ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham turned heel on tonight’s AEW Rampage episode.
Rampage, taped this past Wednesday in Rochester, featured a ROH tag team bout as Gresham teamed with Lee Moriarty to face The Gates of Agony (Kaun, Toa Liona) from Tully Blanchard Enterprises. The match had Caprice Coleman on commentary, while Bobby Cruise did ring announcing.
The Gates of Agony dominated Moriarty early on, cutting him off from Gresham. Moriarty finally went to make a tag but Gresham left the apron to go have words with Blanchard at ringside. The match continued and Moriarty got the chance to make a hot tag again, but this time Gresham left him hanging on the tag, shocking the crowd, and then walked away from the ring.
Moriarty was then beat up by The Gates of Agony, while Gresham hugged Blanchard at ringside. Kaun and Liona went on to double team Moriarty before Liona pinned him for the win.
Tony Schiavone later interviewed Gresham and Blanchard about their new alliance. Gresham said despite being the foundation of ROH with a signed contract, he’s been sitting at home for months until he got a phone call from Blanchard. Gresham said Blanchard laid out his plan, and he would be a fool not to listen. Schiavone then announced that AEW President and ROH owner Tony Khan has booked Moriarty vs. Gresham for the ROH World Title for next Friday’s Fyter Fest Night 1 edition of AEW Rampage.
Blanchard said he’s not sure if there’s enough left of Moriarty to face Gresham next week, but “we all” will be there for the title match, indicating that the full TBE stable will be on Rampage next Friday. Blanchard then declared that Tully Blanchard Enterprises is alive and well. He and Gresham ended their interview with a handshake. Lexy Nair later interviewed Moriarty and Matt Sydal. Sydal warned Gresham that there are repercussions for being disrespectful and dishonorable, while Moriarty promised to take the title from Gresham.
You can see related clips below.
The TBE stable formed back at ROH Supercard of Honor on April 1, which was the first ROH pay-per-view under Khan. Blanchard revealed The Gates of Agony as his new tag team on the Supercard of Honor pre-show, then led them to a win over Cheeseburger and Eli Isom. Later on in the pay-per-view, Blanchard revealed AEW’s Brian Cage to be the mystery man representing TBE against Ninja Mack. Cage won that bout in under three minutes and after the match, he posed with Blanchard, Kaun and Liona in the middle of the ring. Tonight’s Rampage marked the first time we’ve seen The Gates of Agony since Supercard of Honor, but there’s been no sign of Cage in AEW or ROH since then.
Rampage also marked Gresham’s second AEW match, his first being the title defense over Dalton Castle at AEW Battle of The Belts II on April 16. Gresham defeated Bandido at Supercard of Honor to become the undisputed champion. Moriarty, who lost to Jay Lethal at Supercard of Honor, has worked a few Dynamite matches and several Dark matches, but tonight’s tag team bout also marked his Rampage debut.
Khan took to Twitter after the show and commented on how strong Tully Blanchard Enterprises is now.
“With The Machine @briancagegmsi, The Gates of Agony @ToaLiona and @thekaun + the @ringofhonor World Champion @TheJonGresham all under Tully Blanchard’s management, one might say that Tully Blanchard Enterprises is now 4 strong! Thank you to everyone watching #AEWRampage tonight!,” he wrote.
There’s no word yet on where Khan is going with the Tully Blanchard Enterprises storyline, or if this will factor in to who Gresham defends against at the ROH Death Before Dishonor XIX pay-per-view on Saturday, July 23 in Lowell, MA.
