Kevin Kelly provides voiceover for a Jay Lethal video package. “Becoming a champion is achieved by rising above all obstacles. With perseverance, passion, and drive. Being a champion does not require perfection, it requires the insatiable desire to achieve perfection, day in and day out. Not everyone can be a champion, but for those who are, they hold onto it with their whole life. Tonight we take a close look at the ROH World Champion and his rise to greatness.”
KK introduces the show from a backstage locker room. “Welcome to a very special edition of Ring of Honor wrestling where we focus on ROH World Champion Jay Lethal. For over the past 2 years, there has not been a day where Jay Lethal has not had gold around his waist. The dominance began at SuperCard of Honor 8, where Lethal accepted help from Truth Martini and defeated Tommaso Ciampa to become the first 2 time holder of the ROH World TV Title,” and we pickup footage from that match.
Jay Lethal vs Tommaso Ciampa (c) (ROH World TV Championship match from SuperCard of Honor 8 on 4/4/14)
Truth throws in a knee brace to Lethal, Lethal nails Ciampa in the head, Ciampa kicks out. Lethal climbs to the top rope and delivers Hail to the King forearm to the chest, but Ciampa kicks out again. Ciampa to his feet, 2 superkicks by Lethal, Ciampa flips him off, Lethal kicks him in the knee, hits the Lethal Injection, and gets the pin.
Winner and NEW ROH World TV Champion: Jay Lethal
KK continues, “Jay Lethal, now in the House of Truth, began his reign as the greatest World TV Champion in history. Facing fierce competition from the likes of Matt Sydal, the legendary Jushin Thunder Liger, ACH, and many others, including one of his most memorable defenses at ROH 14th Anniversary.”
Alberto El Patron vs Jay Lethal (c) (ROH World TV Championship match from ROH 14th Anniversary on 3/1/2015)
When we return from break, we pick up footage from the ROH 14th Anniversary event and his title defense against Alberto El Patron (Alberto Del Rio). Patron kicks J. Diesel from the apron to the floor, dropkicks Lethal to the outside, then suicide dives through the middle rope to the floor onto Lethal. Patron whips Lethal into the barricade, Lethal gets back up and counters with a kick, knee, chop to the chest, whip reversal, but Lethal gets sent into the barricade again. Patron rolls Lethal back into the ring, nails him with a double clubbing blow to the chest off the ropes, cover, kick out.
Side headlock, Lethal gets to his feet and delivers 2 knees, before Patron returns with a knee of his own, and whips Lethal into the corner. Patron runs in, but Lethal throws him up in the air, Paton lands on his groin straddling the ropes. KK notes, “Accidental, says referee Paul Turner. Of course, a blatant foul would lead to disqualification.” Lethal with a running dropkick up the turnbuckle, knocks Patron to the mat, Lethal in a mount position raining closed right fists, stands up and chokes Patron with his foot on the bottom rope, then Martini chokes him on the rope while the Paul Turner is distracted. 2 knife-edge chops by Lethal, sets Patron on the turnbuckle, right hand, chop, right hand, chop, and then Alberto grabs a rope-assisted leg scissors wrist lock on Lethal’s arm, the referee calls for the break at 3, and we go to commercial.
When we return, Lethal has a leg scissors on Patron’s arm, Lethal clotheslines him to the outside, then Lethal nails 3 suicide dives, the third of which knocks Patron over the barricade into the first row. MW3 comments on a fan nearby says, “I think I played craps with that guy earlier today. I like that dude.” Lethal has a bloody mouth, climbs back in the ring, as the ref begins the count on Patron. Patron gets back in at 15, Lethal with stomps to the chest, Patron gets to his feet, Lethal sets him on the top turnbuckle, knife-edge chop, Lethal climbs up, punches to the gut, hooks him for a superplex, but Patron fights out with shots in the ribs, Lethal falls down sitting on the ropes, 2 right hands by Patron, Lethal catches himself hanging upside on the ropes, and then a double stomp to the chest by Patron as Lethal’s head bounces off the mat, cover, but Lethal kicks out at 2.
