Tragedy has struck the wrestling world again with the loss of one-half of the most decorated tag teams in ROH, Jay Briscoe.
Jay was a former 13x ROH World Heavyweight champion and a two-time ROH World Heavyweight champion. He always put his heart and soul into everything while being a dedicated family man. Tony Khan did a tribute show to remember the life of Jay Briscoe, which was a perfect way to honor one-half of “dem boyz.”
The Tribute Video: Zain Decker is one talented human being. He was the one who put together the package and it had everything you could have wanted. The video included multiple videos of Jay Briscoe including his matches, his family, and some pictures and videos of some of his closest friends.
Ring of Honor Pure Championship Match: Wheeler Yuta vs Hagane Shinno: Shinno is an extremely talented wrestler who was originally based out of the DD promotion in Japan. He has been on a couple of episodes of AEW Dark, most notably against Kenny Omega. While he’s new to the American scene, he can fit in the ROH model and he proved it by holding his own against Yuta. This match was good, for those still not familiar with the Pure Rules concept this match does a great job of explaining that to you. Overall, a great win for Yuta. Winner: “And Still” Wheeler Yuta
Samoa Joe Shares His Thoughts: Multiple wrestlers shared their thoughts about Jay and the legacy of the Briscoe Brothers throughout the show. Joe, in tears, talked about how Jay was always a family man and put his heart and soul into everything he did in and out of the ring. It was truly touching.
Adam Cole Shares His Thoughts: An emotional Adam Cole tells the story where when he first won the ROH World Heavyweight Championship he was not supposed to hold it for a very long time. However, because Jay believed in Adam Cole from day one he told the bookers in ROH to keep the title on him for longer, and without Jay Briscoe, Adam Cole would have never been Adam Cole. He also talks about how for the first Sunday of the NFL season he would always go to the Briscoe house to watch with the entire Briscoe family and they always took him in as one of their own. Touching stuff.
Adam Cole vs Jay Briscoe Final Battle 2014: Adam Cole stapling a piece of paper to Jay Briscoe’s head will not be hilarious and when Cole feeds Briscoe the thumbtacks just to superkick them right out of his mouth. This match was really good, a lot of people forget that Jay was an ROH World Heavyweight Champion, let alone a 2X champion. This match was a classic old-school ROH match with all the blood and weapons since this was a fight without honor match. Highly recommend especially if you are looking for Jay’s singles run. Winner: “And Still Jay Briscoe
Story Time with Adam Cole: Adam also cut a promo during the actual live tribute show. Cole talks about his historic rivalry with Jay and that he as well as many other wrestlers have had their best matches with Jay Briscoe involved in the match. He also gets the crowd fired up because that’s what Jay would have wanted, a fired-up crowd with awesome pro wrestling. You can tell how hurt Cole was throughout the entire promo, he truly lost a good friend.
Matt Hardy Shares His Thoughts: Hardy talks about how The Briscoes were trailblazers in tag team wrestling during the 2010s. He discusses how he and Jay always used to talk about their families and how proud both of them were to be fathers. Hardy also mentions that everyone should be keeping his daughters in their thoughts and prayers since they were also injured in the accident and emphasized the fact that this was truly a tragedy in the professional wrestling scene.
Marina Shafir vs Mighty Mayra: The commentators bring up the fact that Shafir requested to be on the tribute show because her husband (Rodrick Strong) was very good friends with Jay and Mark Briscoe. This was a great showing by Shafir. She fits the ROH mold of being built differently. ROH is the perfect place to keep Shafir while she is still training and improving week-by-week. Winner: Marina Shafir
Christopher Daniels Shares His Thoughts: Daniels talks about how The Briscoe Brothers should be on the Mount Rushmore of wrestlers in Ring of Honor, also mentioning how every time there were contract negotiations the Briscoes would always say they would never go anywhere else because of their loyalty and love towards Ring of Honor. Daniels ends with a message to Jay’s wife and kids saying that he knows wrestling has taken him away from them because of him always traveling on the road, and it hurts him to know that was a moment taken away from spending time with his wife and kids.
Jay Briscoe vs Christopher Daniels Survival of the Fittest 2016: This is an all-time class ROH match. The commentators do an exceptional job centering the match around the fact that these two are homegrown ROH originals. This was a great back-and-forth between two talented individuals and in the end, Jay wins with two Jay Drillers. Winner: Jay Briscoe
Eddie Kingston Shares His Thoughts: Kingston talks about how he can not put into words how unfair this is that Jay has left us. He jokes about the Raiders possibly having a shot of having a successful season with Jay helping them out in heaven and ends by telling Brodie Lee what’s up.
