The Briscoes will be remembered as one of the finest tag teams of their generation despite never appearing for WWE or AEW.
Jay and Mark Briscoe were instrumental in the growth of Ring of Honor and starred across the independent scene for two decades. They captured tag team gold wherever they went and engaged in one of the greatest trilogies in tag team history with FTR in 2022.
When AEW was founded in 2019 the company signed a number of top independent stars and many hoped that The Briscoes would be two of them. However, a deal never came to pass with AEW’s broadcasting partner Warner Bros. Discovery remaining uncomfortable with using the pair. This stemmed from homophobic remarks Jay made in the early 2010s. 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.
Fans were given fresh optimism in 2022 when Tony Khan bought Ring of Honor, but again The Briscoes were blocked from being used on AEW television. Despite this they performed regularly on Ring of Honor pay-per-views.
Young Bucks Campaigned For The Briscoes To Get Signed To AEW
Following the sad death of Jay Briscoe on January 17th, the Young Bucks, who spent years competing with The Briscoes, paid tribute to their friend. Speaking to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Nick Jackson spoke of their time in the ring.
“We’re both devastated,” said Nick Jackson of the Young Bucks. “Next to the Luchas, they were our favorite opponents, and we had a deep love for Jay. He loved his family so much so we related to that while on the road with them. He was the most intense person I’d ever been in the ring with. I’d be scared watching him make his entrance. He was so believable! We’re heartbroken right now.
Jay was the most intimidating man I’ve ever stepped in the ring with. The Briscoe brothers theme music would hit and Matt and I would be in the ring legit scared even though moments before we’d all four shared a prayer asking God to protect us all and to keep our families safe while we we’re on the road. That was a very normal routine we had before wrestling those guys. We always talked about our families and Jay loved his wife and kids so much. Such a great family man and so loyal.”
Nick added that The Briscoes were the best team to never appear on national television, however, he and Matt tried to change that, begging on a weekly basis to try and get them signed to AEW.
“We always say they’re the best tag team in the world that wasn’t showcased to a national audience. We wanted to change that. We tried recruiting them from day one to AEW. Literally would beg on a weekly basis. Tony tried his hardest and when he bought ROH that was one of the first things he did was sign them to long-term contracts.
Jay took sensitivity training before signing and everyone I’ve talked to said how genuine he seemed and how different his opinions were during the training and just how much of a sweetheart he was and I had many conversations with them about it all too and he was definitely a changed man. I just wish he was given a better opportunity for forgiveness while he was still here with us.
He was such a good human being. The best of hearts. This has hurt me more than my own family dying. Because in a way, he was family. We went to war with him more than any opponents I think we ever have had in our careers. We trusted him with our lives. Every time we saw him we hugged him and told him we loved him. I just wish we could hug him one last time. My heart goes out to his wife, kids, parents, and Mark.”
Following Jay’s passing it was reported that TBS blocked attempts to dedicate the January 18th episode of Dynamite to the star. Instead an ROH tribute show was filmed at the tapings.