Official Ring Of Honor Discussion Thread

[mr heyzel]

Observer reviews Lethal vs. O'Reilly from Charlotte

The TV show that aired last week was the one with the Jay Lethal vs. Kyle O’Reilly title match. From a storytelling standpoint, it was the best U.S. television show I’ve seen in a long time. It was pretty basic stuff, just the work of Lethal and O’Reilly put it way over the top. O’Reilly was getting a title match and they started the show with it with the idea they wanted to give them the full hour for them match. Before the match, Adam Cole & The Young Bucks destroyed his shoulder. The storyline was that Cole was mad that O’Reilly was getting the title shot ahead of him. Cole vowed that O’Reilly would never get a shot at the title. They had two matches to bide time until he was ready and they showed them telling O’Reilly backstage not to wrestle and him being adamant he was going to do the match.

There were two matches to stall things out and then they came out for the main event. Everyone pushed O’Reilly not too take the match. Nigel McGuinness, who is the figurehead authority person, said that he’d get the title shot as soon as he was healthy. Lethal, who was a complete babyface here, said he’d promise him a shot as soon as he was healthy. O’Reilly said a man’s got to go what a man’s got to do and insisted on taking the match. O’Reilly’s shoulder was all taped up and the two told a tremendous story of O’Reilly trying but selling the shoulder big and having to totally adjust everything he did, while Lethal was pained in trying to win the match quickly but didn’t want to be in the match under those circumstances and wanted O’Reilly to not wrestle or the referee to stop it. It was nothing like a match you’d normally see them in. O’Reilly was doing limited offense based on how important the shoulder is to so many of his moves. Todd Sinclair as referee wanted to stop the match but O’Reilly would beg him not to. McGuinness and announcer Kevin Kelly wanted the match stopped but they pushed that once it was in the ring McGuinness couldn’t stop it even though he wanted it stopped. They’d yell at Sinclair to stop it and O’Reilly would beg for him not to. Once Lethal called for Lethal injection but O’Reilly collapsed. Lethal at the end was wanted it stopped as well. They pushed that the Young Bucks & Cole had been kicked out of the building and banned from returning throughout the match.

The match was ****1/4, perhaps better given the execution of the storytelling. Lethal did win and then the Bucks & Cole came back and destroyed Lethal again with a spike piledriver on a chair. This led to McGuinness announcing that Cole would never get a title shot because of what happened. The negative is that it was the same as the Lesnar thing last week on Smackdown where they say security is everywhere to keep them out and the guys just walk in the ring to interfere. If security is keeping them out, there should at least be a situation done that distracted security or a storyline reason they were able to sneak back in and get in the ring. With ROH it probably isn’t as bad in the sense you know they don’t have the kind of security and arena checkpoints as WWE, but it’s still a hole that could be addressed. The only negative to me about the angle was the setting. When you have a big arena with a small crowd and do wide shots and can see it, it diminishes the impact and doesn’t feel as big. You could say the same about PWG but when you see people jammed into a small place and standing everywhere it’s not the same as a 3,000 seat place with a few hundred people for a supposed world title match. The next week opened with Lethal, still disturbed, as a total babyface, saying it wasn’t right what the Bucks & Cole did in hurting O’Reilly and said that the main event was the Briscoes vs. Young Bucks, and everyone knows Cole will interfere, so he asked McGuinness to just make it a six-man and he’d team with the Briscoes.

The crowd popped really big when McGuinness okayed it and they had a great match, particularly pushing that Jay Briscoe and Jay Lethal, who had been rivals, were teaming up. The Briscoes & Lethal won the match, but after, the heels laid out the Briscoes & Lethal and Cole shaved Lethal’s head. So that would lead to Lethal demanding a match with Cole and it being used as leverage to set up the title match which headlines the 8/19 PPV show

 

[mr heyzel]

Official Details on The ROH/CMLL Relationship
August 15, 2016 | Posted by Larry Csonka

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– Ring of Honor sent out the following press release, discussing the new relationship with CMLL and how it works along with the relationship both companies has with NJPW…

