Jay Lethal Jamar Shipman ( April 21 , 1985 ) , better known by his ring name Jay Lethal , is an American professional wrestler . He is best known for working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , where he was a six - time X Division Champion and a one - time World Tag Team Champion with Consequences Creed . He is currently competing for Ring of Honor . Early life . Jamar Shipman was born to Ronald and Shirley Shipman on April 21 , 1985 in Elizabeth , New Jersey and is the middle child of three brothers and two sisters . On July 7 , 2001 , at age sixteen , Shipman entered a contest held by Jersey All Pro Wrestling ( JAPW ) which entitled the winner to six months free training in the JAPW professional wrestling school . Shipman won , and spent half a year training , at the end of which the JAPW school closed down . Shipman then began training under Extreme Championship Wrestling alum Mikey Whipwreck and Dan Maff . Professional wrestling career . Jersey All Pro Wrestling ( 2001 – 2009 ) . Debut ; feud with Azrieal ( 2001 – 2004 ) . Shipman made his wrestling debut under the ring name Jay Lethal on December 7 , 2001 , at JAPW ' s " Seasons Beatings Tour Night 2 " , in a match where he defeated Rainchild . He won his first Championship , the JAPW Television Championship , on September 13 , 2002 , in Bayonne , New Jersey , at " Never Forget " , defeating the champion , Ghost Shadow , and Rain in a 3 - way match . His reign lasted an unprecedented and unreplicated eleven months , with Lethal finally losing to Crazy Ivan on August 22 , 2003 in Rahway , New Jersey at " Counter - Strike " . Lethal also held the JAPW Light Heavyweight Championship , defeating the champion , Azrieal , Insane Dragon and Jack Evans on February 28 , 2004 , at " Revolution " , in a four way match . Azrieal tried to regain the title for eight months , but repeatedly lost to Lethal . On December 10 , 2004 , at " Seasons Beatings " , Azrieal gained one more shot at the JAPW Light Heavyweight Championship by challenging Lethal to a " belt versus loser leaves town " match , which would see Azrieal leave JAPW if he lost . Azrieal was able to win the match , thus ending their lengthy feud . JAPW Heavyweight Champion ( 2005 – 2004 ) . With two lengthy title reigns in the space of two years , Lethal had established himself as a dominant member of the JAPW roster by 2005 , and he began challenging for the JAPW Heavyweight Championship , which had been held by Dan Maff since December 2003 . On January 29 , 2005 , at " Wild Card " , Lethal pinned Maff in a title match , but the decision was overturned by crooked referee Sean Hanson . In March 2005 , Maff left JAPW and retired from wrestling following an argument with Homicide , thus vacating the JAPW Heavyweight Championship . Lethal was awarded the Heavyweight Championship on March 26 at " Caged Fury 2 " held in the ECW Arena in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , but he refused to accept it , claiming that he wanted to " earn " the title . JAPW mainstay Homicide then challenged Lethal to an impromptu match for the vacant title , which Homicide won . Lethal finally won the JAPW Heavyweight Championship on May 21 in Braintree , Massachusetts , at " Braintree Invasion " defeating Homicide , Kevin Steen and Samoa Joe in a four way match by pinning Homicide following a diving headbutt . Lethal defeated Steve Corino on June 4 at " HomeComing " with his father in his corner , but , after the match , Corino and Ricky Landell handcuffed Lethal to the top rope and attacked his father with Corino placing him in a crossface . This led to a six - man tag match on July 16 , at " Gored " pitting Lethal and his father against Corino , Landell and Landell ' s manager , Rick Silver . Lethal and his father were outnumbered , but managed to pull off a win at the last minute after Lethal ' s mother introduced their partner , the returning Charlie Haas . After Haas attacked Lethal during the post - match celebrations , a title match was booked between Haas and Lethal for " Haas of Pain " held on September 10 , which was won by Lethal . On October 22 at " 8th Year Anniversary Show " Lethal ended his feud with Corino by defeating him for the title in a Dog Collar match with help from Tommy Dreamer . Lethal ' s next feud would be with The D - Factor ' s Rhino , who , on November 12 , 2005 at " Fall Out " , assaulted him following his successful title defense against B - Boy . On January 7 , 2006 , at " Wild Card II " , Lethal