Category: AEW

AEW Dynamite Preview 1/25/2023, Mark Briscoe AEW Debut

AEW Dynamite will air live tonight on TBS and emanate from the Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky.

Last night, Tony Khan revealed that Warner Brothers Discovery had finally permitted Mark Briscoe to make his AEW debut. The 13-time Ring of Honor World Tag Team Champion will face Jay Lethal tonight on “AEW Dynamite” to “celebrate the life and legacy of the late great Jay Briscoe on his 39th birthday.” WBD had previously restricted the Briscoes from appearing for Khan’s promotion because of homophobic tweets made by Jay in 2013; he later apologized and made significant efforts to improve his relationship with the LGBTQ+ community. Because of the ban, AEW was unable to honor Jay — who tragically passed away on January 17 – last week on “Dynamite.” Instead, the company filmed a tribute show that will air on YouTube and WatchROH.com at a later date.

AEW announced that Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. is injured and will not be able to compete. There are no details on the injury.

As of this writing, AEW is advertising the following for tonight’s show:

  • TNT Championship: Darby Allin (c) vs. Buddy Matthews
  • Ethan Page and Matt Hardy vs. JungleHook (Jungle Boy and Hook)
  • Family therapy with The Gunns and The Acclaimed
  • Jay Lethal vs. Mark Briscoe
  • Bryan Danielson vs. Brian Cage
  • Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara  vs. Ricky Starks & Action Andretti
  • Ruby Soho vs. Toni Storm

Change Made To AEW Dynamite Match Due To Britt Baker Dealing With Injury

AEW has announced that Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. vs. Ruby Soho vs. Toni Storm in a triple threat match will no longer be taking place on tonight’s Dynamite. 

Baker is dealing with an injury and was pulled from the bout. Now, Storm vs. Soho will take place.

Conrad Thompson: ‘Tony Khan Is Going To Take Care Of Jay Briscoe’s Family’

Tributes flooded in for Ring of Honor Hall of Famer Jay Briscoe (Jamin Pugh) following the news last week of his passing. AEW/ROH owner Tony Khan was the person to announce the news.

Speaking on What Happened When, Conrad Thompson explained that he’s heard that Khan will make sure Jay’s family is taken care of:

“I don’t mean to betray any confidences, but let me say this. There is lots of rumors and innuendo from really good sources that Tony Khan is who we thought he was and he’s going to do the right thing by that family as well.”

“I don’t think he would necessarily want anybody to know that information, and I know it’s not your [Tony Schiavone] place to talk about it, but I will say that for all the criticism that gets thrown around ‘Tony this, Tony that.’ When the chips are down, he’s a dude.”

Source: eWrestlingNews

AEW Rampage Preview 1/20/2023

Tonight’s AEW Rampage on TNT at 10/9c.

  • Ethan Page vs. Jungle Boy
  • Brian Cage vs. Willie Mack 
  • AEW TBS Champion Jade Cargill & Leila Gray vs. Jaina and Jordyn Vanity
  • Tony Schiavone to interview Eddie Kingston and Ortiz
  • Action Andretti vs. Daniel Garcia

AEW Tried Several Times To Use The Briscoes

This past Tuesday, Jay Briscoe, real name Jamin Pugh, passed away following a car crash in Delaware at 38 years old.

Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite opened with a graphic of Briscoe and multiple wrestlers having “Jay” armbands during their matches.

As previously reported, Warner Bros. Discovery did not allow AEW to do a full tribute show to Briscoe due to homophobic tweets Jay posted over a decade ago. WBD had blocked Briscoe’s involvement on AEW television in the past. Jay had apologized for the tweets multiple times over the years. 

Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that AEW President Tony Khan made a few attempts to get the Briscoes on AEW television in 2022. 

“This past year there were many attempts to get them on the show. They were actually flown in a few times to television, but they weren’t allowed to be used.There were plans for them on the 9/4 All Out show in Chicago, to be in a six-man tag with FTR & Wardlow vs. The Briscoes & Jay Lethal. But without being able to promote it on television and because the broadcast partners didn’t want them on AEW broadcasts, the decision was made to bring the Motor City Machine Guns in out of nowhere to team with Lethal.”

Source: eWrestlingNews

Warner Bros. Discovery Blocked Jay Briscoe Tribute Show On AEW Dynamite

This past Tuesday, Jay Briscoe, real name Jamin Pugh, passed away following a car crash in Delaware at 38 years old. 

The wrestling world has been reacting ever since. The tributes continued on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite, as the broadcast opened with a graphic of Briscoe and multiple wrestlers had “Jay” armbands during their matches.

Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer reported that Warner Bros. Discovery did not allow AEW to do a full tribute show to Briscoe due to homophobic tweets Jay posted over a decade ago.

This is not the first time that WBD has blocked Briscoe’s involvement on AEW television, as they previously didn’t want AEW President Tony Khan to feature Jay or his brother Mark on its programming. Jay had apologized for the tweets multiple times over the years. 

Khan tapped a Ring of Honor-branded “Jay Briscoe: Celebration of Life” event after AEW Dynamite went off the air that will air on HonorClub and ROH’s YouTube channel for free.

Source: eWrestlingNews

AEW Dynamite Preview 1/18/2023

AEW Dynamite will air live tonight on TBS and emanate from the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California.