“In a coordinated announcement, Ring of Honor Wrestling (ROH), Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) have pledged to work with each other to create a superior blend of styles and athletes found nowhere else in the wrestling world. NJPW has had working relationships with ROH and CMLL individually but now ROH and CMLL have teamed and have coordinated their efforts with New Japan Pro Wrestling. What this means for Ring of Honor fans is a continued presence of NJPW stars on selected events like “Death Before Dishonor” on Friday August 19th on PPV and “Field of Honor” from MCU Park in Brooklyn on Saturday August 27th and more CMLL stars appearing on Ring of Honor events as well. Part of the new agreement, CMLL will be bringing ROH stars to Mexico on an ongoing basis as both companies look to grow their individual brands all over the world. CMLL, which began promoting events in 1933, currently competes in NJPW’s annual “Fantastica Mania” Tour every January. ROH hosts NJPW for the annual “War of the Worlds” Tour in May and Ring of Honor was added to NJPW’s schedule for “Honor Rising” in February, 2016.”

 

[AKM-95]

Bucks are in NJPW 2 days later so they might already be over there during the PPV.



They need to put the belt on Cole at this PPV even if they think he might leave after Final Battle, this Lethal reign has run its course & there's nothing left. Cole probably has a better chance of sticking around right now anyway since he is so hyped about going to NJPW & is still just 27 so he's got plenty of time. Only problem here is ROH needs to build somebody to beat him at Final Battle in case he does leave & they refuse to build new people so it would probably result in a sloppily thrown together Jay Briscoe push.

The problem with Lethal is I don't know what you do with him after he drops the belt because he shouldn't be anywhere near it for a while after losing it, & he has literally ran through the roster already so there's no fresh matches for him. You could put him against NJPW guys now but there's no good way to book those matches for either company. Just seems like the time for Lethal to make a move to either WWE or TNA.

Yall are right. I can't handle another thrown together Jay Briscoe push. ROH pushed themselves into a corner with their use of New Japan. I wouldn't be surprised if Lethal drops the title to Naito at this point.

Going forward I hope they utilize NJPWs young lions or making guys do excursions here.

 

[Superkick Party]

Final Card

ROH World Title Match: Champion Jay Lethal vs. Adam Cole
ROH TV Title Match: Champion Bobby Fish vs. Mark Briscoe
ROH Tag Team Title Match: Champions The Addiction vs. Tetsuya Naito & Evil vs. Michael Elgin & Hiroshi Tanahashi
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. Dalton Castle
IWGP NEVER Openweight Champion Katsuyori Shibata vs. Silas Young
Four Corner Survival No. 1 Contender’s Match For Shot At ROH World TV Title: Donovan Dijak vs. Lio Rush vs. Jay White vs. Kamaitachi
CHAOS (Romero, Barreta and Yano) vs. Bullet Club (Takahashi, Tonga, Loa)
Hangman Adam Page vs. Jay Briscoe​

 

[StatUS]

Okada vs. Castle

 

[Superkick Party]

@Silkk Bryan is definitely going to New Japan or ROH when his contract is up in 2018 btw

 

[Silkk]

@Silkk Bryan is definitely going to New Japan or ROH when his contract is up in 2018 btw

Yeah i got no doubt he's wrestling again somewhere. Think it will depend on what he's doing and the total bellas/divas stuff though

 

[Silkk]

Hoping with all my might that Corino is back on commentary friday

 

[mr heyzel]

Daniels on Ring of Honor, tag team wrestling and pipeline to WWE

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By: Josh Barnett | August 16, 2016 1:05 pm

Christopher Daniels has wrestled around the world for virtually every promotion in a 20-plus year career, but he keeps coming back to Ring of Honor.

“Ring of Honor has always held a special place for me,” said Daniels, known as “The Fallen Angel.” “Every opportunity that I’ve had a chance to work with Ring of Honor, I’ve held them in high regard.”

Daniels is in his fourth run with the company, dating back to its first show in 2002 when he wrestled Daniel Bryan and Low Ki, making him uniquely qualified to talk about Ring of Honor’s growth.