lost the JAPW Heavyweight Championship to Rhino , who won the bout after giving Lethal a Rhino Driver through a table from the top rope . Alliance with Azrieal ( 2006 – 2007 ) . Lethal tried twice to regain his title , first on February 18 , 2006 , in a 3 - way , which also included Teddy Hart , and then on May 20 , 2006 , but was unsuccessful both times at regaining the title . After unsuccessfully going after the JAPW Light Heavyweight Championship held by Frankie Kazarian , Lethal and former rival Azrieal managed to win the JAPW Tag Team Championship by defeating the champions The Outcast Killaz ( Oman Tortuga and Diablo Santiago ) and The S . A . T . ( Jose and Joel Maximo ) in a 3 - way dance on October 28 , 2006 , at " 9th Year Anniversary Show " , held in Rahway , New Jersey . On June 9 , 2007 , at " Back to Business " , The Latin American Xchange of Homicide and Hernandez defeated Lethal and Azrieal for the titles . Departure ( 2009 ) . At the beginning of 2009 Lethal proclaimed that it was his destiny to win back the JAPW Heavyweight title , held by Kenny Omega . On February 28 , 2009 , in Jersey City , at " Jersey City Rumble " Lethal won a 21 - person Jersey City Rumble to earn the right to challenge for Omega ' s title that same night . In the end , Lethal pinned Omega with the flipping release dragon suplex after Omega ' s associate Dan Maff turned on him , to win the JAPW Heavyweight Championship for the second time . During the match Maff had also attacked Lethal and that lead to a Championship match between the two on March 28 , at " Unfinished Business " , in which Lethal managed to retain his title . Lethal defeated Maff again on April 18 at " International Invasion " , but only after Trent Acid interfered in the match . Their feud ended on June 27 in Jersey City , at " Caged Destiny " , when Maff defeated Lethal for the title inside a steel cage . Lethal has not made any appearances for JAPW since . Ring of Honor ( 2003 – 2006 ) . Hydro ( 2003 – 2004 ) . Shipman made his Ring of Honor debut as Hydro , a member of Special K on " Revenge on the Prophecy " held in West Mifflin , Pennsylvania , on January 11 , 2003 . On May 22 , 2004 at " Generation Next " he faced Alex Shelley in a singles match . Though he lost , Shelley recognized his pure wrestling talent and offered him membership in Generation Next , Shelley ' s stable of future stars . Hydro declined , opting to remain part of Special K . Hydro won a four corner survival match at " World Title Classic " on June 12 , which entitled him to enter the Pure Wrestling tournament later that year . At " Survival of the Fittest " on June 24 , he and Dixie took part in a four way tag match for the Tag Team Championship in a losing effort , as CM Punk single - handedly defended the title to allow his tag team partner and co - champion Colt Cabana to prepare for his match later that evening . Hydro then challenged Punk to an impromptu match , which Punk also won . Hydro shook hands before the match , thus following the " Code of Honor " ( which Special K normally ignored ) . Samoa Joe ' s protégé ( 2004 – 2005 ) . Hydro took part in the Pure Wrestling tournament on July 17 , 2004 , at " Reborn : Completion " . At the outset of the event , World Champion Samoa Joe advised Hydro to change his name and become more serious . Acting on Joe ' s advice , Hydro left Special K and went back to calling himself Jay Lethal . He was eliminated from the tournament after Doug Williams pinned him in a four way match using the Chaos Theory . At " Testing the Limit " on August 7 , Lethal took part in a four way match , pitting him against Alex Shelley , Ace Steel and 2 Cold Scorpio . Despite the moral support of his parents , who were in the audience , Lethal suffered a second loss to Shelley . Having rejected Shelley ' s offer of a place in Generation Next before the match for a second time , Lethal asked Shelley for a singles match . Lethal and Shelley faced one another for a third time on August 28 at " Scramble Cage Melee " , with Shelley cheating to gain a third victory . Having lost every match for months , Lethal was obliged to face Matt Stryker at " Glory by Honor III " on September 11 with his ROH career on the line . Lethal won , breaking his losing streak . Low Ki , who had been feuding with Samoa Joe for several months , challenged Lethal , as Joe ' s protégé , at " The Midnight Express Reunion " on October 2 . In the course of the match , Low Ki ' s manager Julius Smokes harassed