Jay Lethal says he already feels home in All Elite Wrestling, and he’s here for the long haul.
Jay Lethal took part in a post-show media scrum after he made his debut at AEW Full Gear on Saturday. Lethal spoke about what brought him to AEW as well as how it happened while Ring Of Honor faces an uncertain future.
“The easy answer is I’m a professional wrestler, and this is the fastest rising, hottest promotion in the frickin’ world, so it was no contest. It was a very easy decision for any professional wrestler, in my opinion. This place is amazing. AEW is on fire and I’m so happy to be here, and I’m more excited that they are willing to have me, that’s even more exciting in my head.”
Asked how he feels about the situation in ROH, Lethal said it’s unfortunate because people are losing their jobs and he made a lot of friends in the company.
“Well, unfortunately, doors are closing soon there. I’ve made a lot of friends there, I’ve wrestled there for over ten years, I’m a very loyal professional wrestler. If you’re good to me, I’ll stay there until the doors close, and the doors are closing. The opportunity presented itself, Mr. Opportunist here [Tony Khan] and I was welcomed in with open arms, so to answer your question, my heart goes out to a lot of those guys that no longer have jobs. It’s a sad time [with that situation], but also a great time to be a professional wrestler because the wrestling world is frickin’ booming.”
Jay Lethal then explained how it all happened, noting that he and Tony Khan put the deal together only a few days ago, but didn’t meet in person until Saturday.
“It all happened so quickly. It only took a few days ago. My head was spinning because — we never met. [Tony said today was the first day they met.] Today was the first time we met face-to-face. Imagine being — for lack of a better term, ‘jobless’ and worrying about how you’re going to pay your bills, which as a professional wrestler, there’s not a ton of jobs, you can’t fill out an application anywhere. The chips were down and obviously, I got a quick message from some of Tony’s associates, which was like the greatest day, like a beacon of light, it was so cool. Literally, it was only a few days ago and I flew in yesterday and had to sit in my hotel room, I couldn’t get any sleep. I swear to God, not an hour, I didn’t get a minute of sleep because all I could think about was I don’t really know what’s happening [at Full Gear] because [Tony and I] haven’t met yet and this is the first time we’re face to face, it was wild. All of these thoughts are going through my head, ‘Will these people like me?’ ‘The company’s on fire right now, I hope I make a good impression.’ So just a wild rush of emotions in my head.”
Jay Lethal also confirmed he had about a month left on his ROH deal until about five days ago, when he asked for his release from ROH. He also said he will not appear at ROH Final Battle in December.
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