Jersey All Pro-Wrestling (2001–2009) Debut and various title reigns (2001–2004) Shipman made his wrestling debut under the ring name Jay Lethal on December 7, 2001, at JAPW's "Class Of 2001 Student Show", in a match where he defeated Dixie. He won his first Championship, the
JAPW Television Championship, on September 13, 2002, in Bayonne, New Jersey, at
Never Forget, defeating the champion, Ghost Shadow, and Rain in a three-way match. His reign lasted an unprecedented and unreplicated eleven months, with Lethal finally losing to Crazy Ivan on August 22, 2003, in
Rahway, New Jersey at
Counter-Strike. Lethal also held the
JAPW Light Heavyweight Championship, defeating the champion, Azrieal, Insane Dragon and
Jack Evans on February 28, 2004, at
Revolution, in a four-way match. Azrieal tried to regain the title for eight months, but repeatedly lost to Lethal. In March 2005, Maff left JAPW and retired from wrestling following an argument with
Homicide, thus vacating the JAPW Heavyweight Championship. Lethal was awarded the Heavyweight Championship on March 26 at
Caged Fury 2 held in the
ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but he refused to accept it, claiming that he wanted to "earn" the title. JAPW mainstay Homicide then challenged Lethal to an impromptu match for the vacant title, which Homicide won. who won the bout after giving Lethal a
Rhino Driver through a table from the top rope. Lethal tried twice to regain his title, first on February 18, 2006, in a three-way match which also included
Teddy Hart, At the beginning of 2009 Lethal proclaimed that it was his destiny to win back the JAPW Heavyweight title, held by
Kenny Omega. On February 28, 2009, in Jersey City, at
Jersey City Rumble Lethal won a 21-person
Jersey City Rumble to earn the right to challenge for Omega's title that same night. In the end, Lethal pinned Omega with the
flipping release dragon suplex after Omega's associate Dan Maff turned on him, to win the JAPW Heavyweight Championship for the second time. On May 22, 2004, at
Generation Next he faced
Alex Shelley in a singles match. 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. Hydro then challenged Punk to an impromptu match, which Punk also won. Acting on Joe's advice, Hydro left Special K and went back to calling himself Jay Lethal. He was eliminated from the tournament after
Doug Williams pinned him in a four-way match using the
Chaos Theory. 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. 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. This led to Nana recruiting several
masked mercenaries (dubbed the "
Weapons of Masked Destruction") in an attempt to end Lethal's career. Lethal defeated both WMDs at
All-Star Extravaganza 2 on December 4 Pure Champion and Embassy member
R. J. Brewer, who had control over when to wrestle his title matches, chose to have the title defense immediately after Lethal's match, defeating the exhausted Lethal to retain his title following a trifecta of
Lung Blowers. Despite the injury, Lethal went on to defeat Walters later that night to win the Pure Championship, 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. This led to a tag match that same night pitting Lethal and Joe against Low Ki and fellow Rottweiler Homicide. The match ended when Homicide gave Lethal
Da Cop Killa while Low Ki simultaneously delivered a
Ghetto Stomp, driving Lethal's neck into the ground. 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. Punk retained his title with a
muscle buster/
rear naked choke combination, often used by Samoa Joe, who had come ringside to cheer Lethal on. 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, with Homicide using the chain this time on Gibson. 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 hit an
elbow drop to the referee. Afterwards the four men brawled all over the arena, with Low Ki
Ghetto Stomping Lethal off the bleachers and ending with him giving Lethal the
Ki Krusher in the middle of the ring. He went on to defeat Low Ki later that night, however, in a standard singles match to end their feud.
