Tony Khan – ‘Mark Briscoe’s Injury Changed Everything For ROH Death Before Dishonor 2023’

Speaking during a media call for Death Before Dishonor 2023, AEW President Tony Khan revealed that certain plans had to be altered due to Mark Briscoe’s recent injury.

Khan noted that he had hoped to get Eddie Kingston back from NJPW in time for Death Before Dishonor but the current situation didn’t permit the same.

You can check out some highlights from the media call below:

On the obstacles to Khan’s preferred plans for Death Before Dishonor: “I was hoping maybe even some possibility that Eddie could fly back to participate in Death Before Dishonor and then go back to Japan, and I certainly would have accommodated the travel if that was possible. It wasn’t possible. Mark Briscoe, I had slotted for something different on the card. It turned out that also was not viable for another reason. There have been so many things that came up and it can be like a domino effect. It’s very challenging. With Mark Briscoe’s injury, it was very challenging because Mark had been dealing with injuries for a while and I think some of us almost took it for granted because Mark is such a fighter and amazing person with an amazing spirit. People sympathize with Mark for many reasons, and he’s such a compelling wrestling character and always has been. I felt Mark could be an emotional hook for this pay-per-view in a lot of ways and it was a pivot. With Eddie going to Japan, I thought it would be cool with Eddie having a big moment winning the STRONG Championship and he passed on some wisdom to Mark Briscoe. I knew he was dealing with some injuries, but honestly, he had been dealing with them for a long time, and I think the pain had become too much to manage and it had become very challenging for him. To be honest, he hadn’t told many people about that, including our doctors. The people who knew really well knew he was hurting. I think Mark was no selling it. I know he was no selling the doctors on how much pain he was in. That’s why they were surprised that this had become a lifestyle challenge for him. When he came to me and said, ‘It’s worse than I was letting on. I’m not sure I can do this.’ That meant changing everything.”

On working around Briscoe’s injury: “If Mark comes to me and says he needs something, I’m going to do it, no matter what it is. If he needs time to heal up and needs me to pivot the pay-per-view, I’m going to do that for him, without questions. I’ll do it for pretty much anybody, but I’ll do it with a smile for Mark Briscoe. It meant changing pretty much everything again.”

Mark Briscoe Announces Reach For The Sky Ladder Match For ROH Tag Titles At Supercard Of Honor + More ROH News

On Friday night’s episode of Rampage, AEW World Tag Team Champion Mark Briscoe announced that a “Reach for the Sky” Ladder match will be held at ROH Supercard of Honor to determine the new ROH World Tag Team Champions. The Lucha Brothers are the first team to be announced for the match.

In other news, on the latest episode of ROH TV, former champions Dalton Castle and The Boys (Brandon Tate & Brent Tate) challenged The Embassy for the ROH Six-Man Tag Team Championships at Supercard of Honor. They also defeated Marcus Cross & C4 (Cody Chhun & Guillermo Rosas) on the show.

Meanwhile, ROH TV also saw The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett w/ Maria Kanellis-Bennett) cut a promo backstage, stating that they want to get their revenge on Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin) for costing them their return to ROH at Final Battle earlier in December, potentially setting up a rematch at Supercard of Honor.

In another noteworthy segment, Eddie Kingston confronted ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli, challenging him for the Ring of Honor World Championship. Claudio refused to accept and disrespected Kingston. Nevertheless, they are expected to collide in a blockbuster title match at the pay-per-view event.

Source: eWrestlingNews

Mark Briscoe Debut On AEW, Honors Brother

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.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

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

Mark Briscoe Dealing With Knee Injury, Out Of CMLL’s Grand Prix Tournament

Ring of Honor announced that Mark Briscoe will be out of tonight’s CMLL’s Grand Prix tournament because of a knee injury. The injury happened during an ROH live event last weekend.

Delirious will be replacing Briscoe on Team Resto del Mundo. The other team members include ROH World Champion Matt Taven, Jay Briscoe, Kenny King, Big Daddy, Luke Hawx, Mecha Wolf 450, and Oraculo.

During CMLL’s Grand Prix press conference, Jay Briscoe commented about his brother’s injury, “It sucks that he’s hurt. We do double-team moves like no other tag team in this world, so that was definitely going to be a blow to the Mexican team, but it ain’t going to matter. We still gonna win.”

Mark Briscoe is scheduled to undergo an MRI exam.

Source: Wrestling Inc.