AEW “Not Allowed” Big Tribute Show For Jay Briscoe
A new report has suggested that AEW was forbidden from holding a big tribute show for Jay Briscoe on TBS by Warner Bros Discovery.
On the 17th of January 2023, the tragic news was broken by AEW and ROH owner Tony Khan that Jay Briscoe had passed away following a car accident. Police reports have confirmed that Briscoe and the driver of the other car involved were the two fatalities in the incident while Briscoe’s wife has confirmed their 12-year-old daughter has undergone surgery as a result of her injuries from the crash.
On the 19th of January edition of Dynamite, a graphic aired at the start of the show paying tribute to Briscoe while many stars wore black armbands for their matches. However, Dave Meltzer speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio has noted why the show did not feature more tributes to the star:
“There was a graphic at the start of the show (Dynamite) and at the very end of the show there was a mention by Excalibur. A lot of the guys had armbands, a lot of them, but there was not any kind of big tribute because they were not allowed by WarnerMedia (Warner Bros. Discovery) to do one.”
“They filmed a one-hour show in Fresno tonight that will be on HonorClub. They will be doing another tribute show. When they finally do the Ring of Honor television show, the first show will feature a lot of Jay matches and the tribute show will as well when it’s all put together. At Supercard of Honor there will also be kind of a memorial to Jay or something to honour Jay.”
Warner Bros. Discovery had reportedly not wanted The Briscoes on their network due to controversial and homophobic Tweets Jay Briscoe sent out a decade ago, something for which he had repeatedly apologised for over the years. Meltzer also noted the irony in having Dynamite followed on TBS by Dana White’s Power Slap just a few short weeks after White was filmed slapping his wife.
Despite the ban, The Briscoes remained a firm part of Tony Khan’s Ring of Honor and are the current ROH Tag Team Champions. Following Dynamite, there was a tribute show filmed under the ROH banner that will air on Honor Club. The full spoilers for that show can be found here.