ROH LEGEND PASSES AWAY
The wrestling world was completely shaken to its core on Tuesday, January 17th, 2023 when it was announced by All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Ring of Honor (ROH) Owner: Tony Khan that ½ of The Briscoe Brothers, Jay Briscoe, had passed away. Mr. Khan tweeted the following:
Sadly, Jamin Pugh has passed away. Known to fans as Jay Briscoe, he was a star in ROH for over 20 years, from the first show until today.
Jay and his brother Mark dominated ROH, reigning as champions to this day. We’ll do whatever we can to support his family.
Rest In Peace Jamin
Early reports stated that Briscoe, whose real name was Jamin Pugh, was involved in a car accident at 5:30 P.M. local time in Laurel, Delaware. It was reported that Pugh and one other person ere pronounced deceased at the scene. The Delaware State Police tweeted the following message:
Traffic Alert, Laurel
Laurel Road at Little Hill Road will be closed for an extended period due to a fatal accident. DSP on-scene.
Jay had a very impressive championship history. He was a 2-time Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) World Tag Team Champion (with Mark Briscoe), Full Impact Pro (FIP) Tag Team Champion (with Mark Briscoe), 3-time Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) Tag Team Champion (with Mark Briscoe), House of Glory (HOG) Tag Team Champion (with Mark Briscoe), IMPACT World Tag Team Champion (with Mark Briscoe), Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW) Tag Team Champion (with The Insane Dragon), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) International Wrestling Grand Prix (IWGP) Tag Team Champion (with Mark Briscoe), 2-time NJPW NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion (with Mark Briscoe and Toru Yano), National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) Wildside Tag Team Champion (with Mark Briscoe), Premier Wrestling Federation (PWF) United States Heavyweight Champion, Pro Wrestling NOAH Global Honored Crown (GHC) Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion (with Mark Briscoe), Pro Wrestling Unplugged (PWU) Tag Team Champion (with Mark Briscoe), Real Championship Wrestling (RCW) Tag Team Champion (with Mark Briscoe), 2-time Ring of Honor (ROH) World Champion, ROH World 6-Man Tag Team Champion (with Mark Briscoe and Bully Ray), 13-time ROH World Tag Team Champion (with Mark Briscoe), Squared Circle Wrestling (2CW) Tag Team Champion (with Mark Briscoe) and USA Xtreme Wrestling (UXW) Tag Team Champion (with Mark Briscoe).
Besides his impressive championship history, Jay was also the recipient of several awards. In 2012, The Briscoe Brothers were the winners of Extreme Rising’s Match of the Year Award for their Steel Cage Three-Way Match against BLKOUT (BLK Jeez and Ruckus) and El Dramaticos (Dramatic #1 and Dramatic #2) at the Extreme Rising Card Subject To Change pay-per-view on December 29, 2012. That same year, The Briscoes also won the winners of Extreme Rising’s Moment of the Year for their debut at Extreme Rising Card Subject To Change. Jay was ranked number 7 in the 2015 PWI 500. In the 2022 PWI Tag Team 100, The Briscoes were ranked number 3. They were 2nd Runner-Up for PWI’s Tag Team of the Year. The feud between The Briscoes and The All-Night Express was the 3rd Runner-Up for PWI’s Feud of the Year. In 2007, they won the ROH CM Punk Award, ROH Tag Team of the Year Award and the ROH Feud of the Year Award for their feud with El Generico and Kevin Steen. In 2019, they were the winners of the ROH Tag Team of the Year Award and the ROH Feud of the Year Award for their feud with The Guerrillas of Destiny. They won Ring of Honor’s Tag Team of the Decade for the 2010s and were the winners of the ROH Tag Team of the Year in 2021. In 2007, they won the Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Tag Team of the Year Award.
Jay and his brother were also the co-winners of the ROH Honor Rumble in 2009, won the NWA Crockett Cup in 2022 and were inducted into the ROH Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural class last year.
When he passed away, Jay Briscoe was 38 years old and passed away one day before his brother, Mark’s birthday and seven days before his own birthday.
WU Online would like to pass our condolences to Jay’s family, his friends, his co-workers and his fans. May God be with all of you during your grieving.