Jay Lethal Recalls Panicked Faces On Infamous ROH Zoom Call
Jay Lethal can now happily say he is a member of the AEW roster. Sadly, his addition to AEW came after Ring Of Honor "dropped that bombshell" via Zoom that their entire roster was set to be released. The wrestling world was further left stunned as the prominent promotion then announced a hiatus.
During an appearance on the "AEW Unrestricted" podcast, Lethal stated he could "see some of the faces on there in panic" when they were told the news.
Lethal was loyal to the company throughout his tenure on the roster, working for them from 2003-05, and then again from 2011 until the news broke about the releases. He admitted that it "broke my heart."
"Me personally knowing three of them who had just moved and bought houses three months before that, oh man it was heartbreaking," he said.
Tony Khan ended up purchasing Ring Of Honor, and when Lethal heard that news the "first thing" that he thought of was that it would hopefully lead to some of the people who lost their jobs getting something, "if not a full-time gig, at least something more than they've got," because the situation had "put a lot of people in a tough spot."
Since taking charge of the company, Khan has run just one ROH show, which was the Supercard Of Honor during WWE WrestleMania 38 weekend. That show saw him blend several names from ROH's history such as Samoa Joe, Lethal, and The Briscoes with exciting names for the future, like new ROH Tag Team Champions FTR and new ROH PURE Champion Wheeler Yuta.
Lethal believes the blending of the rosters is a major positive because what ROH has always lacked, in his opinion, is "some grand stage" so that there were "more eyes can be on the company." Now with Khan's financial backing, the former two-time ROH World Champion believes that's "exactly what they're going to get."
"Ring Of Honor has always had an incredible roster, no matter what era you look at, no matter what year you look at. The roster, they've always had an incredible roster and this real niche audience," he said. "I am so happy and proud that Tony owns Ring Of Honor and that the legacy is going to get to continue and more people are going to get to see it than ever before."
It is still unclear what the future of Ring Of Honor is going to look like moving forward in terms of an official roster or any potential television deal they could get. It was reported recently that Khan is looking at running a Death Before Dishonor event on the weekend of July 23.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "AEW Unrestricted" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.