Patron lines up for the kick as the fans chant “Si!”, Lethal catches him, they exchange right hands, Patron gets the better of it, hits the ropes, but Lethal nails the Lethal Combination, cover, but Patron kicks out. Martini can be heard yelling from the outside, “Stay on him!” Lethal points to the turnbuckle, takes off his elbow pad, climbs up to the top rope, but Patron is up to his feet and hits a running enziguri up the ropes. Martini runs in with the Book of Truth, but Patron kicks him and syncs in a wrist lock, Martini taps but as KK recognizes, “It doesn’t affect the outcome.” Lethal jumps off the top rope for the Hail to the King elbow, but Patron catches him in a wrist lock with a leg scissors around the head, Lethal picks up the Book of Truth and slams Patron in the skull, cover, 1-2, kickout by Patron. MW3 asks, “What is in that book?” KK says, “Far from light reading.” J. Deisel and Martini are walking around the outside. Patron gets to his feet and hits a dropping armbar, goes for kick, then gets bicycle kicked by Lethal. Lethal goes for the Lethal Injection, but his arm is too weak and he collapses. Patron with a rollup, Lethal pushes him off, Martini hits him with the Book of Truth, and this time Lethal hits the Lethal Injection for the win.
Winner and still ROH World TV Champion: Jay Lethal
KK says, “We live in a result-driven industry, and while the result will say Lethal is still the champ, I have a problem with the way I got done.” Mr. Wrestling 3 responds, “Of course you have a problem, you’re a nice guy.” and KK replies, “Yeah, I’m a square.” MW3 explains, “But in the world of professional wrestling, a win is a win is a win.” KK says Patron had to fight 3-on-1 odds, plus KRD on the outside of the ring, and somehow he still almost became the champion. But Lethal gets another win and another title defense.”
KK from the locker room, “Shortly after that victory, Jay Lethal began to proclaim himself as the ROH Champion, going so far as to have a new belt minted that simply said ‘ROH Champion.’ You knew that was going to get the attention of then World Champion Jay Briscoe. Eventually these 2 champions would meet but it was anyone’s guess as to how it would turn out,” and we go to commercial.
KK welcomes us back, “By now, Lethal had held the TV title for over a year, but at the same time, Jay Briscoe had not been pinned in over 2 years. And you knew that these 2 men would collide and they would indeed, at Best in the World 2015, in a winner take all showdown, it was the battle of the belts, and it was one of the greatest matches in Ring of Honor history.”
Jay Lethal (c) vs Jay Briscoe (c) (Champion vs. Champion match, winner take all, from Best in the World on 6/9/2015)
When we pick it up, Lethal is on the mat, Briscoe picks him up, Briscoe with a forearm, goes for a whip, Lethal reverses, kick, back forearm, goes for the Lethal Injection, but Briscoe hits a double underhook slam, cover, and Lethal kicks out. Briscoe with the headlock choke, but Lethal crawls to the ropes. Briscoe with a knee to the gut, goes for the Jay Driller, but Lethal gets out, kick to the gut, goes for the Jay Driller again, but Lethal fights out and hits the Lethal Combination on Briscoe, cover, but Briscoe kicks out.
KK comments on the unique setting of Terminal 7, “Fans are basically hanging over the ring from the balconies above, and they are dead-even split, dueling chants for each great champion,” as the fans yell, “Let’s go Lethal! Let’s go Briscoe!” Lethal with a power slam, slowly climbs up to the top turnbuckle, Nigel McGuinness says, “It would look like Lethal has it, but he’s taking his sweet time getting up there, in my mind, way too long. Is Briscoe playing possum? Looks like it.” Briscoe to his feet, catches him, Lethal perched on the turnbuckle, Briscoe hooks him for the superplex, but Lethal is dead weight and blocks twice, 3 punches to the gut by Lethal knocks Briscoe to the mat, but Briscoe lands on his feet, comes back and nails a running dropkick to Lethal. Briscoe climbs back up again, MW3 comments, “You can see the sweat pouring off both of these warriors.” Briscoe hooks for another superplex, but Lethal counters again with shots to the ribs. Briscoe climbs back down as Lethal lands clubbing punches underneath the pec muscle, and then a big right hand to the head knocks Briscoe to the mat. Lethal nails the Hail to the King top rope elbow, cover, kickout, and then right away Lethal locks in the Koji Clutch, until Briscoe finds the ropes.
Now both men are on the apron, KK comments that, “Both the timekeeper & Bobby Cruz have moved.” Lethal hooks, Briscoe fights out, Briscoe pushes Lethal away, hooks him for the Jay driller, but Truth Martini distracts Todd Sinclair on the other side of the apron, and Lethal lands a low blow. Nigel McGuinness crawls up onto the apron next to Truth and says, “What are you doing?” and throws Martini out of the building, Martini stomps around and throws a chair on his way out. Both men to their feet, kick by Briscoe, then Briscoe nails the Jay Driller on Lethal through the table, and we go to commercial.