Last feuds and departure (2005–2006) After unsuccessfully challenging Nigel McGuinness for the Pure Championship on October 1, On January 27, 2006, Lethal teamed with
Bryan Danielson, losing to Austin Aries and Roderick Strong in a match for the Tag Team Championship. In January 2006, he was signed to a contract by TNA. He made his
pay-per-view debut at
Against All Odds in 2006 on February 12, defeating
Matt Bentley,
Alex Shelley and
Petey Williams in a four-way match by pinning Williams. On the February 18, 2006 episode of
Impact!, Lethal defeated
Roderick Strong and
Shannon Moore to earn a spot in
Team USA, the defending champions in the 2006
World X Cup. Other members of the team were
Chris Sabin,
Sonjay Dutt and Alex Shelley. On the April 27, 2006 episode of
Impact!, Lethal unsuccessfully challenged Samoa Joe for the X Division Championship. On May 14 at
Sacrifice Lethal participated in the World X Cup Gauntlet match, but ended up being the second to last man eliminated from the match by
Team Mexico's
Puma. In the June 1, 2006 episode of
Impact!, Lethal scored a win over Alex Shelley, but was after the match attacked by his associate
Kevin Nash, who had declared a war on the X Division in the aftermath of Team USA's World X Cup victory. During the July 13, 2006 episode, Lethal won the right to challenge for the title of his choosing by scoring the deciding fall in an eight-man "All or Nothing" tag team match, where he teamed with Rhino and
Team 3D (
Brother Ray and
Brother Devon) against Team Canada (Petey Williams,
Bobby Roode,
Eric Young and
A1). The next week, Lethal challenged
Jeff Jarrett for the
NWA World Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated following interference from
Scott Steiner. Two weeks later, Lethal took part in a five way X Division match to determine the 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 involving Lethal, Williams and defending champion
Senshi. Lethal was pinned by Senshi after Williams hit him with his
Canadian Destroyer. 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 Chris 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 into Petey's groin. Following in this storyline, Lethal went on to defeat Williams again on September 24, 2006, at the 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. 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. After the tournament, which concluded in January 2007, Lethal and Dutt continued appearing in Paparazzi segments with Nash and PCS winner Alex Shelley, with Nash promising to give Lethal and Dutt Extreme Makeovers to help advance their careers. The February 15 episode of
Impact! included a segment named "Paparazzi Idol", a parody of
American Idol. After Lethal's attempt to sing 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. The April 5, 2007 episode of
Impact! presented Lethal and Dutt with their new
gimmicks; Lethal's new gimmick was impersonating Savage. The following week, Nash introduced Lethal, who was led to the ring by a remixed version of Savage's entrance theme "
Pomp and Circumstance" and dressed in full "Macho Man" attire, as "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal. He imitated Savage's trademark catchphrase "Oh yeah!" and was able to defeat X Division Champion Chris Sabin using many of Savage's signature in-ring maneuvers and mannerisms, most notably his
diving elbow drop finisher. At the
Lockdown pay-per-view on April 15, 2007, Lethal nearly won the X Division title from Sabin in a five-person Xscape 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, who had rejected Nash's idea for his new gimmick, won a shot at the X Division Championship held by Chris Sabin at
Sacrifice. Dutt, however, was unhappy at Lethal getting the pinfall. After their loss to Sabin at Sacrifice, 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, TNA Mobile announced that Randy Savage himself called Jay Lethal and said that he loved the "Black Machismo" character as the two spoke on the phone for several minutes. However, Lethal subsequently expressed doubt over whether he had really spoken with Savage as the Macho Man's trademark voice is easily imitated. At
Slammiversary, Lethal defeated Chris Sabin in a singles match for the X Division Championship, his first title in TNA. Only days later, however, on the following
Impact!, he lost the title to Samoa Joe after Chris Sabin was pinned, in a Match of Champions three-way 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, who had made peace with Lethal after coming up with the gimmick of a guru, defeated
Triple X's Christopher Daniels and Senshi and
The Motor City Machineguns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) in a three-way tag match when Lethal pinned Daniels. This led to
Jim Cornette booking a match on the August 16 episode of
