Jay Lethal
Jamar Shipman, better known by the ring name Jay Lethal, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling and also makes appearances for their sister promotion Ring of Honor, where he is the leader of The Lethal Swirl. He also makes occasional appearances on the independent circuit and is best known for his tenures in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
Dubbed "The Franchise" of Ring of Honor, Lethal is a two-time ROH World Champion, and holds the record for most combined days with the ROH World Championship in company history. He was also a record-setting two-time and longest reigning ROH World Television Champion, holding the title for 567 days, and the only man to hold the World Television Championship and the World Championship at the same time, and a former ROH World Tag Team Champion with Jonathan Gresham. Lethal is recognized by ROH as a Grand Slam Champion, and is the only man to have held the ROH World, World Tag Team, World Television and Pure championships. In 2020, he was selected by Ring of Honor as their Wrestler of the Decade.
He is also known for his work TNA, where he was a six-time TNA X Division Champion and a former TNA World Tag Team Champion with Consequences Creed as The Lethal Consequences. Between ROH and TNA, Lethal has won 13 total championships.
Early life
Jamar Shipman was born on April 29, 1985, in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He is the middle child of Ronald and Shirley Shipman, with two brothers and two sisters. In July 2001, aged 16, Shipman won a contest held by Jersey All Pro Wrestling which entitled the winner to a lifetime of free training in the JAPW professional wrestling school. He spent six months training there, at the end of which the school closed down. He then began training under Extreme Championship Wrestling alumni Mikey Whipwreck and Dan Maff.Professional wrestling career
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. On December 10, 2004, at Seasons Beatings, Azrieal gained one more shot at the JAPW Light Heavyweight Championship by challenging Lethal to a "belt versus loser leaves town" match, which would see Azrieal leave JAPW if he lost. Azrieal was able to win the match, thus ending their lengthy feud.JAPW Heavyweight Champion (2005–2009)
With two lengthy title reigns in the space of two years, Lethal had established himself as a dominant member of the JAPW roster by 2005, and he began challenging for the JAPW Heavyweight Championship, which had been held by Dan Maff since December 2003. On January 29, 2005, at Wild Card, Lethal pinned Maff in a title match, but the decision was overturned by crooked referee Sean Hanson. 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. Lethal finally won the JAPW Heavyweight Championship on May 21 in Braintree, Massachusetts, at Braintree Invasion defeating Homicide, Kevin Steen and Samoa Joe in a four-way match by pinning Homicide following a diving headbutt.Lethal defeated Steve Corino on June 4 at HomeComing with his father in his corner, but, after the match, Corino and Ricky Landell handcuffed Lethal to the top rope and attacked his father with Corino placing him in a crossface. This led to a six-man tag match on July 16, at Gored pitting Lethal and his father against Corino, Landell and Landell's manager, Rick Silver. Lethal and his father were outnumbered, but managed to pull off a win at the last minute after Lethal's mother introduced their partner, the returning Charlie Haas. After Haas attacked Lethal during the post-match celebrations, a title match was booked between Haas and Lethal for Haas of Pain held on September 10, which was won by Lethal. On October 22 at 8th Year Anniversary Show Lethal ended his feud with Corino by defeating him for the title in a Dog Collar match with help from Tommy Dreamer.
Lethal's next feud would be with The D-Factor's Rhino, who, on November 12, 2005, at Fall Out, assaulted him following his successful title defense against B-Boy. On January 7, 2006, at Wild Card II, Lethal lost the JAPW Heavyweight Championship to Rhino, 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, and then on May 20, 2006, but was unsuccessful both times at regaining the title. After unsuccessfully going after the JAPW Light Heavyweight Championship held by Frankie Kazarian, Lethal and former rival Azrieal managed to win the JAPW Tag Team Championship by defeating the champions The Outcast Killaz and The S.A.T. in a three-way dance on October 28, 2006, at 9th Year Anniversary Show, held in Rahway, New Jersey. On June 9, 2007, at Back to Business, The Latin American Xchange of Homicide and Hernandez defeated Lethal and Azrieal for the titles.