Lethal ' s parents ( once again watching the match from the audience ) and Low Ki spat at Lethal ' s mother . Low Ki easily defeated Lethal , then mocked him after the match . Lethal lost to Chad Collyer at " Gold " on October 15 , but recovered with a win over Delirious the next day at " Joe vs . Punk II " . He teamed with his mentor , Samoa Joe , and lost to John Walters and Nigel McGuinness at " Weekend Of Thunder : Night One " on November 5 , before suffering another loss to Embassy member Jimmy Rave the subsequent evening . After his match with Rave , Lethal attacked Prince Nana , the leader of The Embassy . This led to Nana recruiting several masked mercenaries ( dubbed the " Weapons of Masked Destruction " ) in an attempt to end Lethal ' s career . Lethal defeated both WMDs at " All - Star Extravaganza 2 " on December 4 and " Final Battle 2004 " on December 26 respectively , in both cases ending the match with his signature flipping release dragon suplex . Lethal ' s feud with The Embassy continued into 2005 , and on February 19 at the " Third Anniversary Celebration : Part One " he pinned Embassy member Jimmy Rave to become number one contender to the Pure Championship . Pure Champion and Embassy member John Walters , who had control over when to wrestle his title matches , chose to have the title defense immediately after Lethal ' s match , defeating the exhausted Lethal to retain his title following a trifecta of Lung Blowers . Lethal was scheduled to faced Walters for the title in a re - match at " Trios Tournament 2005 " on March 5 in Philadelphia , but was attacked by an unknown assailant backstage , resulting in Lethal ' s eye swelling shut . Despite the injury , Lethal went on to defeat Walters later that night to win the Pure Championship , his first and only title in ROH . On March 12 at " Back to Basics " , Lethal and Samoa Joe teamed once again to face CM Punk and Spanky , with Lethal pinning Spanky with a bridging dragon suplex . At the " Best of the American Super Juniors Tournament " on April 2 , Lethal and Joe faced Jimmy Jacobs and B . J . Whitmer for the vacant Tag Team Championship , but were defeated . Lethal retained his Pure Championship in a match with Spanky at " Stalemate " on April 16 , but on May 7 at " Manhattan Mayhem " he lost the title to his mentor Samoa Joe . After the match , both men were ambushed after the match by The Rottweilers , who revealed Low Ki was the one who attacked Lethal at " Trios Tournament 2005 " . This led to a tag match that same night pitting Lethal and Joe against Low Ki and fellow Rottweiler Homicide . The match ended when Homicide gave Lethal Da Cop Killa while Low Ki simultaneously delivered a Ghetto Stomp , driving Lethal ' s neck into the ground . Lethal was stretched from the arena , wearing a neck brace , ostensibly seriously injured . After being out " injured " for a month , Lethal returned on June 12 at " The Future is Now " to save James Gibson from a beating at the hands of The Rottweilers . He returned to the ring on June 18 at " Death Before Dishonor III " , where he faced Low Ki in a grudge match which was declared a no contest after both men were disqualified . At " Sign of Dishonor " on July 8 , Lethal teamed with fellow former Special K member Dixie to defeat The Heartbreak Express . Later that evening , Mick Foley forced World Champion CM Punk , who had signed with World Wrestling Entertainment and was trying to leave ROH with the World Championship , to defend his title against Lethal . Punk retained his title with a Muscle Buster / rear naked choke combination , often used by Samoa Joe , who had come ringside to cheer Lethal on . Seeking revenge for the neck injury he had in May , Lethal challenged Homicide at " Escape from New York " on July 9 , but lost due to Homicide using a chain . On July 23 at " The Homecoming " he joined forces with Samoa Joe and James Gibson to face The Rottweilers ( Homicide , Low Ki and Ricky Reyes ) but again suffered a defeat , with Homicide using the chain this time on Gibson . Lethal challenged Low Ki once more on August 12 at " Redemption " as part of his ongoing rivalry with The Rottweilers . The match ended in a draw after the enemies fought outside the ring and were counted out . After the match , Homicide came to the ring to attack Lethal , but was stopped by his opponent for the night , Matt Hardy . On August 13 at " Punk : The Final Chapter " , Lethal and Joe defeated Low Ki and Homicide by disqualification after Homicide