A far cry from his early days being, like the Briscoes, the indy wrestler known for their parents being in the crowd, Jay Lethal is now his own man. As well, given that he's Ring of Honor's World and TV Champion, he's the "whole f'n show" for one of America's top three wrestling promotions. While yes, main eventing in the ECW Arena isn't headlining Cowboys Stadium, but in keeping venues packed and fans engaged, Lethal's the man. Lethal's wrestling ability has never been questioned. However, it's during his five year run in TNA from 2006-2011 that in turning Randy Savage and Ric Flair impersonations into main event level legitimacy in the eyes of veteran performers, where he was ultimately able to turn the corner. When everyone from Flair himself, to Kevin Nash, Jeff Jarrett and more all got involved, the polish needed to give Lethal all of the tools made itself apparent. Sometimes being the sum of your parts is a terrible thing. In Lethal's case it's actually not at all.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