Impact! pitting Daniels versus 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. At
Genesis Lethal successfully defended his X Division Championship against his best friend, Sonjay Dutt, who during the match once again began showing signs of annoyance towards Lethal and his mannerisms. However, after the match Dutt made peace with Lethal, who then invited
SoCal Val, TNA's ring girl, to the ring to celebrate the victory. The celebration was cut short by Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother Devon), who were at the time feuding with the
fan favorite-
turned Motor City Machineguns, who beat down both Lethal and Dutt and left the arena with Lethal's Championship belt. The feud ended on February 10 at
Against All Odds, where Lethal, Shelley and Sabin defeated Team 3D and Devine in a six-man street fight, ending with Lethal pinning Devine to also win back the X Division Championship. On April 17, 2008, Lethal lost his X Division title after Petey Williams attacked him from behind after a match and cashed in his
"Feast or Fired" briefcase for his X Division title shot. On the next episode of
Impact!, Lethal proposed to his
on-screen girlfriend SoCal Val, which she accepted. At
Slammiversary Sonjay Dutt, after months of teasing, finally turned heel by interrupting the wedding ceremony and proclaiming his love for Val, before attacking Lethal and his wedding guests. On the next two
Impact! Lethal attacked Dutt out of rage when Dutt claimed that Val loved him. On the next
Impact! So Cal Val said that she wanted to put off the wedding. Dutt and Lethal met at
Victory Road in a one on one contest, which Dutt won after Val pleaded with Lethal to stop hurting Dutt, which allowed Dutt to take advantage and roll up Lethal. Lethal proposed to Val again, but found that her ring was missing, as Dutt had stolen it. Lethal and Dutt would meet again in a
Black Tie Brawl and Chain match at
Hard Justice, which Lethal won, even though Val distracted him by leaving during the match, because he wouldn't stop hurting Dutt. During a segment of ''Karen's Angle'', Dutt confronted Val and attempted to seduce her, until Lethal attacked him and during the fight accidentally elbowed Val in the face. The following week Val announced that she would put the wedding ring up for grabs in a "
Ladder of Love match" on September 14 at
No Surrender. At No Surrender Val turned on Lethal by giving him a
low blow, which allowed Dutt to climb the ladder and get the wedding ring.
Lethal Consequences (2008–2009) At
Bound for Glory IV Lethal won the
Steel Asylum match to become the number 1 contender to the X Division title. On the October 23 live episode of
Impact! Sheik Abdul Bashir defeated Lethal to retain the championship. The following week, Lethal along with
A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe,
Consequences Creed, Petey Williams, Eric Young,
O.D.B. and
The Motor City Machine Guns formed a faction of younger wrestlers known as the
TNA Frontline to oppose
The Main Event Mafia. On the January 8, 2009 episode of
Impact!, Lethal cashed in his briefcase, formed a team with Consequences Creed and defeated then-champions
Beer Money, Inc. (
Robert Roode and
James Storm) after Roode's singles match with
Matt Morgan to become the new TNA World Tag Team Champions. However, they quickly lost the titles back to Beer Money, Inc. at the
Genesis pay-per-view on January 11. On January 15, Lethal and Creed defeated
Abyss and Matt Morgan to earn another shot at the Tag Team Championship. Upon becoming the number one contenders, Lethal and Creed formed a long-term tag team known as
Lethal Consequences (a combination of their ring names) and then started a feud with The Motor City Machineguns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) after dissention between the Guns and the Frontline. Beer Money then went on to retain the title at
Against All Odds due to Creed's shoulder injury. After their title match, Lethal Consequences continued their feud with the Motor City Machineguns, with both teams winning one match a piece over the next two weeks. On April 24, 2009, it was announced on TNAWrestling.com that Lethal had signed a new multi-year deal with the company. On the November 5, 2009, episode of
Impact! Jay Lethal announced an open invitational challenge. Due to the announcement of
Hulk Hogan joining TNA, Lethal challenged wrestling legends to take him on. The following week,
Jim Neidhart answered the challenge and defeated Lethal. The series continued on the December 17 episode of
Impact!, when
Tatanka answered the challenge and defeated Lethal in a singles match. After months of inactivity, Lethal's alliance with Consequences Creed came officially to an end on March 29, 2010, when Creed was released from his contract.