hit an elbow drop to the referee . Afterwards the four men brawled all over the arena , with Low Ki Ghetto Stomping Lethal off the bleachers and ending with him giving Lethal the Ki Krusher in the middle of the ring . At " Glory by Honor IV " on September 17 , Lethal lost to Low Ki in a " Fight Without Honor " . He went on to defeat Low Ki later that night , however , in a standard singles match to end their feud . He defeated Sal Rinauro to advance to the finals of the " Survival of the Fittest 2005 " tournament on September 24 , but was eliminated by Roderick Strong . Heel turn and departure ( 2005 – 2006 ) . After unsuccessfully challenging Nigel McGuinness for the Pure Championship on October 1 , Lethal went undefeated until November 19 , 2005 , when he and Samoa Joe lost to Austin Aries and Roderick Strong in a number one contender ' s match for the Tag Team Championship . On December 3 , 2005 , at " Steel Cage Warfare " , Lethal wrestled Joe in an exhibition match . During the bout , Lethal turned heel by attacking Joe ' s knee with a chair and then pinned him with the flipping release dragon suplex . On January 27 , 2006 , Lethal teamed with Bryan Danielson , losing to Austin Aries and Roderick Strong in a match for the Tag Team Championship . At the " Fourth Anniversary Show " on February 25 , 2006 in Edison , New Jersey , Lethal lost cleanly to Samoa Joe to end their short - lived feud . He departed from the promotion following this , but subsequently returned three times for one - night appearances ( working all matches as a face , losing to Pure Champion Nigel McGuinness on May 13 , teaming with Colt Cabana on July 15 in a losing effort against Jimmy Rave and Sal Rinauro , and losing a four way survival match against Claudio Castagnoli , Christopher Daniels , and the match winner , Nigel McGuinness on August 5 , 2006 . Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( 2005 – present ) . Debut ; X Division ( 2005 – 2006 ) . While wrestling for JAPW , Lethal caught the eye of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( TNA ) producer and announcer Jeremy Borash , who offered him a spot in the TNA roster . Lethal debuted in TNA on the December 17 , 2005 episode of " TNA Impact ! " , losing to X Division Champion and fellow ROH alum Samoa Joe . In January 2006 , he was signed to a contract by TNA . He made his pay - per - view debut at Against All Odds in 2006 on February 12 , defeating Matt Bentley , Alex Shelley , and Petey Williams in a four way match by pinning Williams . On the February 18 , 2006 episode of " Impact ! " , Lethal defeated Roderick Strong and Shannon Moore to earn a spot in Team USA , the defending champions in the 2006 World X Cup . Other members of the team were Chris Sabin , Sonjay Dutt and Alex Shelley . Team USA wrestled their first match at Lockdown on April 23 , 2006 , where Lethal , Dutt and Shelley lost to Team Japan ( Black Tiger IV , Minoru Tanaka and Hirooki Goto ) after Black Tiger pinned Lethal with a Black Tiger Suplex . On the April 27 , 2006 episode of " Impact ! " , Lethal unsuccessfully challenged Samoa Joe for the X Division Championship . On May 14 at Sacrifice Lethal participated in the World X Cup Gauntlet match , but ended up being the second to last man eliminated from the match by Team Mexico ' s Puma . The tournament ended on the following edition of " Impact ! " with Chris Sabin defeating Team Canada ' s Petey Williams to win the World X Cup for Team USA . In the June 1 , 2006 episode of " Impact ! " , Lethal scored a win over Alex Shelley , but was after the match attacked by his associate Kevin Nash , who had declared a war on the X Division in the aftermath of Team USA ' s World X Cup victory . During the July 13 , 2006 episode , Lethal won the right to challenge for the title of his choosing by scoring the deciding fall in an eight - man " All or Nothing " tag team match , where he teamed with Rhino ] and Team 3D ( Brother Ray and Brother Devon ) against Team Canada ( Petey Williams , Bobby Roode , Eric Young and A1 ) . The next week , Lethal challenged Jeff Jarrett for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship , but was defeated following interference from Scott Steiner . Two weeks later , Lethal took part in a five way X Division match to determine the 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 involving Lethal , Williams and defending champion Senshi . Lethal was pinned by Senshi after Williams hit him with his Canadian Destroyer . 