Adam Pearce Discusses What He Loved Most About Jay Briscoe

WWE producer and onscreen "official" Adam Pearce has had a long and storied wrestling career. The big highlights are his reigns as NWA World Heavyweight Champion and his stint in Ring of Honor, which included booking the promotion for a time. That latter run brought him into close contact with Jay Briscoe, real name Jamin Pugh, who died Tuesday evening in a car accident at 38 years old. In light of that, Pearce was a guest on TMZ Sports on Wednesday specifically to discuss his fallen colleague.

"Last night, I got the news like everyone in wrestling did, and I was breathless," he said. "This is a contemporary of so many of ours, and somebody that we all loved. And that's a cliche to say that, but I can't think of anybody that ever encountered Jay Briscoe that wouldn't say the same thing. He was an incredible performer."

The interviewer noted how, from the reaction to Briscoe's death, it feels as if nobody in the wrestling business has anything negative to say about him or his work, a point that Pearce agreed with and expanded on.

"Yeah, absolutely," he replied. "I think the thing that I'll always love about him...but the thing that has always kind of endeared me most to him is his love for his family. He was an incredible father and an incredible husband. I know his mom and dad and his wife, and I am just beyond myself, without having any idea what to say to anybody. How do you comfort a family you've known [since] almost 20 years ago? You just don't have the words. I want the world to know beyond the wrestler that he was, the Ring of Honor Hall of Famer that he is and always will be. Jay Briscoe was an incredible father and family, and I know he valued that more than any accolade in wrestling."