The Art of Wrestling with Colt Cabana
Episode 290 – Current ROH World champion Jay Lethal
Release Date: February 25, 2016
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
Report by Chris Davidson
Hot Topics
– Jay Lethal talks in depth about TNA firing
– Jay Lethal discusses his philosophy training new wrestlers
– Colt Cabana details his current Canadian tour
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 – Introduction
6:21 – Song of the Week
10:07 – Jay Lethal Interview
14:50 – Lethal talks getting fired from TNA
25:36 – Lethal talks meeting famous people
29:35 – Lethal talks swearing, the lottery, and being a nice guy
37:31 – Lethal talks more about TNA firing
41:52 – Lethal talks growing up and backyard wrestling
47:52 – Lethal talks training wrestlers
53:58 – Lethal and Colt talk the Iron Sheik and wrestler impressions
1:07:58 – Bonus Clip
Episode Summary
0:00 – Introduction – Colt opened the show talking briefly about being in Canada. Colt brought up the house he is staying in and said that the owner may be a drug dealer. Colt told a story from a few years ago where he was taken by Frankie the Mobster to a man who sold weed and fixed the ring truck, which he called similar to a combination Tim Hortons and Wendy’s. Colt talked more about his current trip, mentioning an event where the ring showed up after the fans, so the fans watched all the wrestlers set up the ring. Colt segued into talking about this week’s guest, Jay Lethal. Lethal was on the podcast in an early episode, which Colt implied may be moving to Howl.fm in the future. Colt warned about an audio issue, and encouraged listeners to stick around to the end for some of Jay Lethal’s impressions.
6:21 – Song of the Week – The song of the week this week is “The Nature Boy (The Ballad of Ric Flair)” by Bourbon Crow.
10:07 – Jay Lethal Interview – Lethal started the interview talking about the gap in his teeth, which he talked about coming to terms with a few years ago when he had a chance to fix it but did not. Colt asked Lethal about wrestling big shows in Japan, and Lethal joked he just worked the Tokyo Dome for over 40,000 people. Lethal mentioned how much he loves the Young Bucks.
14:50 – Lethal talks getting fired from TNA – Lethal brought up getting let go from TNA, which he said led to some frustrations, but he got to wrestle Ric Flair, which he called the greatest night of his life. Lethal talked about going to TNA tapings even when he wasn’t booked. One day, Terry Taylor told him he didn’t need to come to the next day’s taping, then called him while he was at a baseball game and fired him. Lethal had purchased a house thinking that his TNA contract would help him buy it, which Colt sympathized with, having bought his apartment in Chicago while on the indies. Lethal said that A.J. Styles convinced him to buy a house because it would be cheaper that his rent payment. Lethal talked about adding in a fire pit to his home a few bricks at a time, because of his small car.
25:36 – Lethal talks meeting famous people – Colt brought up Ric Flair, and Lethal said that he likes Flair because people who meet him either love him or hate him. Colt told Lethal that when he met comedian Bruce Bruce, Bruce mentioned that he loved Jay Lethal. Lethal talked about the famous people he met while doing media appearances. Colt joked about having fewer Twitter followers than Rey Mysterio.
29:35 – Lethal talks swearing, the lottery, and being a nice guy – Lethal said “freak,” so Colt asked if Lethal swears. Lethal mentioned that he thinks he swears too much, although Colt speculated that he probably doesn’t curse all that much. Lethal and Colt discussed being de-sensitized to a lot of cursing and other issues because of wrestling. Lethal then talked about what he would do if he won the lottery. Colt and Lethal discussed housing again, because they would both buy nice houses. Lethal would give a lot of money to charity and Colt brought up operating costs, which cut in to how much charities can give to causes. Colt brought up an earlier conversation where Lethal said he wanted to get things off his chest. Lethal joked that he wanted to bury some people, but he’s too nice, and then joked with Colt about a meal they shared with poor service. Lethal talked about making other people do his dirty work, because there is always someone in wrestling ready to explode and be the bad guy.
37:31 – Lethal talks more about TNA firing – After leaving TNA, Dixie Carter called him a few weeks later and said she wanted to bring him back, but nothing came of it. Lethal got multiple calls from TNA management who all seemed to be letting him know that it wasn’t their decision. Lethal speculated that Vince Russo may have been the one behind his firing, because he wouldn’t let Lethal be in a stable with Tommy Dreamer. Lethal brought up playing Clue and also playing with wrestling action figures under the kitchen table so he could use the chairs as a top rope.
41:52 – Lethal talks growing up and backyard wrestling – Colt asked if Lethal was obsessed with wrestling at a young age and Lethal told a story about having wrestling matches in middle school during lunch. Lethal joined a backyard wrestling fed, because he told his dad he was training with someone to be a wrestler. Lethal mentioned that none of the other backyard wrestlers were still wrestling, and Colt speculated that when you are very passionate about backyard wrestling, it’s hard to transition to the rules and discipline of professional wrestling. Lethal talked about training wrestlers, mentioning that he tells his students to work out and condition on their own time, because he’s there to train them to be wrestlers. Colt wondered if Bret Hart, Big Boss Man, or One Man Gang would have been able to make in in WWE today with the rigid developmental program they have.
47:52 – Lethal talks training wrestlers – Lethal called his training “very positive.” Lethal told a negative training story where he got beat up by Roadkill, mentioned Tom Marquez as someone who also beat people up, and said that after seeing Tazz beat on someone, he was scared whenever the door opened for training. Lethal mentioned a “Tough Enough” style training program that he went to, and Colt was baffled that there wasn’t as scam involved. Lethal praised his dad for supporting him in wrestling by recording his practices and helping him cover the costs of training. Lethal said when he goes home, he knows what stores his dad was in because they all have signed 8x10s.
53:58 – Lethal and Colt talk the Iron Sheik and wrestler impressions – Colt joked about wrestler’s using 8x10s as currency, and Lethal told a funny story of meeting the Iron Sheik and being offered an 8×10 for five dollars. Colt recounted a story of the Iron Sheik having a fan drive him eight hours because of a missed flight, and paying in 8x10s. Lethal did his Jimmy Hart impression and said that the only thing he doesn’t like about Jimmy Hart is that he calls him “darlin.’” Lethal joked about Hart tanning and frequently saying he’s working on something with Hulk Hogan that Lethal can be a part of, but nothing ever comes of it. Colt made fun of Lethal for going to the dry cleaners. Lethal brought up his Ric Flair impression he did in TNA and said that came about because he got drunk enough to not remember doing it. Lethal also briefly talked about his Black Machismo gimmick. Lethal plugged his Twitter and Ring of Honor, and talked about being under contract with ROH. Colt and Lethal talked passionately about wearing flip flops, joked about lost luggage, and wrapped up the interview.
1:07:58 – Bonus Clip – Colt played a short clip of Lethal saying he looks forward to an animated version of this episode with a quarter falling out of the gap in his teeth.
OVERALL SCORE
Score: 8.0 – This was another good episode of The Art of Wrestling that seemed to fly by. Jay Lethal and Colt Cabana have a breezy chemistry, and this episode felt like two old friends shooting the breeze. One weakness of this episode, besides minor audio issues that Colt addressed in his intro, was that with their chemistry, it felt like they barely scratched the surface of what they could talk about. Some of this may have been covered in Lethal’s first appearance, but it didn’t feel like they were avoiding issues, just simply talking about the minutiae that comes up in a friendly conversation. While the episode covered more of Lethal’s TNA departure than his current standing in ROH, it was definitely an enjoyable episode and one I would recommend.
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