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 Chris 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 into Petey ' s groin . Following in this storyline , Lethal went on to defeat Williams again on September 24 , 2006 at the 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 " . Black Machismo ( 2006 – 2008 ) . In December 2006 , Kevin Nash recruited Lethal , Senshi , Austin Starr , Sonjay Dutt and 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 . After the tournament , which concluded in January 2008 , Lethal and Dutt continued appearing in Paparazzi segments with Nash and PCS winner Alex Shelley , with Nash promising to give Lethal and Dutt Extreme Makeovers to help advance their careers . The February 15 edition of " Impact ! " included a segment named " Paparazzi Idol " , a takeoff on American Idol . After Lethal ' s attempt to sing was disliked by the judges , judge Kevin Nash suggested that Lethal do an impression , to which Lethal responded with a spot - on impression of wrestling legend " Macho Man " Randy Savage . On the April 5 , 2007 , edition of " Impact ! " presented Lethal and Dutt with their new gimmicks , which in Lethal ' s case , had him in impersonating " Macho Man " Randy Savage . The following week , Nash introduced Lethal , who was led to the ring by a remixed version of Pomp and Circumstance and dressed in full " Macho Man " attire , as " Black Machismo " Jay Lethal . He imitated Savage ' s trademark catchprase " Oh Yeah ! " , and was able to defeat X Division Champion Chris Sabin using many of Savage ' s signature in - ring maneuvers and mannerisms , most notably his finisher , the diving elbow drop . At the Lockdown pay - per - view on April 15 , 2007 , Lethal nearly won the X Division title from Sabin in a five - person Xscape match ( five start the match in the cage ; the first three eliminations are done by pinfall or submission ; the final two must then try to escape the cage , with the first one to exit being declared the winner ) . Lethal and Sabin were both climbing over the same side of the cage , fighting as they went , and Sabin kicked Lethal ' s leg so that his leg went through the bars of the cage , trapping him there while Sabin jumped down and won the match . On the April 26 episode of " Impact ! " Lethal and tag team partner , Sonjay Dutt , who had rejected Nash ' s idea for his new gimmick , won a shot at the TNA X Division Championship held by Chris Sabin at Sacrifice . Dutt , however , was unhappy at Lethal getting the pinfall . After their loss to Sabin at Sacrifice , both Dutt and Lethal started brawling until Kevin Nash came out and separated the two until Dutt kicked Nash and stormed out of the ring visibly upset . On May 8 , TNA Mobile announced that Randy Savage himself called Jay Lethal and said that he loved the " Black Machismo " character as the two spoke on the phone for several minutes . However , Lethal subsequently expressed doubt over whether he had really spoken with Savage as the Macho Man ' s trademark voice is easily imitated . At Slammiversary , Lethal defeated Chris Sabin in a singles match for the X Division Championship , his first title in TNA . Only days later , however , on the following " Impact ! " , he lost the title to Samoa Joe after Chris Sabin was pinned , in a Match of Champions three - way qualifying match . At Victory Road Lethal competed in an Ultimate X gauntlet match in a losing effort after Christopher Daniels retrieved the X . At Hard Justice Lethal and Sonjay Dutt , who had made peace with Lethal after coming up with the gimmick of a guru , defeated Triple X ' s Christopher Daniels and Senshi and The Motor City Machineguns ( Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin ) in a three - way tag match when Lethal pinned Daniels . This led to Jim Cornette booking a match on the August 16 edition of " Impact ! " pitting Daniels versus Lethal with the winner becoming the number one contender to the X Division title , which Lethal would go on to win . As a result of that Lethal would go on to face Triple Crown champion Kurt Angle for the X Division title at No Surrender , where Lethal would beat Angle cleanly with a roll - up to win the X Division Championship for the second time . At Genesis Lethal successfully defended his X Division Championship against his best friend , Sonjay Dutt , who during the match once again began showing signs of annoyance towards Lethal and his mannerisms . However , after the match Dutt made peace with Lethal , who then invited SoCal Val , TNA ' s ring girl , to the ring to celebrate the victory . The celebration was cut short by Team 3D ( Brother Ray and Brother Devon ) , who were at the time feuding with the fan favorite - turned Motor City Machineguns , who beat down both Lethal and Dutt and left the arena with Lethal ' s Championship belt . 