Over two years ago on January 17th, 2023, Jay Briscoe lost his life to a fatal car accident.
One of the most celebrated and successful pro wrestlers of all time, Briscoe died at the age of 38 in a head-on car collision in Laurel, Delaware. Tonight, a few hours after the December 10 edition of Dynamite Winter is Coming, Tony Khan reflected on the last time he saw Briscoe. Sharing an emotional note on social media, Khan honored his friend’s life and legacy.
“3 years ago tonight was the last time that I saw my friend, the late great Jamin Pugh, aka Jay Briscoe,” he wrote. “He was an incredible wrestler in the ring + an incredible man out of the ring, and he’s missed every day by his countless friends and his amazing family! RIP Jamin.”
Jay Briscoe was widely known for his work as a tag-team wrestler with his brother, Mark Briscoe as The Briscoe Brothers. Briscoe’s last match dates back to the 17th December edition of HOG Revelations where they suffered a loss against The Mane Event (Jay Lyon & Midas Black).
Tony Khan’s biggest regret was not having Jay Briscoe on AEW Dynamite before his death
Earlier this year, during an episode of Barstool Sports’ My Mom’s Basement podcast, Tony Khan opened up about his biggest regret as the AEW President. Speaking in detail, Khan revealed it to be not having Jay Briscoe appear on Dynamite.
“I fought really hard to get Jay Briscoe on the show. There were multiple times where Mark and Jay Briscoe came to Dynamite and didn’t do anything. And they just came and I brought them, and I was trying to — I kept pulling moves. It was a different time. It was a different management, it wasn’t Mr. [David] Zaslav. I could have now literally gone to him.”
“I fought really, really hard to get Jay Briscoe on the show, but I really wish I’d been able to have Jay Briscoe on Dynamite just one time. And he came to the show many times. That’s my biggest regret by far.”
Following Jay Briscoe’s death, Mark Briscoe received his push as a singles wrestler, and is the current TNT Champion.
Tony Khan has named the best decision he’s made and the biggest regret he has since founding AEW.
Responding to a question on Barstool Sports’ My Mom’s Basement podcast, Khan said the best decision he’s made in his six-plus years in charge of AEW is sticking with Warner Bros. Discovery as the promotion’s broadcast partner. AEW has been with WBD since launching its programming, maintaining a strong bond even through mergers and management changes at the media company.
“I think the best decision since starting AEW was sticking with our great partners at Warner Bros. Discovery,” Khan said. “We’ve got a great thing. And we were able to build it and grow it. You know, I want to continue and we are continuing [to grow]. We’ve got TBS every Wednesday and TNT every Saturday…
“But this year we really expanded it [with the HBO Max simulcast] and we’ve been able to reach a new audience. A lot of fans, and particularly skewing younger with a younger audience, are primarily watching streaming. And HBO Max is one of the best streamers. We didn’t have that until this year. So that’s huge, and I think that’s been absolutely fantastic. That partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery has been a lifeblood of AEW.”
The HBO Max simulcast began at the start of this year as part of the new media rights deal AEW and WBD signed near the end of 2024.
When it comes to his biggest regret, Khan said not being able to feature Jay Briscoe on AEW programming before his death is “by far” the choice. Khan wanted to have The Briscoes on TV, but TNT wouldn’t allow it at the time due to homophobic comments Jay had made on social media in 2013.
Jay had apologized for the comments multiple times over the years but still wasn’t allowed to appear on AEW TV. Khan said that wouldn’t have been the case if WBD’s current leadership were in charge back then.
“I fought really hard to get Jay Briscoe on the show,” Khan said. “There were multiple times where Mark and Jay Briscoe came to Dynamite and didn’t do anything. And they just came and I brought them, and I was trying to — I kept pulling moves. It was a different time. It was a different management, it wasn’t Mr. [David] Zaslav. I could have now literally gone to him.
“I fought really, really hard to get Jay Briscoe on the show, but I really wish I’d been able to have Jay Briscoe on Dynamite just one time. And he came to the show many times. That’s my biggest regret by far.”
Khan added that, while there’s nothing he could do about this, he also wishes he got more time to work with Brodie Lee before his passing in 2020.
Gracie Pugh, daughter of the late Jay Briscoe, recently shared her story of recovery.
The Central Worship Center in Laurel, Delaware, posted a video of Gracie talking about her life since a car accident took the life of her father, as well as the driver of another vehicle, on January 17, 2023. The accident also caused serious injuries to Gracie and her sister.
