"I was so nervous" - AEW star recalls iconic promo with WWE legend Ric Flair
AEW star Jay Lethal has given some backstage insight into how he felt going into his iconic "woo-off" with WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair.
During their time as rivals in IMPACT Wrestling in 2010, Jay Lethal and Ric Flair were involved in a segment where the former proceeded to imitate Flair in front of The Nature Boy. It has been over a decade since the face-off took place, and it is still regarded as one of the most memorable moments in wrestling history.
Speaking on the AEW Unrestricted podcast, Jay Lethal gave some insight into how he felt about working with Ric Flair. Due to the promo being unscripted, the 37-year-old admitted that he was extremely nervous and his hands went numb.
“The only thing planned was that I go out there and imitate [Ric] Flair, that’s it. He comes out and who knows what’s going to happen after that? That was the only thing planned, and I remember standing behind the curtain before they hit Flair’s music for me to go out, people are going to be so confused. Like, my hands started going numb I was so nervous." [27:35-27:56].
Fortunately for Lethal, former ECW star Simon Diamond was on hand to calm him down before he stepped through the curtain. According to Lethal, Diamond gave him a good piece of advice to help him through the segment.
"He goes ‘what you’ve got to understand is the only reason you’re about to do what you’re doing now is because you’ve been doing something in the locker room that’s so funny and so cool. Don’t do anything you wouldn’t do back here.’ It made total sense to me, logically in my head I understood what he was saying. So I went out there, the whole thing was just a blur I had to go back and watch it.” [28:13-28:43].
The legendary Ric Flair and Jay Lethal Woo Off was 11 years ago today. https://t.co/jpXGovLKsW
Jay Lethal knew the moment that he made Ric Flair crack
Due to both men being extremely professional, neither Ric Flair nor Jay Lethal broke character in the segment in any obvious manner.
However, there was a moment that Lethal picked up on towards the end of the segment where he knew he had cracked The Nature Boy.
“There was one time where I know that I got him, and it was when I said the line, there wasn’t many recordings of him saying the line ‘jumping on is a lot easier than jumping off.’ When I said that line, all he could say was ‘WOOOOWWW!’ because he had a smart reply for everything that I was saying. That’s when I knew that I got him because he was smiling and kind of like laughing when he said it. That made my life right there.” [29:14-30:00]
Daily photo! Who else remembers @AJStylesOrg's time with Ric Flair in TNA?! https://t.co/aJXhwMgb5N
Lethal is yet to bust out any of his iconic impressions during his AEW run so far, but rest assured that if he does, it will be fun for the audience.
Please credit AEW Unrestricted and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling when using quotes from this article.