AEW Remembers Jay Briscoe One Year After His Death
Today marks one year since the death of Ring of Honor star Jay Briscoe (real name Jamin Pugh) at the age of 38. In addition to Briscoe's former rival Dax Harwood paying tribute to the late wrestler, AEW's official X account posted a short memorial for Briscoe in addition to the video the company previously produced following his death last year.
One year ago today we sadly lost Jamin Pugh.
Known worldwide as Jay Briscoe, he was a star in ROH for over 20 years, capturing the ROH World Championship twice, and along with his brother Mark, dominated the tag team division winning the ROH World Tag Team Championship a record... pic.twitter.com/T0ha353tVC
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) January 17, 2024
Briscoe was best known as one-half of the Briscoe Brothers with his real-life brother Mark. As the older brother, Jay got his start in wrestling slightly before Mark, but as soon as they were able, the two began tagging together. Mainstays of Ring of Honor, the Briscoes had memorable matches with nearly every major tag team on the independent scene in the 2000s.
Following his death last year, wrestling stars from around the world paid tribute to the late performer. That includes Hiroshi Tanahashi and Naomichi Marufuji of NJPW and Pro Wrestling NOAH, as well as WWE wrestlers such as Sami Zayn. As a previous ROH regular himself, Zayn shared the ring with Briscoe many times.
The final year of Briscoe's career was dominated by his and his brother's trilogy of matches against AEW stars FTR. Harwood and Cash Wheeler had a trilogy of matches against the Briscoes across three ROH pay-per-views, and all three have become some of the most highly considered tag team bouts in recent memory.
Briscoe's death was caused by an automobile crash, as another vehicle traveling in the opposite direction crossed over to the other side of the road and struck Briscoe's vehicle. While his two daughters were present in the vehicle with Briscoe, both girls survived the collision.