The promotion’s flagship weekly syndicated television show now airs on more than 400 stations throughout the United States as well as NESN in New England, Cox Sports in the South and more than 79 million homes via the Comet TV Network, and is also streamed on the Fite.TV app and available at ROHWrestling.com.

“We’re really getting it available on a broader spectrum of outlets in the last couple of months,” Daniels said.

Ring of Honor presents “Death Before Dishonor XIV” on pay-per-view on Friday from Las Vegas (9 p.m. ET). Daniels and longtime partner Frankie Kazarian, collectively known as “The Addiction,” defend the ROH tag team titles against two teams from New Japan Pro Wrestling: Tetsuya Naito and Evil, and Michael Elgin and Hiroshi Tanahashi in a triple threat match.

Daniels recently spoke with For The Win about Ring of Honor’s place in the wrestling landscape, the wrestlers who have come through Ring of Honor and gone on to the WWE, his longtime partner, the re-emergence of tag team wrestling and more.

What should people who are not familiar with Ring of Honor know about it?
“I think we’re seeing a little bit of a resurgence in professional wrestling right now. When the WWE does well, professional wrestling does well. The WWE is what most people know as professional wrestling. Hardcore fans know about Ring of Honor and New Japan and the independent companies throughout the United States. There is a trickle-down effect.

“Ring of Honor has been doing well for a while. We have the best athletes and the best wrestlers in the world. When you hear complaints about pro wrestling, it’s that there is too much soap opera, too much storyline. Ring of Honor has put a premium on in-ring action. What happens between the bells is what Ring of Honor has always been known for. If you’re looking for that action — the in-ring wrestling — that’s what Ring of Honor offers at a better rate than anyone else in the world. That’s what sets Ring of Honor apart from WWE and other companies.”

The names of wrestlers who have come from Ring of Honor to WWE is impressive with Daniel Bryan, Seth Rollins, CM Punk, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Cesaro, A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe and others. Is that a point of pride for the company?
“I think Ring of Honor is looked on as a destination as well. It’s true some guys have gone through and had success and gone on to WWE. At the same time, young wrestlers look at Ring of Honor as a destination to prove they are a top-notch talent. With syndicated television and broadcast pay-per-view, this is an opportunity for a lot of guys to break into the national mainstream.

“It’s a point of pride that those guys have come from here, but at the same time, there’s a feeling of pride that we’re looked on as a place where guys who are going through the independents want to get on our roster.”

One of the things about the primary television product that it’s an hour. There are no long promos and not that many backstage vignettes. The show is pretty tight in terms of the way time is allocated. Is an hour the right amount?
“I would love to have two hours. Not because we want to pad what we have, but because we have such a talented roster, not everyone gets to be on TV every week. It’s good having one hour because it’s easy to get into. It’s sort of a great jumping on point for fans to see what Ring of Honor is all about. There’s not a lot of 20-minute promos and backstage stuff. It’s about the action that we put out there.

Your match at Death Before Dishonor features two teams who primarily work in New Japan. How has the Ring of Honor relationship with New Japan helped?
“I feel in the same way that Ring of Honor has come into a boom in terms of the talent we have, New Japan has done the same thing in Japan. It’s the most popular company in terms of wrestling in Japan. They are just now starting to broaden their horizons in the United States with the Friday night show on AXS TV.

“Their jump in popularity and our partnering with them allows us to take advantage of the fact that both companies are increasing viewership. We get a bunch of different, fresh matches. It broadens the potential for new matches in both companies. … We’ve had a couple of different pay-per-views where the Ring of Honor champion defending against someone from New Japan and vice versa.”

You and Frankie have been partners for some time in several promotions. Why does the team work?
“I think part of the reason is we’ve been friends for such a long time. In the late ‘90s when I moved to California, one of the first people I met when I was looking for place to work was Frankie. Our friendship is a lot older than the tag team itself.

