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Jay Lethal

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Jamar "Jay" Shipman United States
Born (1985-04-21) April 21, 1985 (age 39) [citation needed]
Elizabeth, New Jersey[1] New Jersey
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Hydro
Jamar Cunningham
'Black Machismo' Jay Lethal
Jay Lethal
Billed height5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Billed weight225 lb (102 kg)
Trained byMikey Whipwreck,
JAPW School
Debut2002

Jamar Shipman[1] (born April 22, 1985) better known by his ring name "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal, is an American professional wrestler currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling where he is the reigning TNA X Division Champion.

Ring of Honor

2003

Lethal debuted in Ring of Honor at Final Battle 2002, wrestling in a dark match against Homicide. He returned the following show as Hydro, the newest member of Special K (a heel stable of ravers). He competed in a variety of tag matches throughout 2003, and made his singles debut on October 25 in Spencerport, New York at Empire State Showdown, where he lost to Slyk Wagner Brown in a dark match. On November 1 at Main Event Spectacles, Hydro took part in a scramble cage match in which The S.A.T. gave him a Spanish Fly from the top of the cage. Hydro's first high profile singles bout was a four way survival match at Final Battle 2003 on December 27, which he won.

2004

On May 22 2004 at Generation Next, Hydro faced Alex Shelley in a singles match. Though he lost, Shelley offered him membership in Generation Next (Shelley's stable). Hydro declined, opting to remain part of Special K.

Hydro won a four corner survival match at World Title Classic on June 12, which entitled him to enter the Pure Wrestling tournament later that year. At Survival of the Fittest on June 24, he and Dixie took part in a four way tag match for the ROH Tag Team Championship, which CM Punk, single-handedly defending the titles to allow co-champion Colt Cabana to prepare for his match later that evening, won. Hydro then challenged Punk to an impromptu match, which Punk also won. Hydro shook hands before the match, thus observing the "Code of Honor" (which Special K normally ignored).

Hydro took part in the Pure Wrestling tournament on July 17 at Reborn: Completion. At the outset of the event, ROH World Champion Samoa Joe advised Hydro to change his name and become more serious. Acting on Joe's advice, Hydro left Special K and renamed himself Jay Lethal. He was eliminated from the tournament after Doug Williams pinned him in a four way match using the Chaos Theory.

At Testing the Limit on August 7, Lethal took part in a four way match, pitting him against Alex Shelley, Ace Steel and 2 Cold Scorpio. Despite the moral support of his parents, who were in the audience, Lethal suffered a second loss to Shelley. Having rejected Shelley's offer of a place in Generation Next before the match for a second time Lethal asked Shelley for a singles match. Lethal and Shelley faced one another for a third time on August 28 at Scramble Cage Melee, with Shelley cheating to gain a third victory. Having lost every match for months, Lethal was obliged to face Matt Stryker at Glory by Honor 3 on September 11 with his ROH career on the line. Lethal won, breaking his losing streak.

Low Ki had been feuding with Samoa Joe for several months, and challenged Lethal, as Joe's protégé, at The Midnight Express Reunion on October 2. In the course of the match, Low Ki's manager Julius Smokes harassed Lethal's parents (once again watching the match from the audience) and Low Ki spat at Lethal's mother. Low Ki easily defeated Lethal, then mocked him after the match.

Lethal lost to Chad Collyer at Gold on October 15 and defeated Delirious the next day at Joe vs. Punk II. He teamed with his mentor, Samoa Joe, and lost to John Walters and Nigel McGuinness at Weekend Of Thunder Night 1 on November 5, then lost to Embassy member Jimmy Rave the subsequent evening. After his match with Rave, Lethal attacked Prince Nana, the leader of the Embassy. This led to Nana recruiting several masked mercenaries (dubbed "Weapons of Masked Destruction") in an attempt to end Lethal's career. Lethal defeated both WMDs at All-Star Extravaganza II on December 4 and Final Battle 2004 on December 26 respectively, in both cases ending the match with his signature dragon suplex.

2005

Lethal's feud with The Embassy continued into 2005, and on February 19 at the ROH Anniversary Show he pinned Embassy member Jimmy Rave to become number one contender to the ROH Pure Championship. He was given his title shot immediately after defeating Rave, despite having injured ribs from Rave's constant torso attacks, and ROH Pure Champion John Walters defeated the exhausted Lethal to retain following a trifecta of lung blowers. Lethal faced Walters for the title in a second match on March 5 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at Trios Tournament, and defeated him to become the ROH Pure Champion.

On March 12 at Back to Basics, Lethal and Samoa Joe teamed once again to face CM Punk and Spanky, with Lethal pinning Spanky with a bridging dragon suplex. At Best of the American Super Juniors on April 2, Lethal and Joe faced Jimmy Jacobs and B.J. Whitmer for the vacant ROH Tag Team Championship, but were defeated.