“My dad was Jamin Pugh. He was a professional wrestler, so some of you might know him,” Gracie says in the video. “My dad was in wrestling for over 20 years, and a lot of people knew him. When we were out in public, everyone would know him and everyone always knew what we were doing and how we were.”
“Life was good and then January 17, 2023, in the morning, my dad woke us up for school, just a normal day. He brought us outside, he was so excited that there was this big rainbow outside. Then we went to school. It was a normal day. After school, we went to cheer practice, and we got into a car accident on the way to cheer practice.”
“Once we got to the car accident, I remember some dude just carrying me out of the car. I just remember my sister—I don’t remember seeing her, but I can remember hearing her. I remember seeing my dad in the truck. After that, we went to the hospital, and my mom came in there and she just told me how there were so many people there and everyone was praying for us already.”
Gracie had to learn to use her legs again. She made progress over time and continued to make progress even after doctors had said her nerves would stop regaining ability.
Gracie continued:
“I had no feeling or movement in my legs for two weeks and then it slowly started to come back. I could kick my leg, and I could stand but with a lot of support. Then I started to take first steps with this big walker and these big braces on my legs. Slowly, I had to just work a lot and then a lot of more movement and just capability for me to do stuff came back.”
“After a while of therapy, I started to try and take steps at home. I took my first few steps, and I knew right then that I could actually begin to walk again, run again, do whatever I wanted and just make a full recovery.”
“The doctors explained to me that after a year, your nerves kind of stop regaining any ability to do things again. Once I hit a year, I was like done, like I can’t do it anymore, and then my mom and my family just was like, ‘No, you can. You don’t listen to the doctors.’ And then I kept pushing, and even a year and a half after, I could start to jog again and then tried to tumble more, and even two weeks ago, I could go back up on my toes, which was something I couldn’t do for this whole period of time.”
Gracie credits her family, friends, and faith for helping her get through.
“I just had to trust in God to just keep letting me recover fully from it. I just had to remember that my dad would never want me to be in a wheelchair, would never want any of us to be sad about this situation. He would just want us to keep pushing through, following God and what he has planned for us.”
“When I think of my story, I just think of even when everyone tells you that you can’t, you just gotta remember that God can help you get through anything.”
One of the greatest tag teams of all time is set to be inducted into the Indie Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Game Changer Wrestling has announced that The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe) will be inducted into the Indie Wrestling Hall of Fame over WrestleMania weekend this April. Mark Briscoe will be in attendance at the ceremony to accept the honor on behalf of himself and his late brother.
Jay & Mark started their careers as teenagers on the indies in Delaware. They’d go on to become one of the most decorated tag teams ever, including 13 reigns with the ROH Tag Team titles. The Briscoes were the first act ever inducted into the ROH Hall of Fame in 2022.
Jay Briscoe (Jamin Pugh) passed away in a car accident in January 2023. He was 38 years old. On the one year anniversary of his death, the Briscoe family honored Jay on AEW Dynamite last month.
Mark Briscoe (Mark Pugh) is signed to AEW and competes for both AEW and ROH.
Created by GCW and Orange Crush magazine, the Indie Wrestling Hall of Fame was first established in 2022. This year’s ceremony is taking place from the Sheraton hotel in downtown Philadelphia on Sunday, April 7. The ceremony will stream live on YouTube for free starting at noon Eastern time.
The late Trent Acid (Michael Verdi) has also been confirmed for this year’s Indie Wrestling Hall of Fame class. Acid is being inducted by his former Backseat Boyz tag team partner Johnny Kashmere.
Mark Briscoe gave an emotional speech on the anniversary of his brother’s passing.
During Wednesday’s Dynamite, Briscoe honored his brother Jay, who passed away on January 17 of last year in a car accident. He brought up that his nieces were in the car with Jay on the day of the accident, and they told the family at the time that his oldest niece may never walk again. Mark then brought out his niece, who walked out on stage with her sister and brother. They hugged as a video began to play highlighting Jay’s career.
After his brother’s passing, Mark made his AEW debut in a match against Jay Lethal on the January 25, 2013 edition of AEW Dynamite. The Briscoes had previously been banned from all WBD programming due to Jay’s previous anti-LGBTQ tweets that he had since apologized for.
Mark has continued to compete as a singles wrestler in the time since Jay’s passing. He most recently took part in AEW’s Continental Classic tournament, earning just one win.
The yearly tradition of the JNPO pro wrestling year in review series has returned: a month-by-month look at nearly everything that happened in 2023.
