Shelton Benjamin Recalls Time In ROH While Talking Jay Briscoe's Passing
On Wednesday afternoon, at the close of this week's edition of WWE's "The Bump" on YouTube, Matt Camp joined in offering condolences and well wishes to the family of Jay Briscoe, real name Jamin Pugh, who died on Tuesday evening in a car accident that also injured his two daughters and killed the driver of the other car involved. With Shelton Benjamin, a former rival of the Briscoe Brothers in ROH, being the episode's cohost, Camp asked him to say a few words about his fallen colleague.
"Just like everyone else, I'm shocked," he replied. "I'm heartbroken. My condolences to his family. Jay was an awesome guy, and [during] my time [that] I spent in Ring of Honor, those guys were, for me, highlights. I enjoyed coming to work, being around them, sharing their energy. And the matches? Again, always fun."
Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas, his tag team partner in the team known both as Team Angle and The World's Greatest Tag Team, feuded with Mark and Jay Briscoe in the early part of the TV era of ROH, first on HDNet and then in syndication under Sinclair Broadcast Group's ownership. Haas and Benjamin had been brought in to, on top of providing quality matches, also give the Briscoes new opponents who could work their style while also being able to use their TV experience to teach the ROH mainstays. That feud also called back to a much earlier one, when Charlie and his late brother Russ Haas feuded with the then-teenaged Briscoes when they were starting on the northeast independent scene. This included the Haas Brothers nearly starting a riot on an ECWA show where they attacked Papa Briscoe after his sons won a match.