On January 17th, Jay Briscoe sadly passed away as a result of injuries suffered in a car accident.
The news of Briscoe’s passing sent shockwaves through the wrestling industry, with fans and fellow wrestlers uniting to pay tribute to the star. At the time of his death, Briscoe had been under contract with Ring of Honor, which is owned by AEW boss Tony Khan. On the January 18th episode of Dynamite, a tribute graphic for the ROH legend was shown and wrestlers paid their own small tributes throughout the show.
However, the episode fell short of being a full tribute show and it was reported that this was due to Warner Bros. Discovery blocking the idea. The Briscoe Brothers had been banned from AEW television in connection to homophobic comments made by Jay 10-years-ago. Since the incident, Jay apologised repeatedly, educated himself on LBGTQ+ issues, and became an ally to the community. He was widely praised for this both before and after his passing.
Mark Briscoe Still Unable To Appear For AEW
There had been hope among some fans that Mark Briscoe would now be allowed on AEW television, even if it was just to pay tribute to his brother. However, speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer has noted that this will not be the case.
“I already know the answer, the answer is no. I can’t tell you more. It could change but that’s the answer. Hopefully it’ll change…It’s a very bad answer.”
Despite this, a tribute show for Jay Briscoe was filmed at the most recent Dynamite taping and this will be aired on Honor Club for free and on ROH’s YouTube channel. There are also reportedly plans for two more tribute shows which will be broadcast at a later date.
H/t to Cultaholic