Rest in Peace Jay Briscoe
The Alliance Wrestling family would like to offer our condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Jamin Pugh, better known to wrestling fans as Jay Briscoe, on the news of his tragic passing at the age of 38 on January 18th, 2023.
Delaware State Police have announced that there was a road accident in the town of Laurel, Delaware, at around 5:30pm EST, with both Jay Briscoe and one other person (believed to be the driver of the other vehicle) subsequently pronounced dead.
Jay Briscoe was one of the real legendary performers that rose to prominence in the post-WCW, turn of the millennium period of pro wrestling. With his brother Mark, The Briscoes tag team etched a legacy that sees them in the upper echelon of tag team wrestling, one of few teams in the modern era that can be legitimately ranked with the historical greats. That some of The Briscoes’ last matches were the ROH trilogy with FTR, already being hailed as some of the greatest tag team matches of all time, is somehow fitting in a way.
The Briscoes won tag team championships in many promotions across the board, notably three times in GCW, two times in CZW, and one time in New Japan, Impact and NOAH. But it will be their record-setting 13 title reigns in Ring of Honor that will no doubt be best and most lovingly be remembered.
Not only that, but Jay could officially call himself a singles Heavyweight Champion as well, having won the ROH World Heavyweight Championship twice, once from Kevin Steen in 2013 and once from Michael Elgin in 2014, the second reign being the longest reign at 9 months. Whilst Jay is better known for tag team wrestling, he genuinely had the talent as a singles performer and this was recognised by his two title reigns at the top of ROH.
The Briscoes of course have history in the NWA, having taken part in the 2019 Crockett Cup and actually winning the cup in the 2022 tournament. They also appeared on Powerrr, taking part in two very entertaining matches against The OGK and the NWA Tag Champions La Rebelión. However, it might surprise some fans to know that the Briscoes had even earlier history with the NWA, being one-time NWA Wildside Tag Team Champions, holding the titles for 14 days in August 2002.
Many of Jay’s friends and colleagues have taken to social media to talk about their memories of Jay, and the picture that emerges is of a considerate, very funny, gentleman who loved his family more than anything and talked about them constantly. Any death is a loss, but that it should happen to such a well-liked, well-respected man at such a young age is particularly tragic.
Rest in Peace, Jay. You will not be forgotten.