Feud with Ric Flair and Fortune (2010–2011) in 2010 After spending most of early 2010 off TV, Lethal returned on the March 29 episode of
Impact! by approaching Hulk Hogan, reminiscing about their days as "
The Mega Powers" (Hogan's old team with Randy Savage). Playing along with Lethal's antics, Hogan placed him in charge of the show for his one-week absence due to a business trip. After raising the ire of Hogan's business partner
Eric Bischoff with his comedic booking ideas, Bischoff placed Lethal in a two-on-one handicap match against Beer Money, Inc.; Lethal, however, managed to win the match after surprising Robert Roode with a roll-up. On the May 3 episode of
Impact!, Hogan gave Lethal
Ric Flair's Hall of Fame ring that Abyss had won from him the previous week. When Lethal, now imitating Flair, was confronted by Flair himself, he claimed that he meant no disrespect and out of respect towards Flair, returned the ring to him. This, however, wasn't enough for Flair, who attacked Lethal along with A.J. Styles,
Desmond Wolfe and Beer Money, Inc., before he was saved by Abyss, Team 3D and the
TNA World Heavyweight Champion Rob Van Dam. At
Sacrifice, Lethal came out during the TNA World Heavyweight Championship match between champion Rob Van Dam and challenger A.J. Styles, and locked Ric Flair in a
Figure-four leglock in order to prevent him from interfering in the match. On the May 20 episode of
Impact!, Lethal competed in his first match after dropping the Black Machismo gimmick, and teamed up with Rob Van Dam to defeat Beer Money, Inc. in a tag team match. After the match, Lethal brawled with Flair. At
Slammiversary VIII, Lethal defeated Flair's protégé A.J. Styles in a singles match. After defeating Desmond Wolfe, another one of Flair's allies, on the June 17 episode of
Impact!, Hogan granted him a match with Flair at
Victory Road. On July 11 at Victory Road, Lethal defeated Flair with his own move, the figure-four leglock. On the August 5 episode of
Impact!, Lethal faced Flair in a rematch, this time contested under Street Fight rules, with A.J. Styles, Kazarian, Robert Roode and James Storm of Flair's
Fortune stable banned from ringside. Flair managed to win the match, after an interference from X Division Champion
Douglas Williams, who would officially join Fortune the following week. On September 6, at the tapings of the September 16 episode of
Impact!, Lethal defeated Williams to win the X Division Championship for the fourth time. On September 23, at a
live event in
New York City, Lethal lost the X Division Championship to
Amazing Red. Lethal regained the title two days later at a live event in Rahway, New Jersey. At
Bound for Glory, Lethal successfully defended the X Division Championship against Douglas Williams. After his title match at Bound for Glory, Lethal was attacked by
Robbie E, who claimed he was a disgrace to New Jersey and vowed to bring some class to the X Division Championship himself. On the October 28 episode of
Impact!, Robbie E defeated Lethal in a non–title Street Fight, after interference from his manager
Cookie, to earn the right to challenge for the X Division Championship. At
Turning Point, Lethal lost the X Division Championship to Robbie E, after another interference from Cookie. After suffering another loss to Robbie and Cookie on the following episode of
Impact! in a mixed tag team match, where he teamed with
Taylor Wilde, Lethal came to the conclusion that he needed to find someone who could negate Cookie the next time he went for the X Division Championship. At
Final Resolution, Lethal faced Robbie E in a match for the X Division Championship, during which Cookie was suspended above the ring in a shark cage. Robbie retained the title via disqualification, when Lethal was caught using Cookie's hairspray on him. On December 7 at the tapings of the December 16 episode of
Impact!, Lethal defeated Robbie E, after
Christy Hemme came out to negate Cookie, to win the X Division Championship for the sixth time, and after the match celebrated with Hemme which led to a kiss between the two; Lethal now shared the record for most reigns as the X Division Champion. On January 9, 2011 at
Genesis, Lethal lost the X Division Championship to Fortune member Kazarian. On April 21, 2011, it was reported that Lethal had parted ways with TNA. His final match for the promotion was an eight-man Xscape match, which took place on April 17 at
Lockdown. His last televised match was aired on the April 19 episode of
Xplosion, in a three-way match with
Sangriento and Chris Sabin. Lethal's release from TNA was later used to ignite a storyline feud between the X Division and Eric Bischoff, as well as add fuel to the ongoing feud between the now-face Fortune and Bischoff's
Immortal stable, with both Robert Roode and Brian Kendrick naming him on the May 5 episode of
Impact!.
