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PWInsider.com is extremely saddened to pass on that Shirley Shipman, Jay Lethal's mother passed away on 2/29. Lethal wore an armband in honor of his mother on tonight's edition of AEW Collision.
From the beginning of Lethal's career for Jersey All Pro Wrestling, his parents and family were always with him, cheering him on from the crowd, a constant presence as his career began to build on the independent scene. When Ring of Honor was formed in 2002, that continued as the family was at all of the ROH events throughout the Northeast.
Ron Shipman, Jay's father, told ESPN in 2019 that Lethal's career was a family affair, commenting, "I knew that I had to be there. I wanted to be there. I told his mother, "I don't care where he's wrestling, we're gonna be there." He was serious. When it was time to leave to Connecticut, Boston -- it was long trips, but we came home the same night. It was fun. That was our weekend getaway. All the kids in the van, thank God the van didn't break down. One time we got stranded on a road, the tire went flat and the wrench to take the wheel off wouldn't fit. We had to call a tow truck. We were going to Cleveland, but we made it just in time. We had a good time."
The family was always there and at times, Lethal's mother Shirley even got involved, appearing for several moments during her son's career.
During a JAPW angle where Lethal and his father were outnumbered by heels for a six man tag where Ron was to team with his son against Steve Corino, Ricky Landell and Landell's manager, Rick Silver, Shirley came out to proclaim that they had a partner in Charlie Haas.
At ROH's Midnight Express reunion event in Philadelphia in October 2004, Lethal was wrestling Low Ki with his parents at ringside, which led to Ki disrespecting Shirley and Julius Smokes harassing both over the course of the match. All of those antics made Lethal an even more sympathetic babyface at the time, getting the ROH fans behind him.
In October 2012, Ring of Honor ran Rahway, NJ for Killer Instinct with the main event being New Jersey's hometown hero Jay Lethal challenging Kevin Steen (Owens) for the ROH title. Of course, Lethal's parents were ringside and over the course of the bout, they end up in front of the Shipman family. Steen antagonized the family by biting Lethal in front of them, which lead to Ron throwing a drink at Steen. Steen responded by spitting at Shirley, which enraged Lethal and sets off a crazy scene that leads to the bout landing in a no contest, referees getting thrown around and Jim Cornette being thrown into a table by Lethal, which wrote Cornette off ROH storylines.
There will be a remembrance of Mrs. Shipman's life this Tuesday. For more information or to send condolences, click here.
PWInsider.com sends our deepest condolences to Jay, Ron and the entire Shipman/Lethal family on their loss.
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