Mark Briscoe will make his AEW debut on the January 25 episode of AEW Dynamite when he faces Jay Lethal.
Mark tragically lost his brother Jay Briscoe (Jamin Pugh) in a car accident on January 17. The Briscoes are the reigning ROH Tag Team Champions. It was previously reported that the Briscoes could not appear on AEW television at the request of Warner Bros Discovery due to homophobic comments made by Jay in 2013, which he had apologized for multiple times.
Speaking to Tim Battle on the Battleground Podcast, Tony Khan addressed Mark's match on Dynamite.
"It's going to be a great match to honor a great man. These two men requested this match, Wednesday would be the 39th birthday of the late, great Jay Briscoe. His longtime friend and rival, Jay Lethal, and his brother, Mark Briscoe, wanted to have this match to honor the legacy of Jay Briscoe and I fought hard to make it happen and I'm really excited about the match. I believe it's going to be a great one and it's great that they're going to be able to honor the legacy of somebody that everybody in pro wrestling has so much respect for, the great Jay Briscoe, on his 39th birthday. With everything happening, this is going to be something really great for everybody in the locker room who is rallying around the Briscoe family," he said.
AEW proceeded with AEW Dynamite on January 18 with the show being voluntary for wrestlers, many of whom wore armbands as a tribute to Jay. A tribute show with ROH talent and others was taped after Dynamite.
Asked about the atmosphere at Dynamite, Khan said, "Last week, to be honest, a lot of us were still in shock. We were not 24 hours off finding out that Jamin had passed away. Jay Briscoe is somebody that is beloved in the wrestling business and everybody here really liked him and we've gotten to know him, many of us at AEW, a lot better in the last year since I acquired Ring of Honor with the Briscoes being the top tag team in the history of Ring of Honor and now the Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions. The whole thing was a shock to everybody and I think everybody in the locker room immediately tried to rally around Jay's family, around Mark, and everybody trying to bring good energy together to try and support Jay's two daughters in their recovery from what was a tragic accident. Thankfully, there has been some positive news about the recovery that Jay's two daughters are making from the accident. The whole thing has been a shock. Going into this show, we'll see how everyone has been coping this past week, but I know it's not going to be easy."
Tony closed by saying, "I'll never forget where I was and it's one of those things, you'll never forget where you were when you hear some of these terrible things. Absolutely, I think we were all in shock. It's at least beautiful that everybody can come together on Wednesday Night Dynamite and honor the life and legacy of Jay Briscoe this week because it's not only been a week since he was tragically taken away, but it's also his 39th birthday. It's a beautiful thing that his brother Mark and his long time friend and rival Jay Lethal can go out there and go one-on-one to celebrate Jay Briscoe on AEW Dynamite."
Tony once again said that he was excited for Mark vs. Lethal and that it wasn't the "long-term plan" but feels the eyes of the wrestling world will be on the match.
A donation page was set up on Thursday morning for the Pugh family. Fans can donate by clicking here. AEW released a memorial shirt on Monday with 100% of the proceeds going to the Pugh family.
Fans can read the latest update on Jay's daughters Gracie & Jayleigh, who were in the vehicle with him at the time of the accident, by clicking here.
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