Return to ROH (2011–2021) Various feuds (2011–2014) in a number one contender's match at
Supercard of Honor VII On May 2, 2011, ROH announced that Lethal would be making his return to the promotion on June 26 at the
Best in the World 2011 internet pay-per-view. In his ROH return match Lethal, as a face defeated
Mike Bennett. On August 8, ROH announced that Lethal had signed a contract with the promotion. On August 13, at the first
Ring of Honor Wrestling tapings under the
Sinclair Broadcast Group banner, Lethal defeated
El Generico to win the
ROH World Television Championship. On September 17 at
Death Before Dishonor IX, Lethal teamed up with fellow TNA alum Homicide in a tag team match, where they were defeated by Embassy's Rhino and
Tommaso Ciampa. On December 3, Lethal defeated nineteen other men in the Honor Rumble to earn a shot at the
ROH World Championship in 2012. On December 23 at
Final Battle 2011, Lethal successfully defended the ROH World Television Championship in a three-way match against El Generico and Mike Bennett. At the January 7, 2012, tapings of
Ring of Honor Wrestling, Lethal successfully defended the title against Bennett in a No Time Limit match. On January 20, Lethal unsuccessfully challenged
Davey Richards for the ROH World Championship. On March 4 at the
10th Anniversary Show, Lethal's ROH World Television Championship match with Tommaso Ciampa ended in a fifteen-minute time limit draw. On March 31 at
Showdown in the Sun, Lethal lost the World Television Championship to Roderick Strong, following outside interference from Ciampa. At the following pay-per-view,
Border Wars on May 12, Lethal defeated Ciampa in a singles match to end his undefeated streak. On June 24 at
Best in the World 2012: Hostage Crisis, Lethal failed in his attempt to regain the World Television Championship from Strong in a three-way elimination match, also involving Ciampa. The feud between Lethal and Ciampa culminated on August 11 at
Boiling Point, where Lethal defeated Ciampa in a
two-out-of-three-falls match. On September 22, Lethal won the
2012 Survival of the Fittest tournament to earn another shot at the ROH World Championship. Lethal received his title shot on October 6 in Rahway, New Jersey, but the match with Kevin Steen ended in a no contest. Following the match, ROH shot an
angle, where Steen spat at Lethal's parents at ringside, which led to Lethal snapping and attacking several ROH officials, including Jim Cornette. Having found his "killer instinct", Lethal appeared at the following internet pay-per-view,
Glory By Honor XI: The Unbreakable Hope on October 13, earning a submission win over Davey Richards. At the January 5, 2013, tapings of
Ring of Honor Wrestling, Lethal managed to coax Steen into accepting a title match with him, which led to McGuinness agreed to change his mind and make the match official. Lethal received his title shot on March 2 at the
11th Anniversary Show, but was defeated by Steen. On April 5 at
Supercard of Honor VII, Lethal failed to earn another shot at the ROH World Championship, when he was defeated by
Michael Elgin in a number one contender's match. After the ROH World Championship was vacated, Lethal entered a tournament to determine the new champion, defeating Sonjay Dutt in his first round match on July 27. On August 3, Lethal was eliminated from the tournament in the second round by
Adam Cole.
