Jay Lethal On ROH Being In A State Of Perpetual Rebuild, Why He Chose To Re-Sign With The Company

Michael McClead February 18, 2019

Brian Fritz of Sporting News recently interviewed Ring of Honor World Champion Jay Lethal, who opened up about why he chose to re-sign with ROH and more.

Check out highlights below:

Jay Lethal On The Upcoming Madison Square Garden G-1 Supercard:

I’m trying to focus on keeping the belt until Madison Square Garden because, right now, that’s all everybody can see. We’ve got tunnel vision. Everything is leading to the Garden.

To me, it’s all about walking in as the champion. If I don’t leave as the champion, that wouldn’t be too heart breaking for me, but going in as the champion, they could never take anything away from me after that. If I can hold onto this belt — we do have one more pay-per-view in March, I have to get through that first. If I can walk into Madison Square Garden as the champion, that’s what I would really like. Winning the big one in Madison Square Garden, that would be cool, but to me, being the first Ring of Honor champion walking into Madison Square Garden and defending the belt, that’s the coolest part to me.

On Who He Would Like To Face At The G-1 Supercard:

I’ve never had a singles match with (Hiroshi) Tanahashi or (Kazuchika) Okada. When I think back to some of my favorite matches, there’s one that sticks out to me and that’s the first time I won the Ring of Honor championship against Jay Briscoe. That match meant a lot to me for several reasons, but one of the most important ones is that every time with Jay Briscoe, he forces me to dig down deep and bring out something special. He really makes me perform at my highest level and something I didn’t know was possible. Any one of those three would be amazing, but then again, I’d love to be in that spot with anybody.

On Breaking Samoa Joe‘s ROH Record For Most Combined Days As ROH World Champion:

When I was pulled aside and they said you know, you’re about to beat Joe’s record of holding the belt for a certain amount of time, I said, ‘No way! That’s insane!’” I remember being in Ring of Honor when Joe was champion and I was his protégé and I would come to the ring holding his towel. I didn’t think anyone would ever beat his record.”

Lethal On Why He Signed With ROH:

Here’s the thing that made me fall in love with them, even when I was just that kid that didn’t feel like I belonged, my skill level was nowhere near a CM Punk or Austin Aries or Alex Shelley at the time, but yet I was still wrestling with those guys. Even then, this company has always gone above and beyond for me. This company has always taken great care of me. I’ve never had a reason to even dream about wanting to go somewhere else. I love this place.

On Talent Leaving ROH, ROH Being In A Perpetual Rebuilding Stage:

I feel that Ring of Honor has always been in the rebuilding phase. Ring of Honor, in all the time I’ve known it, it’s never been fully settled. It’s always in this rebuilding phase because other rosters out there constantly pluck from the Ring of Honor roster to make their roster better. Look at all of the companies out there and their champions. Most of them came through and from Ring of Honor.

I think the winning formula is you don’t try and replace those guys. How do you replace The Young Bucks? How do you replace a Cody Rhodes or an AJ Styles? That hole in your tapestry is going to be there, but you have to have sense enough to know that hole leaves some character. That hole has done some great work and you don’t try to cover that up. It just adds character.

Make sure to check out the full interview by Brian Fritz.

RELATED: Jay Lethal Breaks Big Ring Of Honor Record