3D later declared a war on the entire X Division , claiming that its wrestlers were just " little boys " and that they needed to be toughened up . During the feud Johnny Devine turned on the X Division and joined Team 3D , often carrying Lethal ' s stolen belt around , before officially winning it in a Street Fight on the January 24 , 2008 , edition of " Impact ! " , following interference from Team 3D . The feud ended on February 10 at Against All Odds , where Lethal , Shelley and Sabin defeated Team 3D and Devine in a six - man street fight , ending with Lethal pinning Devine to also win back the X Division Championship . On April 17 , 2008 , Lethal lost his X Division title after Petey Williams attacked him from behind after a match and cashed in his " Feast or Fired " briefcase for his X Division title shot . On the next episode of " Impact ! " , Lethal proposed to his on - screen girlfriend SoCal Val , which she accepted . At Slammiversary Sonjay Dutt , after months of teasing , finally turned heel by interrupting the wedding ceremony and proclaiming his love for Val , before attacking Lethal and his wedding guests . On the next two " Impact ! " Lethal attacked Dutt out of rage when Dutt claimed that Val loved him . On the next " Impact ! " So Cal Val said that she wanted to put off the wedding . Dutt and Lethal met at Victory Road in a one on one contest , which Dutt won after Val pleaded with Lethal to stop hurting Dutt , which allowed Dutt to take advantage and roll up Lethal . Lethal proposed to Val again , but found that her ring was missing , as Dutt had stolen it . Lethal and Dutt would meet again in a Black Tie Brawl and Chain match at Hard Justice , which Lethal won , even though Val distracted him by leaving during the match , because he wouldn ' t stop hurting Dutt . During a segment of " Karen ' s Angle " , Dutt confronted Val and attempted to seduce her , until Lethal attacked him and during the fight accidentally elbowed Val in the face . The following week , Val announced that she would put the wedding ring up for grabs in a " Ladder of Love match " on September 14 at No Surrender . At the PPV , Val turned on Lethal by giving him a low blow , which allowed Dutt to climb the ladder and get the wedding ring . Lethal Consequences ( 2008 – 2009 ) . At Bound for Glory IV Lethal won the Steel Asylum match to become the number 1 contender to the X Division title . On the October 23 live edition of " Impact ! " Sheik Abdul Bashir defeated Lethal to retain the championship . The following week , Lethal along with A . J . Styles , Samoa Joe , Consequences Creed , Petey Williams , Eric Young , O . D . B . and The Motor City Machineguns formed a faction of younger wrestlers known as the TNA Frontline to oppose The Main Event Mafia . On December 6 , Lethal won one of the " Feast or Fired " briefcases , which was later revealed to contain a shot at the TNA World Tag Team Championship . On the January 8 , 2009 edition of " Impact ! " , Lethal cashed in his briefcase , formed a team with Consequences Creed and defeated then - champions Beer Money , Inc . ( Robert Roode and James Storm ) after Roode ' s singles match with Matt Morgan to become the new TNA World Tag Team Champions . However , they quickly lost the titles back to Beer Money , Inc . at the Genesis pay - per - view on January 11 . On January 15 , Lethal and Creed defeated Abyss and Matt Morgan to earn another shot at the Tag Team Championship . Upon becoming the number one contenders , Lethal and Creed formed a long - term tag team known as Lethal Consequences ( a combination of their ring names ) and then started a feud with The Motor City Machineguns ( Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin ) after dissention between the Guns and the Frontline . They were scheduled a match with the Guns on February 5 , but Beer Money interfered in Creed ' s entrance , injuring his left shoulder . Frontline member Eric Young substituted for Creed , winning the match with a Death Valley driver to both Shelley and Sabin . Beer Money then went on to retain the title at Against All Odds due to Creed ' s shoulder injury . After their title match , Lethal Consequences continued their feud with the Motor City Machineguns , with both teams winning one match a piece over the next two weeks . At Destination X , Lethal competed in an Ultimate X match for the X Division Championship , along with Consequences Creed , Chris Sabin , Alex Shelley and Suicide , who ended up winning the match and the Championship . On April 24 , 2009 , it was announced on TNAWrestling . com that Lethal had signed a new multi - year deal with the company . On the November 5 , 2009 , edition of " Impact ! " Jay Lethal announced an open invitational challenge . Due to the announcement of Hulk Hogan joining TNA , Lethal challenged wrestling legends to take him on . The following week , Jim Neidhart answered the challenge and defeated Lethal . The series continued on the December 17 edition of " Impact ! " , when Tatanka answered the challenge and defeated Lethal in a singles match . After months of inactivity , Lethal ' s alliance with Consequences Creed came officially to an end on March 29 , 2010 , when Creed was released from his contract . Feud with Ric Flair and Fourtune ( 2010 – 2011 ) . After spending most of early 2010 off TV , Lethal returned on the March 29 edition of " Impact ! " by approaching Hulk Hogan , reminiscing about their days as " The Mega Powers " ( Hogan ' s old team with Randy Savage ) . Playing along with Lethal ' s antics , Hogan placed him in charge of the show for his one - week absence due to a business trip . After raising the ire of Hogan ' s business partner Eric Bischoff with his comedic booking ideas , Bischoff placed Lethal in a two - on - one handicap match against Beer Money , Inc . Lethal , however , managed to win the match after surprising Robert Roode with a roll - up . On the May 3 edition of " Impact ! " Hulk Hogan gave Lethal Ric Flair ' s Hall of Fame ring that Abyss had won from him the previous week . When Lethal , now imitating Flair , was confronted by Flair himself , he claimed that he meant no disrespect and out of respect towards Flair , returned the ring to him . This however wasn ' t enough for Flair , who attacked Lethal along with A . J . Styles , Desmond Wolfe and Beer Money , Inc . , before he was saved by Abyss , Team 3D and the TNA World Heavyweight Champion Rob Van Dam . At Sacrifice Lethal came out during the TNA World Heavyweight Championship match between champion Rob Van Dam and challenger A . J . Styles and locked Ric Flair in a figure four leglock in order to prevent him from interfering in the match . On the May 20 edition of " Impact ! " Lethal competed in his first match after dropping the Black Machismo gimmick , and teamed up with World Heavyweight Champion Rob Van Dam to defeat Beer Money , Inc . in a tag team match . After the match Lethal brawled with Flair . At Slammiversary VIII Lethal defeated Flair ' s protégé A . J . Styles in a singles match . After defeating Desmond Wolfe , another one of Flair ' s allies , on the June 17 edition of " Impact ! " , Hogan granted him a match with Flair at Victory Road . On July 11 at Victory Road Lethal defeated Flair with his own move , the figure four leglock . On the August 5 edition of " Impact ! " Lethal faced Flair in a rematch , this time contested under Street Fight rules , with A . J . Styles , Kazarian , Robert Roode and James Storm of Flair ' s Fortune stable banned from ringside . Flair managed to win the match , after an interference from X Division Champion Douglas Williams , who would officially join Fortune the following week . On September 6 , at the tapings of the September 16 edition of " Impact ! " , Lethal defeated Williams to win the X Division Championship for the fourth time . On September 23 , at a live event in New York City , Lethal lost the X Division Championship to Amazing Red . Lethal regained the title two days later at a live event in Rahway , New Jersey . On April 21 , 2011 , it was reported that Lethal had parted ways with TNA . His final match for the promotion was an eight - man Xscape match , which took place on April 17 at Lockdown . All Wheels Wrestling . On June 29 , 2011 , Lethal debut for All Wheels Wrestling as J . R . Lethal . Personal life and other media . Shipman was previously in a relationship with WWE developmental wrestler April Jeanette , better known by her ring names Miss April and AJ Lee , whom he also trained . Shipman , under his Jay Lethal ring name , had a brief appearance in the critically acclaimed 2008 film " The Wrestler " . suplex < / a >