Eddie Kingston vs QT Marshall: The commentary team joking around saying Kingston is a secret Briscoe Brother and how he would fit right in with the family was really funny. This was a fun match, they were able to get the crowd involved by them holding QT down while Kingston chopped him. Fun overall and a good tribute. Winner: Eddie Kingston
Austin Gunn Shares His Thoughts: Gunn tells a touching story about the first time he met Jay Briscoe in 2018. During the match, Jay got a huge cut on his back and the paramedics were leaving, Gunn begged them to do something and they gave him butterfly stitches, cloth, and cleaning solution. For two hours Gunn butterfly-stitched Jay’s back and they became really good friends after that.
Ryan Nemeth Shares His Thoughts: Nemeth talks about how the wrestling world is known for being very scary and intimidating and the reason he got into wrestling was that he wanted to form a tag team with his brother, just like the Briscoes. When ROH started taping at OVW, he says the Briscoes were the nicest people in the locker room and the least intimidating, and although they were not close friends he is grateful for all the times they did share.
Stokely Hathaway Shares His Thoughts: Hathaway talks about how when he started in ROH in 2013 as just a ring crew member Jay and Mark were always so kind to him even though he was a nobody at the time. He also adds that it is up to all of us to continue the legacy of Jay Briscoe so everyone can always remember him.
Ring of Honor Women’s Championship Match: Athena vs Madison Rayne: This match was amusing. Both of these women are veterans in this business and this match proved that. Rayne countering Athena’s finisher was really good and unexpected as well. Athena’s heel turn has been great and hopefully, she gets a long reign with the AEW Women’s Championship. Overall great match. Winner: “And Still” Athena
BJ Whitmer Shares His Thoughts: Whitmer talks about the impact the entire Briscoe family had on the ROH locker room calling them locker-room parents. Whitmer also adds that he has been friends with Jay for over 20 years and has countless great memories with him just sitting at the bar telling stories.
Zain Decker Shares His Thoughts: Decker talks about how honored he was that Jay would always listen to his notes and not just brush them off since he was a veteran in the business, also adding that Jay was always the type of guy to give you the shirt off his back to help other people out.
Brandon Cutler vs Juice Robinson: This match was enjoyable. Cutler is really underutilized as a talent and this match proved it. Robinson has always been great and it should be interesting to see where he goes from here. Overall this was a great back-and-forth between both men and I highly recommend this match on the card. Winner: Juice Robinson
Prince Nana Shares His Thoughts: Nana talks about how he and Jay both started in ECWA together and have been up and down the road several times together and share countless memories. He also talks about how happy Jay would be whenever he would see that Nana would be on the card.
Yuka Sakazaki vs Sandra Moone: Seeing three women’s matches on an ROH card was special to see. Sakazaki is going to be a star, her match against Athena at Supercard of Honor is going to be great. She had a strong showing here as she is trying to pick up wins to get her to that ROH Women’s Championship match. Moone had a strong showing, she was great. Winner: Yuka Sakazaki
The Briscoe Brothers vs Kings of Wrestling Final Battle 2006: This was old-school ROH and this was great to see on this show. The classic ring and old-school graphics were cool to see. This was the match that put the Briscoes on the map. This was an amazing back-and-forth between four very talented wrestlers. If you have never seen a Kings of Wrestlings match before this one you are in for a treat. If you are going to watch any of the matches on this show, this is the one for you. Winners: The Briscoes
Claudio Castagnoli Shares His Thoughts: Castagnoli talks about how at the last Final Battle he and the Briscoes just talked about the good old days and how they were trying to make a name for themselves in ROH. He also added that the Kings of Wrestling and the Briscoes were in a bloody feud for a year and those were some of Castagnoli’s favorite matches.
ROH World Heavyweight Championship Match: Claudio Castagnoli vs Christopher Daniels: This was the perfect main event for this show because it is two people who are top ROH stars. This match was exciting with a lot of back and forth between two talented wrestlers. Daniels proves that he still has it by entering his 30th year in the business. Castagnoli also shows how dominant and strong his title reign is and that ROH is the perfect fit for him. Winner: “And Still” Claudio Castagnoli
Overall Thoughts: This show had everything any ROH fan would want to see. There were classic old-school matches as well as new faces and awesome matches. This show was a great tribute to an incredible man who always remembers reaching for the sky.