  • All Atlantic Championship: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Jay Lethal
  • TNT Championship: Darby Allin (c) vs. Kushida
  • Bryan Danielson vs. Bandido
  • Jake Hager vs. Ricky Starks
  • The Young Bucks vs. Top Flight
  • Toni Storm vs. Willow Nightingale
  • Hangman Adam Page speaks with Renee Paquette

Wrestling World Reacts To The Passing Of Jay Briscoe

Wrestlers and wrestling personalities are reacting in real time to the tragic news of Jay Briscoe’s death.

Leading the reactions are FTR, The Young Bucks, and The Usos — the three teams that have been mentioned in the same breath as The Briscoes as the greatest tag teams of the 21st century. 

“RIP to the homie Jay Briscoe,” The Usos wrote on Twitter. “Condolences to the your family. Rest in paradise uso. @SussexCoChicken #DemBoyz.”

“I’ve been in tears since I heard the news,” wrote Cash Wheeler of FTR. “I just don’t have the words. Rest in Peace Jay.”

“I’m doing ok,” wrote Dax Harwood of FTR, along with a photo of FTR and The Briscoes sharing a drink. “Thanks everyone for checking on me. I love you, Jay.”

Meanwhile, The Young Bucks changed their Twitter header photo to that of Jay Briscoe.

AEW star Matt Hardy, who shared the ring with Jay more than a dozen times, explained why he shared a genuine love for Jay.

“Heard this tragic news while flying,” Matt tweeted. “I’m DEVASTATED that Jay Briscoe (Jamin Pugh) tragically died today. I was honored to work with him many times. I loved Jay. Jay was SO real. Jay loved his wife & kids more than anything & we shared that bond. I’m heartbroken for his family.”

AEW star Chris Jericho tweeted, “Please pray for @jaybriscoe84’s family. Trust me this is worse than you think.”

Veteran ROH announcer Ian Riccaboni, who called the action for The Briscoes’ final ROH match at Final Battle, touched upon the close friendship he developed with “Dem Boyz” over the years.

“Jay was one of a kind,” Riccaboni tweeted. I traveled often with Jay and Mark. We couldn’t have been more different but that’s what made our friendship something I’ll cherish forever. He’d give you the shirt off his back, his last dime. He was so proud of his kids. Loved his family so much.”

Others such as Moose, “The Hurricane” Shane Helms, Big Swole, Frankie Kazarian and John Silver posted their reactions as well.

Jay Briscoe never wrestled on WWE television but had many fans within the current WWE roster.

WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque led the tributes with a message that was re-tweeted by WWE’s official account.

“An incredible performer who created a deep connection with wrestling fans across the globe,” Triple H tweeted. “My condolences to the family and friends of Jay Briscoe.”

Shawn Michaels posted a tribute on behalf of the “WWE NXT” roster.

“On behalf of the @WWENXT community, I would like to express our condolences to the Briscoe family for their loss.”

Bayley tweeted, “I’m so sorry to hear about Jay Briscoe. To all my friends who were close to him, to all his fans, and to his family, I’m sending you so much strength and love. ❤️ #DemBoys.”

Shinsuke Nakamura tweeted, “RIP Jay Briscoe.”

GUNTHER, who shared the ring with The Briscoes at a wXw event in 2017, tweeted, “Rest in Peace, Jay Briscoe.”

Others such as Ricochet and Cody Rhodes reacted to the tragic news as well.

“This is so sad. ❤️,” tweeted Ricochet.

“I didn’t interact much with him, but upon meeting Jay I instantly understood something about him…his family was his everything,” tweeted Rhodes. “All the love in the world to them this evening.”

Meanwhile, Sami Zayn went as far as to credit The Briscoes for helping him advance in his pro wrestling career. The former El Generico wrestled The Briscoes on countless occasions for promotions such as PWG and ROH. 

“I don’t have the words right now to properly convey my sorrow,” Zayn wrote on Twitter. “I love Jay & Mark Briscoe. Always have. I wouldn’t be here without them. I’m very lucky to have shared the ring & shared so many laughs with Jay Briscoe and I’m so sad to know neither will happen again. RIP my friend.”

Finally, WWE announcer Vic Joseph acknowledged Jay’s passing during a live episode of “WWE NXT” Tuesday night.

“We were just informed of tragic news inside the wrestling community that Jay Briscoe has passed away,” Joseph said. “We want to take this moment to send our condolences to his friends and family.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Rampage Preview 1/13/2023

Tonight’s AEW Rampage on TNT at 10/9C

  • TNT Championship: Darby Allin (c) vs. Juice Robinson
  • Eddie Kington & Ortiz vs. Kings of the Black Throne
  • Tay Melo & Anna Jay A.S. vs. Ruby Soho & Willow Nightingale street fight
  • Promos from The Acclaimed and Paul Thomas Hauser

Tony & Shahid Khan Being Interested In Buying WWE

Tony and Shahid Khan are reportedly interested in purchasing WWE.

 CNBC is reporting that several sources familiar with the situation have confirmed that the Khans are interested in merging AEW and WWE.

The report notes that the Khans would be willing to team up with a media company for the IP, which would result in a merger of WWE and AEW.

While Tony and Shahid have not spoken with Vince McMahon or Nick Khan at this point, it was noted that McMahon may not be interested in speaking with them at all. The idea is said to be “a long shot.”

Once again – no discussions between the Khans and WWE have taken place at this point. For what it’s worth, Shahid Khan has a net worth of $7.56 billion.

Source: ewrestlingnews