“Once we were tagging, we both have similar mindsets when it comes to professional wrestling in addition to being best friends. We think alike when we do stuff in the ring. We realized at the beginning that the only way for the team to become something important and something that was worthwhile was to put the team first. The Addiction wasn’t Christopher Daniels and a sidekick or Frankie Kazarian and a partner. It was the both of us. We’re not looking to use this team to advance our singles careers. We want to be the best tag team that we can be.”

A lot has been said about the revolution in women’s wrestling, but it seems like there has been a renaissance in tag team wrestling too across the industry. Is that a fair assessment?
“Ring of Honor has so many accomplished teams. This might be the most stacked tag team division that professional wrestling has seen. You have seven teams that held the championships and all of them are in contention at any given moment. Then add in the New Japan athletes. That’s why it’s such a get to hold the championships. There are all these matches we can potentially have and it brings a level of interest to the tag team division in Ring of Honor that we might not have had.”

This is your fourth run in Ring of Honor. Why do you keep coming back?
“I had great relationships, even when I went on and tried to do different things in TNA or elsewhere. When my TNA deal expired in2014, this was the first place I wanted to go and they had a spot for me and a spot for Frankie. As many great guys as they have, they easily could have said, ‘We have no room,’ but they didn’t.

“Frankie and I came in and established ourselves as a top act. We’ve held the championships twice. … We’re looked at as Ring of Honor staples, guys that are Ring of Honor essentials.”

 

[mr heyzel]

Interview: Ring of Honor’s Adam Cole
The 'Bullet Club' member talks Death Before Dishonor and his life in and out of the ring.
image: http://cdn1-www.craveonline.com/assets/uploads/2015/08/JoshuaCaudill.jpg

by Joshua CaudillAug 17th, 2016
image: http://cdn2-www.craveonline.com/assets/uploads/2016/08/cover-3.jpg

Two years after losing the ROH World Championship, the fiery obsession to regain the title has consumed Adam Cole. The man who stands in the way of Cole attaining that goal is none other than Jay Lethal, who has held the championship for over a year.

Cole’s opportunity was realized at the Global Wars PPV in May when he became the newest member of Bullet Club and inserted himself into Lethal’s title match, destroying the champion and everyone in sight.

Now a few days away from his title match with Lethal in Las Vegas, Cole seems cool, calm and collected while showcasing the man behind the persona, bay-bay.


Read more at Interview: Ring of Honor’s Adam Cole - CraveOnline

 

[Silkk]

AT&T tryna hit a nikka with that rape after this promotion

Ima be at work so ill have to order iPPV anyway

 

[mrken12]

Final Card

ROH World Title Match: Champion Jay Lethal vs. Adam Cole
ROH TV Title Match: Champion Bobby Fish vs. Mark Briscoe
ROH Tag Team Title Match: Champions The Addiction vs. Tetsuya Naito & Evil vs. Michael Elgin & Hiroshi Tanahashi
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. Dalton Castle
IWGP NEVER Openweight Champion Katsuyori Shibata vs. Silas Young
Four Corner Survival No. 1 Contender’s Match For Shot At ROH World TV Title: Donovan Dijak vs. Lio Rush vs. Jay White vs. Kamaitachi
CHAOS (Romero, Barreta and Yano) vs. Bullet Club (Takahashi, Tonga, Loa)
Hangman Adam Page vs. Jay Briscoe​

Good card. Looking forward to Castle vs Okada.

 

[TBdaGhost]

Shibata is wrestling Fish the next night. I'd rather see that otherwise the card is realy good. Seeing Silas get fukked up will be funny though.

The tag match should be great. Lethal and Cole could be a classic

 

[mr heyzel]

Wrestling

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August 18, 2016
Ring Of Honor Stars Mark Briscoe And Bobby Fish Dish On Their ‘Death Before Dishonor’ Showdown [Exclusive]
Andy Slawecki

Ring of Honor recently sent out a press release confirming what had either already been predicted or rumored for weeks. ROH, CMLL, and New Japan all now have an official partnership that will allow cross-promotion between all companies. Ring of Honor wrestlers were already performing in Japan, but now they’ll be able to compete for CMLL, as the members of the lucha libre free-style promotion’s locker room will be able to do the same in Ring of Honor. It’s a win-win for fans who prefer an alternative to WWE’s mainstream product.