ROH World Television Champion; ROH World Champion (2014–2016) belt at a taping on February 27, 2016 On April 4, 2014, at
Supercard of Honor VIII, Lethal turned heel for the first time in nearly a decade by accepting help from
Truth Martini, to defeat Tommaso Ciampa to regain the World Television Championship, becoming the first two-time holder of the title. After the match, Lethal declared that there was a house in ROH, "
The House of Truth", marking the return of the stable with Lethal as the figurehead. Over the next year, Lethal would become recognized as the longest reigning World Television Champion in ROH history, with successful championship defenses against the likes of
Matt Taven,
Caprice Coleman, on the last PPV of the year;
Final Battle 2014 and again at the
ROH 13th Anniversary Show against
Alberto el Patrón. In March 2015, Lethal became the most successful World Television Champion of all time, with the most successful defenses as champion, more than doubling the previous record held by Matt Taven. In April 2015, Lethal began professing himself as "the" ROH Champion, claiming his World Television championship was now the true top title that mattered in ROH (over the World Championship). In May 2015, Lethal debuted a new World Television Championship belt, which omitted the word "Television" and now read simply "ROH Champion". As a result,
matchmaker Nigel McGuinness announced that at
Best in the World 2015, Lethal would face
Jay Briscoe in a winner-takes-all "Battle of the Belts" match with both the ROH World Championship and RHW World Television Championships on the line. Lethal defeated Briscoe after hitting Briscoe with his own
Jay Driller and then a
Lethal Injection to retain his title and win the World Championship, thus making him a double champion in the process, as well as becoming the first African-American to win the championship. The win also made him Ring of Honor's third Triple Crown Champion, as he is also a former ROH Pure Champion. On August 22, Lethal teamed with the "King of Strong Style"
Shinsuke Nakamura to defeat
reDRagon at
Ring of Honor's
Field of Honor event. On October 23 at
Glory By Honor XIV, Lethal lost the Television Championship to Roderick Strong, ending his reign at 567 days, and 36 successful championship defenses. As part 2015's "supershow" series with
Preston City Wrestling, Lethal retained the ROH World Championship in three individual defenses over
Noam Dar,
Doug Williams and Joey Hayes. Through ROH's working relationship with
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Lethal made his debut for the Japanese promotion on January 4, 2016, at
Wrestle Kingdom 10 in Tokyo Dome, where he successfully defended the ROH World Championship against Michael Elgin. Lethal returned to the UK again to defend the ROH World Championship, this time defeating
Mark Haskins at a sold-out show in
York Hall, London for
Revolution Pro Wrestling. On February 20, Lethal main evented the second night of the ROH and NJPW co-produced
Honor Rising: Japan 2016 event in
Tokyo, Japan, successfully defending the ROH World Championship against
Tomoaki Honma. Afterwards, Lethal and Truth Martini joined
Tetsuya Naito's
Los Ingobernables de Japón stable. Lethal and Naito knew each other from working together in TNA. On March 26 of ROH tapings, Lethal successfully defended his title against
Hirooki Goto. Afterwards, a rare double-turn took place when
Donovan Dijak came out with
Prince Nana and attacked Truth Martini. Lethal would then begin a feud with a returning
Colt Cabana, who had set his sights on the ROH World Championship. At
Global Wars, Lethal and Cabana fought to a no-contest after
The Bullet Club interfered and attacked everyone in the ringside area, including Lethal. During the attack, Lethal was zip tied to the ring ropes and repeatedly superkicked by new Bullet Club member Adam Cole. At
Best in the World '16 on July 24, Lethal successfully defended his title after defeating Jay Briscoe. The two shook hands afterwards. The following day, Lethal was again attacked by Cole and Bullet Club, who shaved him bald. The following month, Lethal returned to NJPW, successfully defending the ROH World Championship against
Satoshi Kojima on August 14. On August 19 at
Death Before Dishonor XIV, Lethal lost the ROH World Championship to Adam Cole, ending his reign at 427 days.
Various feuds (2016–2018) At
Field of Honor Lethal was involved in a Four corner survival match for the
ROH World Championship which was won by
Adam Cole. On August 20, 2016 Lethal was betrayed by
Los Ingobernables de Japón after they walked out on Jay in a six-man tag team match. At
All Star Extravaganza VIII Lethal defeated
Tetsuya Naito. At
Final Battle Lethal was defeated by
Cody after he hit a low blow, then proceed to attack Lethal. Lethal defeated
Jushin Thunder Liger in the first round of the Decade of Excellence. He was defeated by
Jay Briscoe in the second round. On April 1 at
Supercard of Honor XI Lethal defeated Cody in a Texas Bullrope match. On ROH TV taping Lethal defeated
Silas Young,
Jay White &
Hangman Page in a four-way match to become #1 contender to the ROH World Championship. On May 12 at
War of the Worlds, Lethal unsuccessfully challenged
Christopher Daniels for the ROH World Championship in a three-way match, also involving Cody.
