Jeff Jarrett: I Have No Idea Why Jay Lethal Never Went To WWE
Jarrett thinks Black Machsimo would have been great in WWE
Sep 11, 2021
Throughout his tenures in TNA/IMPACT Wrestling and Ring of Honor, Jay Lethal honed his craft to become one of the best pro wrestlers on the planet, and according to former boss Jeff Jarrett it’s strange that WWE never picked him up.
Whilst speaking on the My World podcast, Jarrett spoke about TNA’s infamous X Division, and former champ Lethal, saying:
“The X-Division wasn’t a lesser than or a weight class. The whole phraseology was, ‘It’s not about weight limits, it’s about no limits. Jay being a fantastic X-Division wrestler, he also had an incredible amount of charisma. Backstage, going on international tours, hanging out, catering, after hours. Jay was a very entertaining human being and just one of those things that how can we change it up here? Jay’s verbal skills to this day, I’m not really sure why [WWE didn’t sign him]. When you look at that segment between him and Flair.
“Jay can hold his own verbally with anybody, and I thought through the years, here we are talking about it 15 years later, Jay’s charisma on the mic, when you really let him go, is incredible. We wanted to feature him and spotlight him, and we did.”
Double J continued, saying he felt it was inevitable that Lethal would up sticks for WWE:
“From about 2006 to about 2010 or 11, every time Jay’s contract would come up, I would often think [he’s going to WWE], because, to me, he’s got all of the tools. He’s an in-ring, he can go, he can be a heel, he can be a baby face. He knows how to turn it on, he can be a tag guy, he can be an X-Division guy. He is very well rounded, and then his mic skills. I often thought Vince McMahon and WWE, if they latch onto him because he can do ‘Black Machismo’, he can do a Flair impersonation.
“I’m not really talking about just impersonations, I’m talking about the innate charisma and the verbal skills that Jay had. I thought for a long time he would leave us and go on to the WWE. Then here we are all these years later, he obviously has a real comfort level with Ring of Honor. I’ve been around him a long time and he’s worked with me and for me, he obviously has a real comfort level where he’s at. But I can’t say enough good things about him. I have no idea why he didn’t go on [to WWE].”
H/T: Wrestling Inc.