Two Ring of Honor stars who’ve already taken advantage of the ROH/NJPW arrangement are perhaps the lifeblood of the organization. Jay and Mark Briscoe have been with Ring of Honor for as long as John Cena and Randy Orton have been with the WWE and are now the proud owners of the IWGP Tag Team Champions. But the record eight-time ROH World Tag Team Champions aren’t necessarily looking for the “greener pastures” of Vince McMahon’s juggernaut.

This Friday, Ring of Honor presents Death Before Dishonor XIV during a Las Vegas weekend that also features UFC 202 and the much-anticipated rematch between Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor. But on a weekend that also hosts NXT Takeover: Brooklyn II and SummerSlam, Ring of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor has the chance to be better than them all. And it will if Mark Briscoe and Bobby Fish have anything to say about it.

Briscoe and Fish will clash for Fish’s ROH TV Title in what might be the second-biggest match on the card behind the main event between Jay Lethal and Adam Cole for the Ring of Honor World Title. Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with both Briscoe and Fish in advance of their match and discovered that pursuing a television championship has truthfully been a lifelong dream of Mark Briscoe.

“As a young’un, watching WCW, the TV champ was the most visible person on the roster. The World champ would come out and talk week after week, and defend the title once maybe twice a month if we were lucky. The TV champ would defend once or twice a week. Saturday night, the Mothership, TV title main event. That was like damn near every week. The TV champ was the hardest working guy on the roster. Then the ECW days came around. Me and my brother were hooked. This is when we said, ‘Hey, we’re gonna be wrestlers’. And this is also the time period where I got a whole different attitude when it came to the TV title in a professional wrestling promotion. Rob Van Dam was the TV champ, and he was the man. He was the top dog in our eyes. That’s what I want to do. Beat Fish and have the belt for years and years.”

Bobby Fish, meanwhile, is in the midst of his first run as Ring of Honor’s Television Champion after three separate stints with tag team gold. Fish, compelled to remain comedically in character, primarily remained focused on his own tasks rather than worry about what Briscoe’s dreams might be.

“Why would I burden myself with making something of another man’s ‘dream’? It’s his job to make something of it, it’s his job to make something of himself, in this life… Mark has settled for second best his whole life; not my problem! He is content being Jay Briscoe’s less talented, slightly dumber, (which is saying something, considering Jay is no real threat at taking first place in a 5th grade spelling bee) little brother… So, it doesn’t shock me one bit that he’s set his cockeyed sights on the WORLD tv title! What he hasn’t taken into account, (although I pointed this out to him on television during his rendition of a poorly produced “talk show,” recently) is that when I strangled Tomohiro Ishii in Chicago, Il. I laid the first brick in a foundation being built by yours truly, that will firmly establish this title as the most sought out prize in our company! While Lethal and Cole sort out their cluster F of a situation in the main event of Death Before Dishonor, I will be putting in ‘the extra’, the 24/7, the ‘thank you sir, may I have another’, yeomen like hours laboring at this craft, because this is what’s required to achieve my potential… Being the sole possessor of such potential in this locker room, that is my burden!”

While Fish referred to a recent Ring of Honor segment that Briscoe hosted as a “poorly produced talk show,” Briscoe fired back later in the build by declaring that Bobby’s “Fish Tank” was communist propaganda. But from his response to our question, Mark clearly respects his Death Before Dishonor opponent.

“When I look at Bobby Fish the singles wrestler, I see more of the same of what I see from reDRagon as a team. They’re highly skilled, tough as nails, focused, and work their butts off. I’m looking forward to one of the toughest matches of my career. I’m also looking forward to bringing that TV title home to show my kids!”

Fish was not so complimentary of the challenger to his Ring of Honor TV Title when asked what he expected from the feud and their showdown in Sin City.