When we return, Lethal goes for the Lethal Injection, but Briscoe nails a running forearm to the head, cover, kick out. Lethal gets to his feet, and Briscoe nails a huge clothesline, cover, kick out again. Both men are down, Lethal is flipping around on the mat like a fish out of water. The cameraman shows both Lethal’s parents and Briscoe’s parents. They get up, but Briscoe meets a boot from Lethal, back forearm by Lethal, springboard cutter off the second rope, nails the Lethal Injection, but somehow Briscoe kicks out.
Lethal can’t believe it, laying in the corner asking what happened, shaking his head in his hands. The fans chant, “This is awesome!” Briscoe is laid out flat, Lethal gets to his feet, picks up Briscoe, hooks for Briscoe’s own move the Jay Driller, but Briscoe blocks twice dropping to a knee and running his shoulder into the gut, sunset flip by Briscoe, goes for the Jay Driller, reversal by Lethal into a Jay Driller on Briscoe, then Lethal hits a second Lethal Injection, cover, 1-2-3, and Lethal becomes double champion.
Winner and still ROH World TV Champion and NEW ROH World Champion: Jay Lethal
MW3 calls the victory, “He has done it! A dream that started 14 years ago, tonight Jay Lethal is the World Champion.” Lethal pounds the mat in celebration as Truth Martini comes in the ring and congratulates him. Lethal is in shock, they hand Lethal both belts, he lifts them high in the air and lets out a victory yell in the middle of the ring. Commercial.
Back in the lockerroom, KK says, “Amazing to think Lethal has held the ROH World Championship for close to one full year. However, not only did the competition gets stronger when Lethal became a double champion, but so did the workload. At All Star Extravaganza VII, Jay Lethal made history by successfully defending both belts in different matches on the same night. One of the greatest wrestlers ever in ROH, Roderick Strong pushed Lethal to the limit at Death Before Dishonor in an epic 60-minute draw that had the whole wrestling world talking. And in the much anticipated rematch, Lethal was able to defeat Strong with a huge assist from Truth Martini. Strong wanted for one more chance, and was named #1 contender for ROH TV Championship.” We pick up footage of that match.
Roderick Strong vs Jay Lethal (c) (ROH World TV Championship match at Glory By Honor XIV on 10/23/15 and as seen ROH TV on Episode 218)
Lethal with 3 covers, but Strong kicks out each time, they exchanged blows, 2 superkicks by Lethal and then a jumping knee by Strong that hooks Lethal around the back of the head, fireman’s carry into a double knee gutbuster, and then a running sick kick that turns Lethal inside-out. Strong picks up Lethal and delivers a double knee spine buster, and then locks in the Strong Hold and Lethal taps out. (In the video, you can see KK pointing and marking out at ringside as Lethal taps, very cool.)
Winner and NEW ROH World TV Champion: Roderick Strong
KK tells us, “Strong picked up the victory, ending Lethal’s 18 month reign. With close to 30 defenses over that span of time, Lethal holds all records associated with the ROH TV Championship, and it will be a long time before anyone comes close to breaking it.” Commercial.
After the break, KK continues, “After losing the ROH TV Championship, Jay Lethal was still the number one wrestler in the world because after all, he was still the ROH World Champion. And he has still has not been beaten. But Lethal was stung over losing to Strong, and set out to prove that he was indeed the number one wrestler in all the world of professional wrestling, and he challenged anyone and everyone to try to take that title away from, including a match against The Phenomenal AJ Styles at Final Battle 2015.”
AJ Styles vs Jay Lethal (c) (ROH World Championship match at Final Battle 2015 on 12/18/15)
When we pick up the action, Lethal with a suicide dive knocks Styles into the front row. As the fans gather around Styles, Lethal yells, “You might want to move back,” and then taps a fan on the shoulder who is not paying attention and says “Get off of him.” After the fans clear way, Lethal climbs back into the ring, watches and waits until AJ gets to his feet, goes for another suicide dive, but Styles counters with leaping Phenomenal Forearm off the barricade. Taeler Hendrix and Truth Martini, dressed all in white, kneel nearby in shock. Styles and Lethal get up and roll back into the ring at the same time.
They get to their feet, exchange forearms, AJ gets the better of it, before Lethal drops him to the mat and locks in the Koji clutch, roll through, Styles reverses into the calf cutter submission, but Lethal crawls to the ropes and breaks the hold. AJ to his feet, Lethal connects with a boot to the face, gets to his feet and then a bicycle kick to the back of the head by Styles. Styles climbs to the top rope, but Lethal with a right hand to the face, climbs up with AJ, goes for the superplex, but AJ slides under, back elbows by Lethal, and then a second rope springboard cutter takes out AJ. Lethal goes for the Lethal Injection, but AJ gets to his feet, and Lethal rolls over his back, Pele kick by AJ, Bloody Sunday, Styles points at Lethal and yells to the fans, goes for the Styles Clash, but Lethal picks him up and throws AJ over the top to the outside through the table. The fans chant, “This is awesome!” KK says, “The table turned to literal sawdust, just to our left.”
