In 2010, while Ric Flair was leading the Fortune faction which consisted of AJ Styles, Desmond Wolfe, James Storm, Bobby Roode, and Kazarian (Doug Williams and Matt Morgan were also in the group), he was also in a heated feud with Jay Lethal.
During their feud, on an episode of Impact Wrestling, Flair and his group were in the ring, but was interrupted by Lethal. In what is arguably the most popular promo segment in TNA history, Lethal came out mocking Flair and the two began a competitive game of one-upmanship. To many, this was one of the biggest moments in the career of Lethal, as he would force Flair to tap out to his own figure four leglock at the 2010 Victory Road pay-per-view.
In an interview with the Unsanctioned Podcast, Lethal recalled who was writing at the time and discussed the segment with him, which was Vince Russo. Lethal also recalled the conversation he had with Flair backstage before the segment.
“The writer at the time, Vince Russo, he said, ‘bro, bro, I gotta talk to you.’ I said, ‘what’s up?’ He goes, ‘you gotta promo, you gotta in-ring segment bro with Ric Flair. But here’s the thing, bro. You know, normally I write what I want you guys to say and give you bullet points. But, he’s Ric Flair. I can’t write anything for him. He won’t let me. So, you’re gonna have to go to him and ask him what you wanna do today.’ I go, ok, no big deal.
“So I go up to Flair, nervous. I didn’t call him mister Flair, I wasn’t that nervous. [I said], ‘hey, Ric, Russo wants us to go over the promo. He said I should come to you and get some bullet points. What do you wanna do out there?’ He goes, ‘I don’t go over promos. I’ll see you out there.’ And then he walked away like this was the last line of a movie, or like the cliffhanger of a TV show. I couldn’t believe it.
“So, I was like, okay, he’s joking. I ran up to him, because he walked out of the room. I ran up to him, [and I go], ‘uh, Ric, but I don’t know how long we’re gonna have out there.’ He goes, ‘what did I just tell you? I don’t go over promos. We’re gonna do it out there. I don’t have anybody, nobody tells me what to say. You’re gonna go out there with me, and we’ll do it out there. Don’t worry.’ And he tapped me on the shoulder and walked away.”
Lethal added that he still did not know what to do, and he was “sweating bullets.” The only person who tried to calm him down was Pat Kenney (ECW’s Simon Diamond), who told him to just do his Flair impersonation and pretend that he is joking around backstage. He stated that he was terrified behind the curtain because he did not know what to do, and the pressure was even more intensified because all the wrestlers were standing backstage waiting for the segment because they wanted to see what transpired.
Overall, he stated that he was happy about the segment overall, and it really brought him out of his shell. He feels that both the Black Machismo character and the segment with Ric Flair contributed to who he is today as the face of Ring of Honor.
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