“My expectations of Mark during this ‘feud’? Well, that’s an interesting choice of words, considering that my dismantling of the ‘Sussex County chicken farmer’, will be swift, efficient and complete! You are free to call it a feud, if you like. Sh*t, you can call it the g**damn angle of the year, if it suits you. The fact is I have a habit of making #1’s look inferior, so when presented with a born runner-up before me, the conclusion will be decisive. So let’s call this what it is, a sacrifice at the feet of the KING!”

As noted, Mark Briscoe is an eight-time Ring of Honor Tag Team Champion, but they haven’t held the titles in years, to which Mark claims isn’t right, adding that those straps are likely getting homesick. But he’s finally been given an opportunity to pursue singles gold and establish himself as his own unique performer. Dave Meltzer recently noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that Mark has a chance to break out of the mid-card where at times, he may seem lost in the shuffle. His brother Jay has reached the top of the mountain in Ring of Honor, and Mark took us inside their conversations regarding that championship pursuit.

“He tells me that I have to capitalize on that moment. Nothing else matters, clear everything else out of your mind and focus on the goal. He’s no stranger to singles gold, obviously, and I plan on bringing home my first major singles title in Vegas. I just gotta take that advice- focus on the task at hand and nothing else.”

Fish isn’t listening to anyone but himself, and perhaps an extra voice or two inside his own head. His goal is obviously to retain his championship this Friday, but beyond that, his goals don’t seem as common as the every day man’s.

“My wrestling dream is more of a self fulfilling prophecy, really. I see each day as a continuation in pursuit of being the best man I can be! In the same way that I won’t settle for being a decent father, I won’t settle for being proficient at my given vocation. Owning ones potential is not for the faint of heart; understanding what’s truly inside is just the beginning, realizing my life’s work is getting this out to the WORLD. That, is my dream, my responsibility!”

Friday’s Ring of Honor Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view should provide the perfect backdrop for two of the more eccentric, albeit drastically different, personalities in professional wrestling. It’s a dream weekend for fans of combat sports and ROH wants to ma

 

[mr heyzel]

One on One With Ring of Honor Champ Jay Lethal

The superstar wrestler on winning the ROH world title, getting revenge and Ric Flair

WrestlingWednesday, August 17 10:50pmBy David G. Schwartz
I’m gonna start by asking you about something that might not be that pleasant to talk about, but I saw Ring of Honor TV this week, and you got your head shaved by Adam Cole and the Young Bucks.
Yeah. (Sighs) Oh, well, I will say that it’s been a little weird around the house, just because for twelve years I’ve had those braids, and every time I walk past the mirror, I’m reminded of Adam Cole. Also, I’m reminded of the revenge that I need to get on Adam Cole, which is why I’m so happy that this match his happening on pay-per-view, so I can get revenge [and] the world can see it.

Read about Lethal’s upcoming Death Before Dishonor match here.

One of my earliest wrestling memories was seeing André the Giant getting his hair cut by Big John Studd. You’re in good company.
That’s the way I like to look at it. If I didn’t look it at it like that, I’d go crazy.

So, why else should people check out Death Before Dishonor?
Oh, very simple. First of all, let’s forget for a second that it’s Death Before Dishonor, and it’s live on pay-per-view. Ring of Honor is the greatest wrestling company in the world. I think we have the greatest locker room out there today, and that’s apparent because other wrestling companies constantly pluck wrestlers from the Ring of Honor roster. They have for years, because Ring of Honor constantly is changing and evolving to make sure it has the greatest roster out there … With a great roster comes a great, entertaining product.

And it’s not a secret to wrestling fans and wrestlers alike that on pay-per-view you naturally just step up your game. … And I think everyone on the Ring of Honor roster can remember when they were younger, ordering wrestling pay-per-views, and now they’re living their dream. … What you can expect is quite simply the best professional wrestling on the planet. Ring of Honor always delivers.

Which is harder—the physical or talking aspect of wrestling?
(Laughs) Oh, man. … For me, the in-ring wrestling aspect is harder because, growing up, I was such a huge fan of Ric Flair … I studied him, I wanted to be him, and if you watch anything that I do—especially the talking parts—you can, clear as day, see influences of Ric Flair. But for me, that part comes almost easy, and naturally, because I was such a huge fan of [his]. I idolized him, [so] it just made [talking] easier.

