Back in December, following Final Battle, Tony Khan announced plans for a weekly TV show for Ring of Honor that would air as part of a revamped Honor Club sometime in 2023. It’s been radio silence since. However, with ROH’s Supercard of Honor pay-per-view rapidly approaching at the end of March, it appears developments may be picking up on the start of that ROH television show.
Fightful Select reports that ROH tapings are lined up for the end of February in Orlando, Florida. While a venue hasn’t been 100% confirmed, talent is presuming that tapings will occur at the soundstages of Universal Studios, where AEW has regularly taped “AEW Dark” in the past. Voices of Wrestling had previously reported ROH would hold tapings on February 25 and 26.
Things get a little murkier beyond those tapings as far as any more in the future, but it’s expected that what’s on the calendar for the end of February should take ROH all the way up to Supercard of Honor. Tony Khan has yet to specify an airdate for ROH’s first weekly show on Honor Club, but given the timetable, it is logical to believe it’d be at the start of March, with several episodes properly building in the weeks to the event during WrestleMania weekend.
Several AEW contracted talents — who had been signed as far back as last year — were noted as likely to appear, having inked deals with the intent to be used for ROH. ROH Champions Claudio Castagnoli, Athena, The Embassy, Samoa Joe, and Wheeler Yuta should be heavily featured.
On January 17, Jamin Pugh, known to fans as Jay Briscoe, tragically passed away in a car accident that shook the wrestling world down to its very core. Fortunately, his daughters, who were also in the vehicle, survived the accident. However, both of them sustained life-altering injuries.
We now have a positive medical update on Jay Briscoe’s daughters, Jayleigh and Gracie.
Update on Jayleigh: “JJ, Briscoe’s nine-year old daughter was officially released from the hospital yesterday and is back home. She will have to wear her neck and back brace for four more weeks, at which point she will then return to the hospital to have her back brace surgically removed. She will obviously need continued physical therapy as she recovers but she was able to return home last night.”
Update on Gracie:“Gracie, Briscoe’s twelve-year old daughter, will be moved to the rehab floor of the hospital so that she can focus more on physical therapy towards regaining use of her legs below the knee. She has feeling in her legs but is still unable to move them below the knees. She noted to her sister that her leg, which has felt as if its tingling nonstop, ‘felt normal’ last night.”
We wish Jayleigh and Gracie the best on their road to recovery.
On Sunday, a funeral service for late Ring of Honor wrestler Jamin “Jay Briscoe” Pugh was held in Laurel, Delaware.
The official YouTube channel of the Laurel School District hosted a livestream of the funeral, which you can see below. During the service, Jay’s mother, father, and brother Mark recalled their memories of their beloved family member.
You can watch the service below.
On behalf of all of us here on eWn, we send our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Jamin “Jay Briscoe” Pugh.
The day after Jay Briscoe’s tragic passing, AEW was denied the opportunity to present a tribute show on “AEW Dynamite,” reportedly due to restrictions put in place by Warner Bros Discovery. The network would not allow such an event to broadcast because of past homophobic Tweets by Briscoe, even though the late wrestler apologized and made every effort to repair the damage with the LGBTQ+ community. Despite this obstacle, AEW still filmed a memorial show for Briscoe under the ROH banner, the promotion in which he became a record-setting 13-time ROH World Tag Team Champion with his brother Mark. The emotional celebration of Briscoe’s life is now available to watch for free.
The “Jay Briscoe Tribute and Celebration of Life” video was uploaded to ROH’s YouTube channel earlier today. The event was also uploaded to ROH’s Honor Club streaming service. The show, which is just over three hours long, features several matches and some touching tributes from the AEW roster. Memorable bouts from the Briscoes’ career in ROH are also highlighted, including their battle with The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli) at Final Battle 2006.
