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Jay Briscoe sadly passed away at the age of 38. The Ring of Honor legend and Hall of Famer, whose real name is Jamin Pugh, was tragically involved in a car accident on Tuesday.
The news was first confirmed by ROH and AEW owner Tony Khan on his Twitter account. Tagging his brother Mark, the Briscoe Brothers are 13-time ROH World Tag Team Champions.
Considered one of the best tag teams in the world, the Briscoe Brothers were fresh off an outstanding trilogy of matches with FTR and the news comes as a shock to the entire wrestling community.
Tributes have been pouring in from ROH, IMPACT, NJPW, AEW, and even WWE, with NXT commentators announcing Jay's passing during their live broadcast. As the industry honors his life and memory, here are 5 things you didn't know about the late Jay Briscoe.
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#5. Jay Briscoe made his debut in CZW while still underage
Before the Briscoe Brothers created their legacies in ROH, it was in another well-known independent promotion, CZW, that they first gained notoriety way back in 2001.
With a background in football and training from the East Coast Wrestling Association while in high school, Jay and Mark Briscoe soon debuted for New Jersey’s hardcore wrestling indie promotion Combat Zone Wrestling.
When CZW decided to make the birthplace of ECW; Philadelphia, their home base later that year, it became an issue for the brothers as they were still minors at the time and couldn't legally compete in the ring. This forced the tag team to wrestle under masks for a number of shows until Jay Briscoe, the older of the two, turned 18 and could wrestle as himself.
#4. He once had a feud with his own brother Mark Briscoe in Ring of Honor
They might be best known as a tag team, but the Briscoe Brothers started off as singles competitors. They had their first one-on-one match together during a tournament in CZW, before their first full-blown feud against one another when ROH debuted as a new promotion in 2002.
After wrestling their first match in August 2002, the Briscoes were later paired with different opponents, with Jay teaming with Amazing Red and Mark choosing Christopher Daniels, when he joined Daniels’ heel faction The Prophecy. Their feud ended at ROH's One Year Anniversary Show in February 2003, reconciling in the post-match and subsequently teaming in the tag division. The rest, as they say, is history.
#3. He took a year off from wrestling to support his brother who was injured in a motorcycle accident
In a cruel twist of fate, Jay Briscoe once took an extended leave from wrestling when his brother, Mark Briscoe, got into a traffic accident himself, which forced him to take a year off from wrestling. Jay would join him on the sidelines as an act of solidarity.
In August 2004, the Briscoe Brothers wrestled their final match in Ring of Honor for over a year. Mark Briscoe was involved in a motorcycle accident soon after, and the tag team wouldn't feature in ROH all the way until September 2005.
It really shows how much Jay supported his brother. One can only imagine how Mark is feeling, especially with Jay's unfortunate passing happening a day before his 38th birthday.
#2. He was a former ROH champion, defeating WWE Superstar Kevin Owens
Jay Briscoe was considered an ROH stalwart and stayed loyal to the brand despite many of his contemporaries moving on to bigger promotions. He was part of the first batch of Ring of Honor wrestlers that went on to shape the industry, including AJ Styles, CM Punk, Samoa Joe, and Bryan Danielson.
When he eventually became a veteran of the locker room, he would finally be rewarded by becoming the ROH World Champion, defeating the former Kevin Steen (now current WWE Superstar Kevin Owens) at Supercard of Honor 7 in 2013.
His reign lasted 89 days until he was forced to vacate the belt due to backstage contract issues. When he returned to the promotion, Jay introduced his own “Real World Championship,” claiming that he never lost the ROH World Title. Current AEW star Adam Cole would then unify the two belts by winning a ladder match, but Jay Briscoe would capture the World Title again in 2014 for a 286-day reign.
Jay Briscoe proved with his two World Title reigns that he had the ability to be a singles star, despite his long association with tag team wrestling.
#1. The Briscoe Brothers had a WWE tryout in 2009 before being turned down by John Laurinaitis
It's such a shame that the Briscoe Brothers never made it to the big stage of WWE or AEW. Their issues with WarnerMedia, which has prevented them from appearing on Dynamite, have been well documented.
What is not common knowledge, however, is that Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe once had a tryout for WWE back in late 2009. They impressed officials to the point that they were invited to come down to WWE’s developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling, for further training.
Unfortunately, it didn't pan out for Jay Briscoe and his younger brother WWE’s former head of talent relations, John Laurinaitis, who broke the news that they weren't going to be hired. WWE's loss was ROH's gain as the Briscoes went on to carve out a legendary career despite never having wrestled for the sports entertainment giants.
