On January 17th, 2023, the professional wrestling world lost one half of one of the best tag teams. If anything, indie wrestling lost one of its finest pioneers. If you are a fan of tag team wrestling, hell even AEW, I can safely say Jay Briscoe was an influence on modern tag team wrestling, AEW, and indie wrestling today.

               As someone who grew up watching indie wrestling clips or just trying to find any indie wrestling matches online. I would see names like Bryan Danielson, Trent Acid, Chris Hero, Nigel McGuinness, Homicide, and today’s post, Mark and Jay Briscoe, The Briscoe Brothers. There’s something magical about the 2000s indie scene, it was something you had to experience back then to believe it. If you were tired of mainstream WWE or even TNA, ROH and the indies might have been a scene you loved. And fuck did the Briscoe Brothers set the bar on tag team wrestling. To call Briscoe’s style of wrestling as “hard hitting” would not do it justice. Here’s how I can describe it, think of the toughest person you know, they hit hard, they know they can hit hard, but they also want to be the absolute best, not the toughest, or just the most badass, but the absolute best. The Briscoes were hungry, the hit hard, they flew, the grappled, they set the fucking bar of tag team wrestling. Whether it was FTR, The American Wolves, or Generation Next, The Briscoes could work with any team. CZW, ROH, PWG, GCW, NJPW, or NOAH, The Briscoes won gold.

                 While I love me some Briscoes, Jay Briscoe was a completely different animal. I love Mark Briscoe dearly, but there’s a reason why ROH made Jay Briscoe a world champion. There was fire in Jay Briscoe that can not be matched. A passion, a rage, a beast that was ready to unleash. All you need to do is watch a Jay Briscoe promo, and look into his eyes, and there’s a magnetic force behind it, something trying to draw you in, yet want you to know, “DO NOT FUCK WITH JAY BRISCOE!” While The Briscoes made tag team wrestling a violent art, Jay Briscoe matches is a violent passion. The man made you believe he was in the fight of his life in every single match. While people were hesitant on him winning the ROH title, he showed the wrestling world he deserved it.

                 Another thing about Jay Briscoe that made me admire him more. If he fucked up, he knew he did, and he made every attempt to rectify that wrong. You can’t talk about Jay Briscoe, without talking about the abhorrent thing he said about gay marriage. I bring this up, not to slander Jay, but to show how he matured and changed his views. When word of his passing broke, multiple prominent LGBTQA+ wrestling personalities all spoke highly of Jay, as wrestler and as a man and if you know how LGBTQA+ wrestling personalities are nowadays, there are not afraid to hold their tongue. I like to think Cary Silkin, former owner of ROH, and a openly gay man himself, spoke to Jay when all that happened. All I heard was how much he changed, how opening he was to gay wrestlers, how much he wanted to be leader for all, helping them when ever he can, no matter who, that me showed, Jay Briscoe truly changed, and Jay Briscoe is a wonderful man.

                 At the end of the day, Jay Briscoe, is an icon in wrestling, an icon in indie wrestling, an icon in tag team wrestling, a wonderful family man, a wonderful brother, and just a wonderful man in general. My thoughts and prayers to his brother Mark, his wife, his family, friends, but especially his daughters, who as of this writing is still in the hospital. I truly hope time can heal this painful wound. Thank you Jay, and remember guys, Terry Funk ain’t wear no mouth piece, AND REACH FOR THE SKY BOY!

okay i need to note this down bc

garbage ass google recommended news articles, its always trying to feed me wrestling ones. right? okay. i see one. cary silkin recalls text exchange with nick jackson

what does he recall?

"he says 'yeah im alright' and i havent spoken to him since"

waste my fuckin time

Former ROH Owner Cary Silkin Recalls His One Request Of AEW After Jay Briscoe's Death

Read More Wrestling Inc.  By /Nov. 10, 2023 10:00 pm EST Having been associated with Ring of Honor for almost as long as the promotion’s existence, Cary Silkin was always around The Briscoes, watching Jay and Mark Briscoe go from teenage upstarts to one of the greatest tag teams in history. When Jay tragically passed away earlier this year in a car accident, Silkin felt it was only right to…

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leave cary silkin alone !!!!!