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. During the match Maff had also attacked Lethal and that lead to a Championship match between the two on March 28, at Unfinished Business, in which Lethal managed to retain his title. Lethal defeated Maff again on April 18 at International Invasion, but only after Trent Acid interfered in the match. Their feud ended on June 27 in Jersey City, at Caged Destiny, when Maff defeated Lethal for the title inside a steel cage. Lethal has not made any appearances for JAPW since.
Ring of Honor (2003–2006)
Hydro (2003–2004)
Shipman made his Ring of Honor debut as Hydro, a member of Special K on Revenge on the Prophecy held in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, on January 11, 2003. On May 22, 2004, at Generation Next he faced Alex Shelley in a singles match. Though he lost, Shelley recognized his pure wrestling talent and offered him membership in Generation Next, Shelley's stable of future stars. 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 Tag Team Championship in a losing effort, as CM Punk single-handedly defended the title to allow his tag team partner and co-champion Colt Cabana to prepare for his match later that evening. Hydro then challenged Punk to an impromptu match, which Punk also won. Hydro shook hands before the match, thus following the "Code of Honor".Samoa Joe's protégé (2004–2005)
Hydro took part in the Pure Wrestling tournament on July 17, 2004, at Reborn: Completion. At the outset of the event, World Champion Samoa Joe advised Hydro to change his name and become more serious. 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.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 III on September 11 with his ROH career on the line. Lethal won, breaking his losing streak. Low Ki, who had been feuding with Samoa Joe for several months, 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 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, but recovered with a win over Delirious the next day at Joe vs. Punk II. He teamed with his mentor, Samoa Joe, and lost to R. J. Brewer and Nigel McGuinness at Weekend Of Thunder: Night One on November 5, before suffering another loss to The 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 in an attempt to end Lethal's career. Lethal defeated both WMDs at All-Star Extravaganza 2 on December 4 and Final Battle 2004 on December 26 respectively, in both cases ending the match with his signature flipping release dragon suplex.
Lethal's feud with The Embassy continued into 2005, and on February 19 at the Third Anniversary Celebration: Part One he pinned Embassy member Jimmy Rave to become number one contender to the Pure Championship. 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. Lethal was scheduled to face Walters for the title in a re-match at Trios Tournament 2005 on March 5 in Philadelphia, but was attacked by an unknown assailant backstage, resulting in Lethal's eye swelling shut. Despite the injury, Lethal went on to defeat Walters later that night to win the Pure Championship, his first title in ROH.
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 the Best of the American Super Juniors Tournament on April 2, Lethal and Joe faced Jimmy Jacobs and B. J. Whitmer for the vacant Tag Team Championship, but were defeated. Lethal retained his Pure Championship in a match with Spanky at Stalemate on April 16, but on May 7 at Manhattan Mayhem he lost the title to his mentor Samoa Joe. After the match, both men were ambushed after the match by The Rottweilers, who revealed Low Ki was the one who attacked Lethal at Trios Tournament 2005. 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. Lethal was stretchered from the arena, wearing a neck brace, ostensibly seriously injured.
After being out "injured" for a month, Lethal returned 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 World Champion CM Punk, who had signed with World Wrestling Entertainment and was trying to leave ROH with the World Championship, to defend his title against Lethal. 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.
Seeking revenge for the neck injury he had in May, Lethal challenged Homicide at Escape from New York on July 9, but lost due to Homicide using a chain. On July 23 at The Homecoming he joined forces with Samoa Joe and James Gibson to face The Rottweilers 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.
At Glory by Honor IV on September 17, Lethal lost to Low Ki in a "Fight Without Honor". He went on to defeat Low Ki later that night, however, in a standard singles match to end their feud. He defeated Sal Rinauro to advance to the finals of the 2005 Survival of the Fittest tournament on September 24, but was eliminated by Roderick Strong.