The pro-wrestling world was dealt a major blow as reports of 38-year-old ROH icon Jay Briscoe’s death emerged on January 17. Jay, one half of The Briscoe Brothers, was one among a group of wrestlers to have never had a televised wrestling match. Shortly after his passing, Mark Briscoe, his younger brother, made his AEW debut. Recently, he opened up on the experience of jostling just a few days after being struck by such a major tragedy.

AEW debut was Jay’s gift, says Mark Briscoe

It is believed that Jay’s reckless comments, which he made over a decade ago, prevented the brothers from being featured on television, even though there was no doubt regarding their wrestling talents. Less than a week after his brother’s demise, Mark made his AEW debut on January 25th on Dynamite, winning the bout against Jay Lethal. The match was AEW’s tribute to Jay Briscoe, who was a 13-time ROH World Tag Team Champion. January 25th was also Jay Briscoe’s birthday.

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Appearing on the Talk is Jericho podcast, Mark said, “It was cool. Jay passed on January 17. January 18 was my birthday. One week later, January 25, is Jay’s birthday. To me, that’s one of those things where, Jay had such guilt that we never did make it to TV. He thought it was his fault. It’s so weird that, the first night, being his birthday. It was like his gift to me. His gift to us.”

He further added that his brother was a responsible man who didn’t fear dying. “I know that he was not afraid to die. He didn’t want to leave any of us, especially his kids and family, he would never want to leave them without him, but I know that he did not fear death,” Briscoe said.

The 38-year-old is also a 13x ROH World Tag Team Champion, which he won along with his brother. Briscoe officially signed with Tony Khan’s promotion on February 15. But why didn’t Mark Briscoe sign with the WWE?

Mark Briscoe opens up on WWE’s shocking behavior

The Briscoes wrestled together with Styles, Owens, and Zayn during their time on the independents. So why didn’t the brothers ink a deal with Vince McMahon’s promotion?

The reason was revealed by Mark Briscoe on the same podcast, who revealed that they did not match the WWE’s beauty standards. Jay and Mark had been at a WWE tryout. After what they deemed as good, the brothers went home, waiting for a phone call from the company. When it came, the news wasn’t one they were hoping to receive.

“I’m Smelling Something” – Jay Briscoe’s Brother Opens Up About His Future After Signing With AEW

He said John Laurinaitis, the former Vice President of Talent Relations in WWE, called his brother Jay and that they were letting the two pass for now. However, it was much later that he found out, through his brother, the real reason for WWE not signing them .

“Jay, he said ‘man you know what he told me? He said we are not cosmetically pleasing enough!’ I was like ‘What!? For real? Damn that’s cold man.’,” Mark told Chris Jericho.

Meanwhile, did you like Mark Briscoe’s AEW debut? Let us know in the comments.

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