being able to perform in-front all them in their home state of Massachusetts. Thank you @TonyKhan @ringofhonor for the opportunity to showcase what I’ve been capable of 🙏🏽
— Toa Liona (@ToaLiona) July 24, 2022
Goodness, he even shouted out Khan specifically. That is undoubtedly an endorsement.
And what about Kuan, the final member of the unit, who actually was a member of Ring of Honor before Khan purchased the company? Well, considering his Twitter timeline is just a wall of tweets and re-tweets about the show, including the announcement of and more than a few tweets featuring Prince Nana, it's pretty safe to say he has no issue with the booking, or how things shook out.
So, all things considered, it's clear the rest of the faction is open to the new idea.
Are Brian Cage and the Gates of Agony excited to be paired up with Prince Nana moving forward, or are bummed out that they won't have Tully in their corner anymore? Well, best take the advice of Cage, who put the perfect cherry on top of this conversation.
Ughhhh, well, here today gone tomorrow….. pic.twitter.com/3hSI4B4DrH
— Brian Cage (@briancagegmsi) July 25, 2022
