Friday, March 16, 2007

TNA: Jay Lethal


Ring name(s) Jay Lethal,Hydro.Jamar Cunningham
Billed height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Billed weight 225 lbs (102 kg)
Born Elizabeth, New Jersey
Trained by Mikey Whipwreck,JAPW School
Debut December 7, 2001

Jamar Shipman (born in Elizabeth, New Jersey) is an American professional wrestler, best known by his current ring name Jay Lethal. He is currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

Lethal debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling on the December 17, 2005 episode of iMPACT!, losing to TNA X Division Champion Samoa Joe. In January 2006, he was signed to a contract by TNA. He made his pay-per-view debut at TNA Against All Odds 2006 on February 12, 2006, defeating Matt Bentley, Alex Shelley, and Petey Williams in a four way match when he pinned Williams.

On the February 18, 2006 edition of iMPACT!, Lethal defeated Roderick Strong and Shannon Moore to qualify as a member of Team USA, the defending champions in the 2006 World X-Cup. Team USA wrestled their first match at TNA Lockdown 2006 on April 23, 2006, losing to Team Japan (Black Tiger, Minoru Tanaka and Hirooki Goto) after Black Tiger pinned Lethal with a tiger suplex. On the April 27, 2006 episode of iMPACT!, Lethal unsuccessfully challenged Samoa Joe for the X Division Championship once again.

In the June 1, 2006 episode of iMPACT! Lethal scored a win over Alex Shelley but was attacked by Kevin Nash. During the July 13, 2006 episode Lethal won a shot at the title of his choosing by defeating Team Canada in an eight-man tag team match, the next week Lethal challenged Jeff Jarrett for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated following interference from Scott Steiner. Later Lethal took part in a five way X- Division match to be number one contender for the title. Although Petey Williams won the match, one week later Lethal was added to the match making it a three way match for the X- Division title at Hard Justice, as well as Petey Williams and defending champion Senshi. He lost after being pinned by Senshi, who made profit of a Canadian Destroyer made by Williams. In a strong product placement, Lethal alongside Sonjay Dutt, got fellow X Division superstar Chris Sabin ready for his match at No Surrender by watching clips of Jackass: Number Two, which was being heavily promoted by TNA at the time.

One night on iMPACT!, during Sabin's match with Alex Shelley, Shelley's partner Johnny Devine was pushed in a shopping cart and rammed into the steel post, allowing Sabin to pin Shelley. The following week, Lethal was able to defeat Petey Williams after Sabin and Dutt distracted the referee, allowing Lethal to roll a bowling ball onto Petey's midsection. Following in this storyline, Lethal went on to defeat Williams again on Sepetember 24, 2006 at No Surrender Pay-per-view, following Williams allegedly being given laxatives by stable mate Dutt, rendering him incapable of doing most of his moves, and giving Lethal the victory when Williams could no longer "hold it". He and Dutt were also involved in Sabin's match later in the night with similar antics involving a blow-up doll, but to no avail as Sabin would lose the match despite the interference. These, too, were designed as advertising for Jackass: Number Two, as were other moments for Mortal Kombat Armageddon. In December 2006, Kevin Nash recruited Lethal, Senshi, Austin Starr, Sonjay Dutt & Alex Shelley to compete in a tournament known as the Paparazzi Championship Series. The series included a push-up contest, musical chairs, Limbo contest, Texas Hold'em and a few others, although Lethal did not win the tournament.

Since the PCS, Lethal and Dutt have been taken under the wing of Kevin Nash who says he will give them an extreme makeover, which in Lethal's case, has him in a gimmick where he impersonates "Macho Man" Randy Savage.

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