Earlier this week, Tony Khan revealed that WBD’s Briscoe-related restrictions had been lifted. As a result, Mark Briscoe would debut for AEW against Jay Lethal as a celebration of Jay’s birthday. That bout headlined “Dynamite” last night, and saw Mark pick up the victory after using Jay’s finishing move, the Jay Driller. The AEW roster came out on stage following the match as a “Jay Briscoe 1984-2023” graphic appeared on the screen.
Mark Briscoe made his AEW debut during Wednesday night’s “Dynamite” under the most heartbreaking of circumstances. Just over a week after Mark’s older brother Jay was killed in a multi-vehicle crash that claimed the life of another driver and left Jay’s daughters seriously injured, the younger Briscoe stepped inside an AEW ring for the first time on what would have been Jay’s 39th birthday.
Mark’s opponent in the main event of Wednesday’s “Dynamite” was another longtime Ring of Honor star, Jay Lethal. The closing moments of the match saw Mark drive Lethal through the timekeeper’s table with his signature Froggy Bow elbow drop from the top turnbuckle. Back in the ring, Mark used the J-Driller, his brother Jay’s finishing maneuver, to pin Lethal for the win.
After the match, Mark spoke into a ringside camera, telling Jay Briscoe’s children – Gracie, Jayleigh, and Gannon – he loves them and to “keep your heads up.” Mark then sent a message to his late brother, calling him by his real name, Jamin, and telling him he loves him.
As Mark saluted fans following his victory, many members of the AEW locker room and backstage crew, including Tony Khan, came out on the entrance stage to applaud both Mark and Jay Lethal.
The presentation of the main event was rich in ROH aesthetics, with the company’s broadcast team, Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman, joining Excalibur on commentary and longtime ROH ring announcer Bobby Cruise was on hand for the introductions. Earlier in the show, a video tribute to Jay Briscoe was shown, which you can see the extended cut below.
Ring of Honor Hall of Famer Jay Briscoe (Jamin Pugh) passed away last week after being in a car accident.
Briscoe and the other driver, 27-year-old Lillyanne Ternahan, were pronounced dead at the scene after a head-on collision. Jay wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, but his kids were.
Delaware Online reports that a vigil and funeral services have been announced for Briscoe.
The vigil will be held tonight at 7 PM at Lee Elliott Worship Center, located on 17237 Phillips Hill Road in Laurel, DE. The funeral is slated for Sunday at Laurel High School gym, located at 1133 S. Central Ave in Laurel.
There will be visitation from 12 PM to 1 PM and the service begins immediately after. Rev. Tim Dukes will officiate. The service will be private.
Jay Briscoe, real name Jamin Pugh, died in a car accident in Laurel, Delaware on January 17th, eight days before his 39th birthday and one day before his brother’s 38th birthday. His daughters, who were in the car with him, suffered serious injuries.
Pro Wrestling Tees has just launched a new t-shirt honoring the late Jay Briscoe. All the proceeds from the t-shirt will go to the Pugh family.
The official announcement reads:
“On January 17th, the wrestling world lost one of its most beloved family members when Jamin Pugh, known professionally as Jay Briscoe, tragically lost his life in an automobile accident. A member of the Ring of Honor family from the very beginning, Jay became a multi-time ROH World Champion, a 13-time ROH World Tag Team Champion, and a first-ballot ROH Hall of Famer with his brother Mark. Together, The Briscoe Brothers were a part of ROH’s foundation, the heart and soul, and were essential in building that company into the most influential wrestling promotion of the last twenty years.”
“But more than that, the Pugh family lost a husband, a father, a brother, a son, and in an effort to both honor Jay’s memory as well as support those left behind, we are offering this “Reach For The Sky” t-shirt with 100% of the proceeds going to benefit the Pugh family as they cope with this tragic loss.”
100% of the proceeds from the “Reach For The Sky” shirt will go to benefit the family of Jamin Pugh, known professionally as Jay Briscoe. https://t.co/YYMq7IFIDq
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.”