As you might expect, it kicks off with January with my special guest co-host Andrew Thompson of POST Wrestling.
It was a month of tragedy with the unexpected passing of Jay Briscoe in a car accident which rocked the wrestling world.
It was a month of surprise as Vince McMahon forced his way back into WWE to facilitate a sale of the company. It would be the most newsworthy year in company history and it all began this month.
Other topics:
The road to WrestleMania began with Royal Rumble wins by Cody Rhodes and Rhea Ripley
Raw XXX
The beginning of Adam Cole’s return to AEW
The surprise end of Mickie James’ “Last Rodeo” in Impact Wrestling in a title vs. career match
Kenny Omega defeating Will Ospreay at a newsworthy WrestleKingdom
The Great Muta’s retirement tour finally began to wind down
Chris Jericho made his surprise PWG debut…and lots more.
Nine months after his tragic death, Jay Briscoe (Jamin Pugh) continues to be honored and remembered in his hometown of Laurel, Delaware.
The Laurel School District announced over the weekend that it’s renaming the Laurel Middle School locker room after Briscoe. The locker room will be named the “Jamin Pugh Locker Room.”
A dedication ceremony was held during Laurel High School’s football game on Saturday. The Laurel School District wrote on Facebook:
During Halftime of the Laurel Vs Delmar Football Game, a special memorial dedication was presented to the Pugh family in honor of Jamin Pugh. The Laurel Middle School locker room will be renamed the ‘Jamin Pugh Locker Room’. Thank you to the Pugh family for your continued dedication to the Laurel School District.
Briscoe was heavily involved in Laurel athletics. He played football for Laurel and was later an assistant coach for their middle school football team.
“He was heavily involved,” Laurel High athletic director Kevin Walmsley told the Delaware News Journal earlier this year. “He was at school almost every day. … It’s a huge tragedy for the community.”
Walmsley said Briscoe was a “true motivator” and someone who gave back to the community.
“With the kids at practice, teaching skills, techniques, some of them knew he was a star in professional wrestling and some didn’t know that,” Walmsley said. “But he treated every kid the same, and he’s gonna be missed.
“You saw him at the local store. He gave back. All the kids knew him. Just a true motivator.”
Briscoe’s wife Ashley Pugh works for Laurel High School.
Briscoe, 38, passed away in a car accident this January. The driver who crashed into Briscoe’s vehicle was also killed in the accident.
Briscoe’s daughters Gracie and Jayleigh survived the accident. They were in attendance with their family at Saturday’s dedication. Jay’s brother Mark Briscoe was also among those who attended the ceremony.
After a month in the hospital, Jay Briscoe’s daughter Gracie is now recovering at home.
Twelve-year-old Gracie Pugh was released from the hospital late last week. Ashley Pugh, the wife of the late Jay Briscoe (Jamin Pugh), posted a photo on Saturday with all of her children: “Got all my babies back together.”
In an update from family friends on Facebook, it was said that Gracie will be going to outpatient rehab five days a week now that she’s out of the hospital.
The family friends said Gracie has “normal” feeling in both of her legs and is now able to do some assisted walking. They’re continuing to pray for her to fully regain movement below the knee.
“Her muscles in her legs are really starting to fire up, so they want to keep it a very intense therapy,” the update said.
“This girl has went from nothing to doing some assisted walking. We’re still going to pray hard for movement below the knee, because it’s not where it needs to be. The doctors can feel her trying to move her ankles and toes and stuff, but we’re just not getting that movement yet. But things are progressing I would say ahead of schedule.”
Gracie and her nine-year-old sister Jayleigh were both injured in the car accident that claimed the life of their father on January 17. The driver of the vehicle that hit them was killed in the accident as well.
