Jay Briscoe sadly passed away on January 17th as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident.
The news of his passing shook the wrestling world, with friends, acquaintances and fellow wrestlers lining up to pay tribute to the Ring of Honor and tag team legend.
However, despite being under contract with ROH, who are owned by AEW, All Elite Wrestling were prevented from dedicating the January 18th episode of Dynamite to the star. The company previously aired a special tribute episode of Dynamite after the passing of Brodie Lee in December 2020.
Instead, a special Ring of Honor show was filmed which will be made available for free on HonorClub and uploaded onto YouTube. While on Dynamite a number of wrestlers wore black armbands in honour of Briscoe and a tribute graphic was shown at the start of the show.
Warner Bros. Discovery Blocked Jay Briscoe Tribute Show
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted the restrictions that had been placed on AEW.
“There was a graphic at the start of the show (Dynamite) and at the very end of the show there was a mention by Excalibur. A lot of the guys had armbands, a lot of them, but there was not any kind of big tribute because they were not allowed by WarnerMedia (Warner Bros. Discovery) to do one,” Meltzer said.
“They filmed a one-hour show in Fresno tonight that will be on HonorClub. They will be doing another tribute show. When they finally do the Ring of Honor television show, the first show will feature a lot of Jay matches and the tribute show will as well when it’s all put together. At Supercard of Honor there will also be kind of a memorial to Jay or something to honour Jay.”
Jay and Mark Briscoe had previously been banned from appearing on AEW television by Warner Bros. Discovery due to homophobic comments made by Jay in 2013. It is important to state that Jay apologised for these remarks on numerous occasions and has been publicly praised by several members of the LGBTQ+ since his passing.
H/t to Cultaholic