Lethal retained his Pure Championship in a match with Spanky at Stalemate on April 16, and on May 7 at Manhattan Mayhem he defended the title against Samoa Joe. Joe defeated Lethal to win the title, but both men were ambushed after the match by The Rottweilers. This led to a tag match that same night pitting Rottweilers members Homicide and Low Ki against Lethal and Joe. The match ended when Homicide gave Lethal Da Cop Killa while Low Ki delivered a top rope double foot stomp, driving Lethal's neck into the ground. Lethal was stretched from the arena wearing a neck brace, ostensibly seriously injured.

Lethal was "injured" for several months, returning on June 12 at The Future Is Now to save James Gibson from a beating at the hands of The Rottweilers. He returned to the ring on June 18 at Death Before Dishonor III, where he faced Low Ki in a grudge match which was declared a no contest after both men were disqualified. At Sign of Dishonor on July 8, Lethal teamed with fellow former Special K member Dixie to defeat The Heartbreak Express. Later that evening, Mick Foley forced ROH World Champion CM Punk to select an opponent to defend his title against. Punk chose Lethal, and managed to retain his title.

Seeking revenge for the neck injury he had in May, Lethal challenged Homicide at Escape from New York on July 9, but lost. On July 23 at The Homecoming he joined forces with Samoa Joe and James Gibson to face The Rottweilers (Homicide, Low Ki and Ricky Reyes) but again suffered a defeat.

Lethal challenged Low Ki once more on August 12 at Redemption as part of his ongoing rivalry with The Rottweilers. The match ended in a draw after the enemies fought outside the ring and were counted out. After the match, Homicide came to the ring to attack Lethal, but was stopped by his opponent for the night, Matt Hardy. On August 13 at Punk: The Final Chapter, Lethal and Joe defeated Low Ki and Homicide by disqualification after Homicide elbow-dropped the referee.

At Glory by Honor 4 on September 17, Lethal lost to Low Ki in a "Fight Without Honor". However, he went on to defeat Low Ki later that night in a standard singles match. He defeated Sal Rinauro to advance to the finals of the "Survival of the Fittest" tournament on September 24, but lost to Roderick Strong. After unsuccessfully challenging Nigel McGuinness for the ROH Pure Championship on October 1, Lethal went undefeated until November 19, when he and Samoa Joe lost to Austin Aries and Roderick Strong. On December 3, 2005, Lethal defeated Joe in a singles match. During the bout, Lethal turned heel by attacking Joe. He feuded with Joe for the remainder of the year.

2006

On January 27, 2006, Lethal teamed with Bryan Danielson, losing to Austin Aries and Roderick Strong in a match for the ROH Tag Team Championship. At the Fourth Anniversary Show on February 25, 2006 in Edison, New Jersey, Lethal lost cleanly to Samoa Joe. He departed from the promotion following this match, but subsequently returned three times for one-night appearances, losing to Pure Champion Nigel McGuinness on May 13, teaming with Colt Cabana on July 15 in a losing effort against Jimmy Rave and Sal Rinauro, and losing a four way survival match against Claudio Castagnoli, Christopher Daniels, and the match winner, Nigel McGuinness on August 5.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

Lethal debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling on the December 17, 2005 episode of iMPACT!, losing to TNA X Division Champion Samoa Joe. In January 2006, he was signed to a contract by TNA. He made his pay-per-view debut at TNA Against All Odds 2006 on February 12, 2006, defeating Matt Bentley, Alex Shelley, and Petey Williams in a four way match when he pinned Williams.

On the February 18, 2006 edition of iMPACT!, Lethal defeated Roderick Strong and Shannon Moore to qualify as a member of Team USA, the defending champions in the 2006 World X-Cup. Team USA wrestled their first match at TNA Lockdown 2006 on April 23, 2006, losing to Team Japan (Black Tiger IV, Minoru Tanaka and Hirooki Goto) after Black Tiger pinned Lethal with a tiger suplex. On the April 27, 2006 episode of iMPACT!, Lethal unsuccessfully challenged Samoa Joe for the X Division Championship once again.

In the June 1, 2006 episode of iMPACT! Lethal scored a win over Alex Shelley but was attacked by Kevin Nash. During the July 13, 2006 episode Lethal won a shot at the title of his choosing by defeating Team Canada in an eight-man tag team match, the next week Lethal challenged Jeff Jarrett for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated following interference from Scott Steiner. Later Lethal took part in a five way X-Division match to be number one contender for the title. Although Petey Williams won the match, one week later Lethal was added to the match making it a three way match for the X-Division title at Hard Justice, as well as Petey Williams and defending champion Senshi. He lost after being pinned by Senshi, who made profit of a Canadian Destroyer made by Williams. In a strong product placement, Lethal alongside Sonjay Dutt, got fellow X-Division superstar Chris Sabin ready for his match at No Surrender by watching clips of Jackass: Number Two, which was being heavily promoted by TNA at the time.