Jayleigh, who was released from the hospital earlier this month, no longer has to wear a neck brace. She’ll need to wear a back brace and an external fixator for four more weeks.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including the Jay Briscoe celebration of life, tons of fallout from the Royal Rumble including thoughts on all the matches and angles, and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
What records has the Royal Rumble 2023 already set and what records have a good chance to be set
Amazing advance for the show
The debate about the men’s winner and prior year comparisons
The Steve Austin question
The business of Peacock
Original Austin approach
Cody Rhodes return
Full rundown of Raw 30 and the giant ratings and how each segment did
Complaints by the Bellas about the show
Why certain segments of the show changed
The story behind WBD clearing Mark Briscoe and the reason that hasn’t come out why there were previous issues
Different ways AEW paid tribute to Briscoe
Update on family and fundraisers
A look at the Okada-Kiyomiya angle and the keys to it
The Muto retirement at the Tokyo Dome show
What the New Japan vs. NOAH show and other New Japan shows have shown about recovery of the business
UFC 283 coverage with the retirements of Shogun Rua and Glover Teixeira
What is next for Jamahal Hill and Brandon Moreno
Business notes on the show
A look at the life and career of Jose Aldo and his biggest fights including how one of his fights changed the entire direction of MMA for lighter weight fighters and was so successful the company closed up, as weird as that is to say
A look at more Japanese awards voting
The life of Benny Galant, a 60s star who passed away this week who was a major rival of the biggest names in the history of Mexican wrestling, including El Santo and Mil Mascaras, and twice set EMLL’s company gate records. This is a major history piece covering one of the biggest eras of wrestling in any country.
The most detailed look at the ratings from the past week
Streaming numbers, international numbers
Ticket advances for all AEW & WWE shows through WrestleMania
What could be CMLL’s best match of this year
The story behind Negro Casas jumping to AAA, how long has this been in the works, how long has Konnan wanted this and his duties outside the ring
A look at upcoming AAA major shows
Update on a number of upcoming major New Japan shows
What former WWE star is mad at Dwayne Johnson over his portrayal in Young Rock
80s star arrested for a number of things
WBD head talks AEW and Slap Fighting
Behind the AEW new deal with DAZN
Lawsuit filed against AEW
Update on Kenny Omega
San Francisco records for wrestling
Conor McGregor investigation reported
Lots of big UFC fights announced
More on Luke Rockhold coming out of retirement
Famous MMA trainer will no longer corner fighters
Former pro wrestler talks about Slap Fighting and what he was offered
Update on Vince McMahon in the office
Another lawsuit filed against WWE regarding McMahon’s return and how two other suits were basically nullified
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Roman Reigns vs. Sami Zayn is now as confirmed as it can be for the 2/18 Elimination Chamber show main event in Montreal. I’m not sure what the men’s chamber match would be for since you’ve got Cody Rhodes already for the main event at WrestleMania. Of course this is WWE and everything is subject to change, but major changes to planned PPV shows have been less with Paul Levesque in charge.
The funeral for Jamin Pugh aka Jay Briscoe took place earlier today at Laurel High School. A lot of major names in wrestling came in. Tony Khan got a jet to bring in a lot of AEW wrestlers with him. Mark spoke at length, as did his parents. They have very strong beliefs of an afterlife and Mark noted that this was the test of his beliefs. He told some funny stories including how they were kids and loved to wrestle on their trampoline as kids and pretend to be Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels and others from that era. He was thankful for the people who came. (thanks to Luis Santos)
The full service is here:
There were around 1,200 people who showed up but only a few hundred were allowed in because of the size of the venue. Among those who attended with Tony Khan, Chris Jericho, Adam Cole, Adam Page, AJ Styles, Britt Baker, Jay Lethal, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Sonjay Dutt, Dalton Castle, Cash Wheeler, Colt Cabana Trent Baretta, Christopher Daniels, Mike Bennett, Maria Kanellis, Jonathan Gresham, Caprice Coleman, Cheeseburger, James Ellsworth, BJ Whitmer, Bobby Cruise, Ian Riccaboni, Matt Sydal, Matt Taven, Rhett Titus, Silas Young, Ivar, Kenny King, Bobby Fish, Marty Scurll, Beer City Bruiser, Vincent and Mike Bailey.
The Royal Rumble had 500,000 Google searches over the weekend. That’s the expected number It was the same as the UFC PPV show a week prior. With no UFC event over the weekend, nothing from MMA or boxing all week cracked the top 20 on any day. The announcement of John Cena as the cover person of the WWE video game had 50,000 searches which was No. 13 on Monday.
Not a lot of major notes from last night’s show. If you didn’t see it, the angle at the end was one of the better angles in years. Aside from the Jey Uso walk out, it was pretty much what you would have expected, but the way it was done and more important, the crowd reaction showed how hot it was.
Rey Mysterio was injured in his match with Karrion Kross on Friday so they used his injury to further the storyline with Dominik.
On last night’s show we mentioned that Sheamus had done an interview regarding his tag team with Drew McIntyre breaking up. According to those in the company, either he was misinterpreted or was joking as the team is not breaking up as far as anyone knows.
Cody Rhodes called last night the biggest moment of his career, above The All In show, the return at last year’s WrestleMania, the Hell in a Cell with Rollins and the match with Dustin. Rhodes will be on Logan Paul’s podcast on Tuesday.