It wasn’t always the easiest part. It takes some courage to get up in front of a bunch of people, especially people you don’t know, and do your thing. But I got over that quickly. So I would say that the in-ring aspect, the wrestling, that would probably be the hardest part for me. Although, I think I’m doing a pretty good job at it.

You definitely are. Which of them is hardest to teach?
Oh, it’s definitely the promos. A long time ago, I had a tag match with my dad, and it was quite simply just a few days of showing him a few things … If you have enough time, you can master that, but some people never master the art of timing and when to say a certain thing, and how to say it, and even the volume of [their] voice, and you can’t fake being comfortable for promos. … If you have a shy person, then you gotta get them, first, to break out of their shy shell, and that can be very difficult, sometimes impossible.

You’ve filmed some great commercials for the Health Alert Hotline. Even though I don’t suffer from knee or back pain, I almost want to get a pain-saving brace.
I am so proud of what I’ve done with those commercials. And I don’t know if you know this, but my influence during [the] filming of those knee brace commercials was Hulk Hogan.

I remember commercials with Hulk Hogan that would last in my head for a very long time. So I was always like, “Something that he’s doing in these commercials make it stand out to me for a while.” So when they approached me with the idea to the do the commercial … I struggled with, “Well, how do I do this?” And I just, man, if I was Hulk Hogan, this is how I would I do it.

George Tahinos
ROH’s July 2016 Aftershock event in Philadelphia saw Jay Lethal facing Colt Cabana .

Tell me what it felt like to hold in one hand the world television title, in the other hand the world title, while being covered with streamers as the audience chanted, “You deserve it.”
That was the greatest moment of my life. I used to think the greatest moment of my life was when I got to wrestle my idol, Ric Flair, live on pay-per-view when I worked for another wrestling company. But that moment was surpassed by my matchup at Best in the World with Jay Briscoe, when I won the Ring of Honor World Championship, because, growing up, every young wrestling fan dreams of being the world champion. … But once you get older and you get into the wrestling business, you see that it’s a lot more than that.

You are now also the face of the company, which means that company has so much faith in you that they believe that you can represent them, both in and out of the ring, and there’s no higher honor than that. That is the promotion at that job that you’ve been working at for so long. That is getting the raise when you feel like you’ve been doing your very best, and you’re not being compensated properly for it. There is no higher honor for a wrestler [than] to be given the world championship, and that is what made it the greatest moment of my life.

Also, what made it great, for me, was my parents were there. And my parents, I would say, have been my biggest supporters. My dad has been there since the very first day of training. So, to have my parents there, to see them see me, the progression—I remember my dad taking me to shows back when I wasn’t even getting paid to do shows ‘cause I wasn’t even good enough. … Those two things make that moment the greatest moment of my life.

That really came through. When they showed your dad, and he had tears in his eyes, I got emotional, just knowing how hard you fought for that. When did you realize that you’d made it in the business?
I realized that I made it in the business after having a conversation with my dad years ago. This was before my Ric Flair match, actually. It was when an action figure of mine came out. And my dad, he said, “You know, you’re getting to live your dream, you’re getting paid to do it, you’re healthy, you’re happy where you are. If you stopped wrestling today, I mean, wouldn’t you feel accomplished?” … And he was absolutely right.

I know lot of people whose dream is to work for the WWE, and rightfully so, because it’s the number-one wrestling company that stands right now. But for some people, they’ll never quote, unquote, “make it” in the wrestling business until they work there. But I feel like I have made it already. I feel like there’s people all around the world who know who I am. I’m getting paid to live out my dream that I had as a little kid. I’ve got action figures, I mean, you can Google my name—it’s unreal. It’s unreal to me, the fact that some people just don’t consider that to be making it. But I definitely feel like if I had to suddenly step away from the wrestling business, as soon as we ended this interview, I would be extremely happy and extremely proud of everything that I’ve gotten to do. I wouldn’t have any regrets.