One night on iMPACT!, during Sabin's match with Alex Shelley, Shelley's partner Johnny Devine was pushed in a shopping cart and rammed into the steel post, allowing Sabin to pin Shelley. The following week, Lethal was able to defeat Petey Williams after Sabin and Dutt distracted the referee, allowing Lethal to roll a bowling ball onto Petey's midsection. Following in this storyline, Lethal went on to defeat Williams again on Sepetember 24, 2006 at No Surrender Pay-per-view, following Williams allegedly being given laxatives by stable mate Dutt, rendering him incapable of doing most of his moves, and giving Lethal the victory when Williams could no longer "hold it". He and Dutt were also involved in Sabin's match later in the night with similar antics involving a blow-up doll, but to no avail as Sabin would lose the match despite the interference. These, too, were designed as advertising for Jackass: Number Two, as were other moments for Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. In December 2006, Kevin Nash recruited Lethal, Senshi, Austin Starr, Sonjay Dutt & Alex Shelley to compete in a tournament known as the Paparazzi Championship Series. The series included a push-up contest, musical chairs, Limbo contest, Texas Hold'em and a few others, although Lethal did not win the tournament. Also included in the PCS was "Paparazzi Idol", a takeoff on American Idol. Even though Lethal attempted to sing, the traditional way for a contestant to win, it was disliked by the judges. Judge Kevin Nash suggested that Lethal do an impression, to which Lethal responded with a spot-on impression of wrestling legend "Macho Man" Randy Savage.

Black Machismo

"Black Machismo" Jay Lethal yesterday.

Since the PCS, Lethal and Dutt have been taken under the wing of Kevin Nash who said he would give them an extreme makeover, which in Lethal's case, has him in a gimmick where he impersonates "Macho Man" Randy Savage. On the April 12 2007 edition of iMPACT!, Nash introduced Lethal, who was led to the ring by a remixed version of "Pomp and Circumstance" and dressed in full "Macho Man" attire, as "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal. He imitated Savage's trademark catchprase "Oh Yeah," and was able to defeat Chris Sabin using many of Savage's signature in-ring maneuvers and mannerisms, most notably his finisher, the Flying Elbow Drop.

At the Lockdown pay-per-view on April 15, 2007, Lethal nearly won the X Division title from Chris Sabin in a five-person X-Scape match (five start the match in the cage; the first three eliminations are done by pinfall or submission; the final two must then try to escape the cage, with the first one to exit being declared the winner). Lethal and Sabin were both climbing over the same side of the cage, fighting as they went, and Sabin kicked Lethal's leg so that his leg went through the bars of the cage, trapping him there while Sabin jumped down and won the match.

On the April 26 episode of iMPACT!, Lethal and tag team partner, Sonjay Dutt won a shot at the TNA X Division Championship held by Chris Sabin at Sacrifice. However, Dutt was unhappy at Lethal getting the pinfall.

After their loss to Chris Sabin, both Dutt and Lethal started brawling until Kevin Nash came out and separated the two until Dutt kicked Nash and stormed out of the ring visibly upset.

On May 8 2007 TNA Mobile said that Randy Savage called Jay Lethal and said that he loves the "Black Machismo" character. The two spoke on the phone for several minutes. Lethal subsequently expressed doubt over whether he had really spoken with Savage as the Macho Man's trademark voice is easily imitated. At Slammiversary 2007, he defeated Chris Sabin for the TNA X Division Championship; his first title in TNA. However, only days later, on the following iMPACT!, he lost the title to Samoa Joe after Chris Sabin was pinned, in a Match of Champions triple threat qualifying match. At Victory Road Lethal competed in an Ultimate X gauntlet match in a losing effort after Christopher Daniels retrieved the X. At Hard Justice Lethal and Sonjay Dutt defeated Triple X's Christopher Daniels and Senshi and The Motor City Machineguns in a 3-way tag match when Lethal pinned Daniels. This led to Jim Cornette booking a match on the August 16 edition of Impact pitting Daniels vs. Lethal with the winner becoming the number one contender to the X Division title, which Lethal would go on to win. As a result of that Lethal would go on to face Triple Crown champion Kurt Angle for the X Division title at No Surrender, where Lethal would beat Angle cleanly with a roll-up to win the X Division Championship for the second time in what is considered the biggest upset of TNA history.

The following episode of iMPACT!, Lethal lost a non-title match to Christopher Daniels, setting up a match at [[TNA Bound For Glory (2007)|Template:Bound For Glory.

Wrestling facts

  • Nicknames
    • Black Machismo
    • The Lethal One

Championships and accomplishments

  • American Wrestling Alliance
    • AWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
    • AWA Light-Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
    • AWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Rob Vegas
  • Big Time Wrestling
    • Big Time Wrestling Championship (1 time)
  • International High Powered Wrestling
    • IHPW United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
    • IHPW Diamond Division Championship (1 time)
  • Jersey Championship Wrestling
    • JCW Television Championship (1 time)
    • JCW Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
    • JCW J-Cup Championship (1 time)
  • Pro-Wrestling ELITE
    • PWE Interstate Championship (1 time)
  • Politically Incorrect Wrestling
    • PiW World Championship (1 time)
  • Unreal Championship Wrestling
    • UCW United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
    • UCW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

References

  1. ^ a b Bio at SLAM! Sports
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