MLW has closed a TV deal in France for Ch. 197 (free) and Ch. 208 on Bouygues. It covers virtually every home in the country. It starts this coming week and will start with a marathon of Fusion shows.
We’re looking for your thoughts on the Rumble, so you can leave a thumbs up, down or middle, along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
Not a lot happened over the weekend aside from the Rumble. The match we heard from several people a the top match of the weekend was Yuji Hino’s win over the KO-D title (DDT Promotion) from Kazusada Higuchi from earlier today at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.
Other Notes
Luke Rockhold is really pushing for a boxing match with Jake Paul, claiming that Paul’s current next opponent, Tommy Fury, is as much of a boxer as he is a cricket player.
The LFA announced a 3/24 show in Niagara Falls,NY at the Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino. The show will air live on UFC Fight Pass. Rafael Do Nascimento (8-1) faces Jerrell Hodge (9-3) for the interim bantamweight title in the main event.
St. Louis Anarchy from Friday night in St. Louis: Jacques Kennedy & Scott Tyler b Tommy Davis & Jay Marson, Davey Vega b Thomas Shier, Craig Mitchell b Anakin Murphy, Aaron Williams b Adrian Surge, Moonshine Mantell & KC Karrington & Nick King & Sage Phillips b Camaro Jackson & Billy McNeil & Austin Blackburn & Nikki Victory, Manders b Gary Jay, Billie Starkz b Evan Gelistico, Jeremy Wyatt b Mad Dog Connelly, Christian Rose b Kenny Alfonso, Derek Neal b Warhorse (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
In the second part of an interview with Ariel Helwani released Saturday, WWE star Sami Zayn talked about how he came to grips emotionally with the sudden passing of Jay Briscoe earlier this month.
“I’ll never wrestle him again and that really sucks, that hurts. That’s the closest thing to understanding the reality of the situation. It’s not when I say ‘I’ll never see him again.’ It’s when I really say, ‘I’ll never get in the ring with him again’ that I feel the real application of what it is to be with him,” he said.
Both Zayn and Kevin Owens wrestled The Briscoes numerous times from 2006-2013 in both Ring of Honor and PWG with Jay Briscoe and Zayn also working several matches as singles.
Zayn is attending Briscoe’s funeral on Sunday in Laurel, Delaware. He hasn’t spoken with Mark Briscoe yet as he didn’t want to overwhelm him during this time, preferring something more personal than a text.
Zayn said hearing about Briscoe’s death reminded him of when he first heard Dusty Rhodes passed away. He initially didn’t know what to feel due to what he chalked up to instant denial/coping mechanisms and that it took him awhile for the reality to settle in while it hit his wife immediately.
In seeing pictures and videos on Twitter shortly after he first heard the news, he said he was mentally transported back to the aforementioned era to help him relate.
“Obviously, I’m devastated for his family, his friends, his whole community. But obviously people internalize these things and relate it to themselves. I can’t help but be transported back to 2006, 2007, and that time in my life which was a great time in my life. They were a big part of that time. It’s just so sad,” he said.
A second reason The Briscoes were not allowed on AEW TV by Warner Bros. Discovery was revealed in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Dave Meltzer wrote that while the main issue was due to well-publicized homophobic tweets the late Jay Briscoe made nearly ten years ago and later atoned for, a secondary reason was their past use of the Confederate flag on both their ring jackets and gear.
The use of the flag has become a controversial one in American culture with proponents saying its use honors Southern U.S. heritage and commemorates the Civil War while its critics believe it glorifies racism, slavery and segregation among other things.
Following Jay’s passing on January 17th in a head-on car accident, AEW was unable to pay full homage to the Ring of Honor star on AEW TV immediately after due to the ban.
That was lifted this past week as Mark Briscoe was announced as making his AEW Dynamite debut against Jay Lethal to honor his brother on what would have been his 39th birthday. A tribute video aired the same night in addition to the locker room coming out on the stage following the match to pay respect.
Meltzer noted there are no further restrictions on Mark Briscoe appearing on AEW TV and that this past Wednesday wasn’t a one-off appearance.
Bryan & Vinny Show is back with tons to talk about including our full review of the AEW Dynamite Jay Briscoe tribute show, but NXT 2.0 with the best performances of Toxic Attraction’s NXT careers. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including the Jay Briscoe tribute Dynamite last night, how many women are actually available for a Royal Rumble that has only 7 announced at the moment, all the news and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