The funny thing is, I’ve never set a goal for myself. Through all my years of wrestling, I’ve never set a goal to wrestle Ric Flair; that just happened. I never set a goal to work with Hulk Hogan. I never set a goal to become the longest reigning television champion. I never set a goal to say, “Hey, you know what, I’m gonna be the face of Ring of Honor. I’m gonna be the face of a company known around the world for its wrestling.” So I’m afraid if I do ever set a goal, I might be jinxing myself, so I’m just playing each day as it comes, and it’s been one hell of a ride.

With all that success, what do you think the hardest obstacle you’ve overcome is?
Everybody’s got a different answer for this one. I think it would be moving away from my family, ‘cause they’re all in New Jersey, pretty much, and I moved to Tampa, Florida … I was working for TNA Wrestling, [which] filmed every other week, sometimes weekly, in Orlando, Florida, and I got tired of having to catch the flight every time. … That was pretty tough. I missed birthdays because I [wasn’t] home, and I missed special events and occasions.

You talked about being champion and the face of the company. What added pressure does that bring?
Oh, my goodness. Like I said, Ring of Honor has some of the greatest wrestlers in the world, right? … It is a tradition that the world champion is the main event, which is pretty cool to say, “Yeah, I’m the main event, I’m the last match.” You know, they save the best for last. But it’s very difficult because I have to follow so many great wrestlers and performers and athletes that it really, really, sometimes, makes my job a little tough. But the key is never showing that; never showing [that] having to follow such great performers affects you at all. You just gotta stick to your game.

You call yourself “the greatest first-generation wrestler.” Who is the second greatest first-generation wrestler?
I think he’s very underrated; I think it’s Chris Sabin. I’ve had possibly the greatest match I’ve ever had in my life, but it didn’t get recorded, against Chris Sabin. I have wrestled [him] more times than I can remember, and not one time did I leave the ring thinking, “Man, that was just okay.” He [gave] me some of the greatest matches I’ve ever had in my life, when we were both working for TNA Wrestling. Unfortunately, not many of them were recorded. Some of these house shows, man, we went all out, as if it was live on pay-per-view, because Sabin and I only have one gearshift, and it’s either all or it’s nothing.

Which wrestlers in other promotions would you want to wrestle?
Hands down: Chris Jericho. I have been a big fan of [his]. Now, I wasn’t a big WCW fan. … In my house, the WWF always won. But my brother, he was a big WCW fan, so that kind of made me take a glimpse at some of the WCW stuff, and in doing so I fell in love with Chris Jericho. I thought he was such a great in-ring wrestler, and he had so much charisma. And then I got to see a lot of his stuff from Japan and I would study [his] wrestling. I watched a bunch of his matches with Chris Benoit in Japan, and then he made his WWF debut against The Rock, who was one of the greatest talkers and promo guys. And [Jericho] really, really held his own, so I would definitely put [him] on the top of that list.

Who is a young wrestler who you think we should watch more?
Besides Chris Sabin … because I’m so immersed in Ring of Honor, especially being the world champion, there [aren’t] too many of the younger guys that [I’ve] had the pleasure of watching, really. Some stand out from my travels all around the world. I would say a homegrown Ring of Honor guy to watch would be Will Ferrara. He’s one of the products of the Ring of Honor wrestling school. He’s still got quite a bit to learn, but any advice you give him, he definitely takes into consideration, and he applies it the next time you see him … I would definitely keep an eye out for him.

When you consider all the training, and all the sacrifices, was it all worth it to get where you are now?
One hundred percent. Even if I’d only accomplished half of what I accomplished, it would definitely, definitely be worth it. To me, there’s no price that I wouldn’t pay for a chance to get to live my dream. … Because the chance of someone having a dream, a vision, at such a young age, the chance of them getting to live that dream are very slim to none, because sometimes the sacrifices just can’t be made, and I just fell into a perfect storm—the sacrifices that I needed to make could be made, and it helped me live out my dream.