The Briscoes are widely regarded as one of the greatest tag teams to never appear in WWE.
Mark and Jay found success across the independent scene and won the IWGP Tag Team Titles while racking up 13 ROH World Tag Team Title reigns, which is a record. This incredible run led to them being hailed as one of the most impressive teams in the modern era.
In 2009 the brothers found themselves firmly on WWE’s radar and had a try-out with the sports entertainment giant. However, nothing came of the trial and no deals were signed.
Why Did WWE Pass On The Briscoes?
Speaking on a recent episode of Talk is Jericho with AEW star Chris Jericho, Mark Briscoe reflected on this period of his career and why he and his brother never signed with WWE. Briscoe said that he was told by John Laurinaitis that the company liked their work but was going to pass for “right now.”
Briscoe added that Laurinaitis told his brother Jay that it was because the pair weren’t “cosmetically pleasing enough.”
“Everybody was saying everybody really liked you. I really think they’re gonna bring you guys on. I guess it was a week or two after we had got home, we were just waiting to hear back because they said we will let you know. John Laurinaitis told me, ‘Yeah, we really liked your stuff but I think we’re going to pass for right now. Let us know if you guys want another try.’ That kind of rubbed me the wrong way.
But then I guess when he talked to Jay, as he called Jay either right before he called me or called Jay right after he called me, he said, ‘Man, you know what he told me? He said that we not cosmetically pleasing enough.”
After Tony Khan purchased Ring of Honor, The Briscoes again appeared regularly for the promotion, engaging in an acclaimed trilogy of matches against FTR.
Jay Briscoe sadly passed away in a car accident on January 17th, and Mark later signed with AEW, headlining a tribute show for his late brother. Mark has continued to appear for the promotion as well as ROH, his most recent match coming at the ROH tapings on May 7th.
H/t to WrestlingNews.Co