Jay Lethal was Ring of Honor (ROH) World champion for more than a year. That reign ended in Las Vegas on Aug. 19, 2016 at Death Before Dishonor XIV.
Adam Cole is only the third man to be ROH World champion twice in his career, joining Austin Aries and Jay Briscoe in that exclusive club.
It was a long, back-and-forth affair which the Nevada crowd got more and more invested in as it went, perhaps sensing that Lethal’s title was truly in jeopardy. The story was, at least in part, that Jay was more interested in hurting Cole - who since aligning with Bullet Club has made tormenting the champ a priority, culminating in shaving his head on an episode of ROH TV a few weeks back - than winning the match.
A ill-fated elbow drop through a table was evidence of this, and Cole sliding out of the way so Lethal crashed through and was busted open set the stage for the finish. At another point, Jay went for six straight suicide dives. Five of them connected, but the Panama City native sidestepped the last one and Lethal crashed into the barricade.
It wasn’t easy for the heel to finish off the champ, either. It ended up taking four of his Last Shot finisher before Lethal failed to kick out. But the final two, with a Shining Wizard in between for good measure, did the trick.
Cole didn’t have long to celebrate, as his old partner and rival Kyle O’Reilly appeared and laid him out with a clothesline and brainbuster. O’Reilly posed with the belt his former friend just won, and presumably set-up the next championship feud - possibly as soon as September’s All-Star Extravaganza pay-per-view (PPV).
For all the results from DBD, check here.