Styles climbs back in at 19, Lethal waits until he gets to his feet, goes for the Lethal Injection and nails it, cover, 1-2, but Styles kicks out. NM says, “I do not believe it and nor does anyone else in Philadelphia tonight. Mandy Leon was ready to ring the bell. Somehow AJ Styles dug deep inside, found that faith in himself.” Lethal grabs him by the hair and yells, “Let me tell you something AJ, this is my time! You hear me? Screw you!” before AJ fights out with forearms, chops, kicks, goes for the Pele kick and misses it, goes for the Styles clash, but Lethal reverses into a cradle piledriver (Jerry Lynn’s move, who is on commentary) and then hits the Lethal Injection for the second time and AJ is out cold, cover, 1-2-3.
Winner and still ROH World Champion: Jay Lethal
After the commercial, KK welcomes us back, “A very special look at Jay Lethal. Think about the greatness of Lethal, all the records he set as the longest ROH TV Champion in history, now holding the ROH World Title for almost 1 year. Lethal has taken the title all around the world, to England, as well Japan, where he wrestled Michael Elgin in front of 40,000 fans at the Tokyo Dome at Wrestle Kingdom 10. He then returned to Japan earlier this year to face off against Tomoaki Honma at the famous Korakuen Hall at Honor Rising.
Tomoaki Honma vs Jay Lethal (c) (ROH World Championship match at Honor Rising 2/20/2016)
Lethal goes for a kick, Honma catches him, throws him up in the air, but Lethal lands on his feet, pushes him off the ropes and then nails the Lethal Combination, cover, kickout. KK tells us, “Todd Sinclair was brought over exclusively to referee championship matches here at Honor Rising. That’s the importance of these events, MW3.” Lethal climbs to the top turnbuckle and nails the Hail to the King elbow drop from the top rope, cover, but Honma kicks out. Lethal tells Honma to get up, slaps him in the head, goes for the Lethal Injection, but Kokeshi by Honma to the back of Lethal and he tumbles out to the apron. They exchange forearms at the apron, and then a headbutt knocks Lethal into the railing, Honma delivers a powerslam on the floor, climbs the ropes as the fans begin to cheer, and then Honma lands the Kokeshi from the top turnbuckle on Lethal on the floor (KK and MW3 say he lands it, but he totally missed) and both men are down.
Honma is up and he looks dazed, Honma hears the referee count, stands up and rolls Lethal back into the ring, cover, but Lethal kicks out at 2-and-a-half. Honma picks Lethal up by his hair, but Lethal is slow to rise, so Honma pulls on his hair really hard, hits the ropes, but Lethal nails a superkick, and then Honma hits a lariat that turns Lethal inside out, cover, kick out by Lethal. Honma hits a brainbuster, cover, Lethal kicks out again. MW3, “Can Honma do it? Can he become the 2nd Japanese wrestler to win the ROH World Title.” KK says, “Takeshi Morishima was first. Honma looks to add his name.” Honma goes for the tombstone piledriver, but Lethal gets out, and hits an enziguri to the back of Honma’s head.
Truth Martini yells, “You’re the ROH World Champion! Show everybody here what you’re made of!” as the crowd at Korakuen Hall chants, “Honma!” Lethal runs into the corner, but meets a boot, and Honma hits a second rope diving headbutt, running fall away headbutt, power slam, goes to the top rope for the Kokeshi and leaps off, but Lethal moves out of the way. Honma is out flat, with spit coming from his mouth. Both men get to their feet, Honma runs in, but nails Todd Sinclair by accident as Lethal gets out of the way. Suddenly, Los Ingobernables run in with clubbing blows to the back and stomps to Honma, they hold him as Truth Martini nails The Book of Truth on Honma’s head, but you can’t hurt Honma in the head, he’s like a Samoan. Honma stands up and takes out all three men, Naito comes in tosses him up in the air, nails a low blow kick, and then Lethal hits the Lethal Injection as Todd Sinclair wakes up and counts the 1-2-3.
Winner and still ROH World Champion: Jay Lethal
KK closes out the show, “Thank you for joining us for this special look at Jay Lethal. Next week here on ROH Wrestling, we took a very special look at Bullet Club. Don’t you dare miss it.” End of show.