Second reign as ROH World Champion; ROH World Tag Team Champion; departure (2018–2021) On the June 30, 2018 tapings of
Ring of Honor Wrestling, Lethal defeated
Dalton Castle for his second ROH World Championship, while also marking the first time the ROH World Championship changed hands at a non-pay-per-view event, a television taping and aired on tape delay. He would drop the title on April 6, 2019, to
Matt Taven in a triple threat ladder match (with
Marty Scurll also involved) at
G1 Supercard, ending his second reign at 280 days. On December 13, 2019, at
Final Battle Lethal, along with
Jonathan Gresham, won the
ROH World Tag Team Championship for the first time, after they defeated The Briscoe Brothers. On the November 28, 2020 episode of
Ring of Honor Wrestling, Lethal appeared with newly formed faction The Foundation (
Jonathan Gresham,
Rhett Titus, and
Tracy Williams). In October 2021, ROH announced they would enter into a hiatus until 2022. Shortly after the announcement, Lethal joined
All Elite Wrestling and was pulled from the
Final Battle card. However, after ROH World Champion
Bandido was diagnosed with
COVID-19, it was announced that Lethal would be replacing Bandido in his Final Battle match against
Jonathan Gresham. At the event, Lethal was defeated by Gresham. This marked his final appearance with ROH prior to its acquisition by
Tony Khan in March 2022.
Independent circuit (2011–present) Lethal made his first independent appearance since his release from TNA on May 28, working for
Lucha Libre USA. As a tribute to Randy Savage, who had died just a week earlier, Lethal worked in his Black Machismo gimmick in a tag-team match, where he and
Magno were defeated by The Right (
Jon Rekon and Petey Williams). In Lethal's second appearance for Lucha Libre USA on June 18, he defeated Medianoche in a singles match. On June 19 it was announced that Lethal would be taking part in the pilot tapings of All Wheels Wrestling on June 29, working under the ring name J.R. Lethal. At the pilot tapings, his ring name was changed to RPM. At the tapings he first defeated Dubai, the former Sheik Abdul Bashir, in a five-minute
Iron Man match, but was then defeated by Schwagg Dutt, the former Sonjay Dutt, in an Ultimate X match, which also included Dubai and
Aaron Aguilera. On February 25, 2012, Lethal defeated Damien Darling at a
Family Wrestling Entertainment (FWE) event to win the FWE Tri-Borough Championship. On July 28, Lethal lost the title to Tommy Dreamer in a four-way elimination match, which also included Brian Kendrick and
Carlito. On March 22, 2013, Lethal made his debut for
Southern California-based
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), losing to
Eddie Edwards in a singles match. The following day, Lethal defeated
Willie Mack at another PWG event. On May 25, Lethal took part in
English promotion Southside Wrestling Entertainment's (SWE) Speed King 2013 tournament, eventually defeating
Dean Allmark,
El Ligero, Martin Kirby,
Marty Scurll and MK McKinnan in a six-way final to win the tournament and become the new SWE Speed King Champion. On July 30, 2016, Lethal defended the ROH World Championship against Denis Rivera for CWA in Puerto Rico where the CWA Heavyweight Championship was also on the line. Lethal was victorious, retaining his ROH World Championship and gaining the CWA title in the process. Lethal made his What Culture Pro Wrestling (WCPW) debut on the second episode of WCPW Loaded in a match against
El Ligero with the stipulation that if Ligero won he would get a shot at Lethal's ROH Championship. During the match, the two men (both being babyfaces) showed tremendous respect to each other; however, the match ended in a no contest when Martin Kirby interfered and attacked both men. After the match, Lethal stated that in order to defend his title, he would have to get permission from the Ring of Honor officials who were not present, but he guaranteed Ligero a shot at the title in the future. Later Lethal was against
Noam Dar for his
ROH World Championship on July 25, 2016 on the episode of
WCPW: Built To Destroy, where Lethal won. Lethal was set to face El Ligero at
WCPW Refuse To Lose on October 6, 2016. The match was originally scheduled to be for the ROH World Championship, but will instead be for the WCPW Internet Championship, due to Lethal no longer being ROH World Champion. In August, it was announced that Lethal would not be able to compete for the promotion due to contractual reasons. On WCPW Loaded episode 10 it was announced that
Alberto El Patron would be Lethal's replacement. Lethal returned to the promotion on January 29, 2017, where he took part of Triple Threat match for the ROH World Championship, which he lost. The match also included El Ligero; the winner was
Adam Cole. On June 16 at the WCPW Build to Destroy 2017, Lethal would then defeat former ROH World Champion
Davey Richards. After the match, Lethal was attacked by Drake, but he was able to fend off the attack. On August 17, 2019; Lethal made his debut for
High Impact Wrestling Canada at Battle Arts VI in
Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan. He unsuccessfully challenged
Bobby Sharp for the
HIW Wildside Provincial Championship. On July 31, 2022, at
Ric Flair's Last Match event, Lethal teamed with
Jeff Jarrett losing to
Ric Flair and
Andrade El Idolo.
