AEW Pays Tribute to Jay Briscoe in 3 Hour Celebration of Life

The wrestling world was taken aback the night of January 17th as Jay Briscoe 1/2 of the first ever Tag inductees Ring of Honor Hall of Fame had passed away in a tragic car accident that took his life and left his two daughters in critical condition. According to FW4online.com on January 24th 2023 Josh Wharton took to facebook live to give updates on the family of Jay Briscoe and share messages from his brother Mark. In the live he relays the message from Mark saying GOD IS ON THE THRONE. In addition, Wharton adds that the two daughters of Briscoe Gracie (12) and Jayleigh (9) are on the road to recovery. Gracie has worked with physical and occupational therapists after surgery on her back but noted she needs a wheelchair to get through the hospital while Jayleigh had her feeding tube removed last Saturday and is able to eat and drink while taking occupational therapy and her wound vac was removed.

The death of Jamin Pugh has shaken the wrestling industry as a whole. From the locker room to the crew to the fans old and new all were touched by the legacy and their larger than life stage presence as two brothers dominated the Ring of Honor promotion for over 20 years from the promotions first show to present day as the ROH Tag team champions on AEW. With notable matches against the likes of CM Punk and Colt Cabana ( Death Before Dishonor ) , The Motor City Machine Guns (ROH Return Engagement) , more recently their bout with FTR in Death before Dishonor 2022 was a 5 star caliber match that leaves an imprint on the industry today.

AEW prepared a tribute to Pugh highlighting not only his best matches, but included testimonials and dedicated matches to the great icon. Due to a decision by Warner Brothers Discovery Tony Khan and AEW to not allow the brand televise a full tribute show in his honor due to homophobic tweets that were made by Jay over a decade ago in which Pugh has apologized on multiple occasions and they did not allow Mark to wrestle on AEW TV due to this reason as well. After the recording of this tribute, the backlash behind the decision and the persistence of determination of Tony Khan Warner Brothers Discovery allowed Mark Briscoe to fight on Aew television for the first time this past Wednesday fighting one of Pughs notorious rivals Jay Lethal.

The tribute was truly a 3 hour testament to the life of Briscoe with a video package containing memories with his wife and two beautiful daughters holding the Ring of Honor Tag Team belts. With heartwarming testimonials from Adam Cole, Somoa Joe , Eddie Kingston and Claudio Castagnoli you can understand why the death of Jay Briscoe will haunt the pro wrestling industry for a long time. Our favorite matches in the tribute included :

Wheeler Yuta vs Hagane Shino
Eddie Kingston vs QT Marshall of The Factory
Claudio Castagnoli vs Christopher Daniels
Adam Cole Vs Jay Briscoe 2014 Ring of Honor Final Battle World Championship Match
Final Battle 2006 The Briscoes vs The Kings of Wrestling

The show was taped last week in Fresno California and is currently on the Ring of Honor Youtube