WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett recently took to an episode of his “My World with Jeff Jarrett,” where he talked about top ROH Star Jay Lethal and how surprised he was that Lethal being a top calibre star never got signed by the WWE.
Jeff Jarrett said:
“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.”
Jeff Jarrett then talked about how he would often think Jay Lethal would end up in the WWE as Jay has got all of the tools and he would have been a perfect fit in the WWE.
Jeff Jarrett said:
“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].”