All Elite Wrestling / Ring of Honor (2021–present) On November 13, 2021, Lethal made his debut for
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) at the
Full Gear pay-per-view, challenging
Sammy Guevara for the
AEW TNT Championship on the November 17 episode of
Dynamite, which Guevara accepted. Lethal would go on to lose the match, but got his arms raised by the Inner Circle post-match as a sign of respect. Lethal would then enter a feud with Team Taz in January 2022, which eventually led him to challenge
Ricky Starks for the
FTW Championship on the February 4, 2022 episode of
Rampage; he eventually lost the match against Starks. On April 1, 2022, Lethal returned to Ring of Honor, now owned by
Tony Khan, and wrestled at
Supercard of Honor XV. At the event, Lethal turned heel after using a low blow to defeat
Lee Moriarty and then attacked crutch-donning Matt Sydal. He also would reunite with
Sonjay Dutt, who restrained him as he was attacking Sydal, On April 6, 2022, Lethal appeared on-screen with Sonjay Dutt, who was now his manager, and the two promised a present to
Samoa Joe. The next week,
Satnam Singh attacked Joe and aligned himself with Lethal and Dutt. On Aug. 5, 2022, at
Battle of the Belts III, Lethal failed to win the
AEW TNT Championship from
Wardlow. On November 2, Jarrett attacked
Darby Allin and aligned himself with Lethal, Dutt and Singh. On November 19 at
Full Gear, Lethal and Jarrett was defeated by Allin and
Sting. On January 4, 2023 episode of
Dynamite, Lethal and Jarrett challenged
The Acclaimed (
Anthony Bowens and
Max Caster) for the
AEW World Tag Team Championship, but failed to win the titles. Two days later at the
Battle of the Belts V event, Lethal and Jarrett had a rematch with The Acclaimed in a
No Holds Barred tag team match, which they were unsuccessful. On the January 18 episode of
Dynamite, Lethal was unsuccessful at winning the
AEW All-Atlantic Championship against
Orange Cassidy. On January 25 episode of
Dynamite, Lethal was defeated
Mark Briscoe in a tribute match to Jay Briscoe who died in a car accident one week prior on January 17. After the match, Lethal and Briscoe hugged in the ring. On February 22 episode of
Dynamite, Lethal and Jarrett won the
Revolution Tag Team Battle Royal to be added to the AEW Tag Team Championship match, but were once again unsuccessful. On May 17 episode of
Dynamite, The Lethal Connection attacked the AEW World Tag Team Champions
FTR (
Cash Wheeler and
Dax Harwood), with
Karen Jarrett helping The Lethal Connection. Lethal and Jarrett failed to win the title from FTR at
Double or Nothing with Mark Briscoe was the
special guest referee. On the June 14 episode of
Rampage, Lethal, Jeff Jarrett and Karen Jarrett took on Mark Briscoe, Papa Briscoe and AEW referee
Aubrey Edwards. During the match, Lethal was hit with the Guitar by Edwards, who also made Karen submit with the figure four leglock. Lethal was a participant in the inaugural
Continental Classic, where he was placed in the Gold block. Lethal did not win a match in his block and recorded no points. On the January 1, 2026 episode of
Ring of Honor Wrestling, Lethal turned heel by attacking
ROH World Champion Bandido and then formed an alliance with
Blake Christian and
Lee Johnson known as "The Lethal Swirl". == Other media ==