@rohcary: What a wonderful reunion! @MadKing1981

ROH World Television Champion Minoru Suzuki w/ Cary Silkin

Highlights from AEW Dynamite last night, Kylie Rae celebrates 90 days of sobriety, Cary Silkin claims some AEW wrestlers are worried about their spot.

Cary Silkin and Ian Riccaboni share and facilitate memories of the late great Larry Sweeney.

Timestamps: 00:01 – Welcome Intro by AJ 00:26 – Message from Mike Johnson of Pro Wrestling Insider 01:42 – Hello Ian, Hello Cary 04:52 – This is a unique episode 07:30 – Larry Sweeney 08:10 – Bryce Remsburg remembers Larry Sweeney 12:30 – When did Cary meet Larry? 13:55 – Mike Quackenbush remembers Larry Sweeney 16:15 – Colt Cabana remembers Larry Sweeney 18:13 – December 23, 2006 - Edison, NJ – Final Battle 2006 28:02 – Bringing Larry in as a manager 30:03 – Eddie Edwards remembers Larry Sweeney 36:30 – So the plan was, we’re going to Amsterdam 41:30 – Joel Allen of SPLX remembers Larry Sweeney 45:45 – 13 hour flight 50:50 – Bobby Cruise remembers Larry Sweeney 58:10 – Jigsaw remembers Larry Sweeney 1:03:35 – Seth Rollins remembers Larry Sweeney 1:07:20 – Concerns about Larry begin 1:13:10 – Adam Pearce remembers Larry Sweeney 1:17:38 – Larry goes missing 1:26:30 – Cary visits Larry in 2010, Larry forgets his meds 1:36:23 – Cary receives the news that Larry was gone 1:38:50 – He should be here with us 1:41:00 – Jimmy Jacobs remembers Larry Sweeney 

CREDITS:

Cary Silkin on Twitter - @rohcary Cary Silkin on Facebook Ian Riccaboni on Twitter - @ianriccaboni Ian Riccaboni on Facebook AJ @ Bisson Creative (web, design, photo, audio & video): Bisson Creative& Facebook, Instagram Eric Nordrum (copy writer, moral support & high-fives): Twitter - @ericlikesfood

Why Cary Silkin Isn't Sure About AEW Boss Tony Khan's ROH

Read More Wrestling Inc.  By /Nov. 8, 2023 1:54 pm EST As much as any wrestler, Cary Silkin is synonymous with Ring of Honor. He owned and operated the promotion from 2004 to 2011, and then continued on as an ambassador until ROH was acquired by Tony Khan in 2022. As such, Silkin is understandably very protective of the promotion and its future, even if he is no longer involved on a regular…

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Buying Ring of Honor was probably a no-brainer for Tony Khan. The tape library will pay for itself. Owning the brand name and IP will be convenient when marketing that content. The rest of the company may not work out for TK, but it probably came cheap with everything else.

"The rest of the company" isn't much at this point. ROH already released most of its contracted wrestlers, and was planning to drop the rest by the end of March. The infrastructure for touring and producing shows has been in deep freeze since December, and I would guess that a lot of it has been dismantled during the hiatus. There isn't anything of a value left, except stuff Tony already has in AEW.

The serious pundits generally expected ROH to be purchased for its archives and quietly shut down. Which makes Tony's announcement surprising to me, since he sure sounded like he plans to keep ROH alive in some form. Fans will be grateful, of course. But "thanks for keeping Honor alive" won't keep the lights on--if it could, Cary Silkin wouldn't have sold to Sinclair in 2011.

Dave Meltzer's argument is that it makes no sense for Khan to promote a show under the ROH banner that would draw more money under the AEW banner. Dave tends to look beyond sentiment to get at maximizing what works and minimizing what doesn't. But TK was a tape-trading message board smark back in ROH's heyday, and his plans for ROH are evidently inseparable from his sentiment. For better or worse, he's prepared to burn money on this, at least for a while.

My guess is that Tony will start small with this. A few indy-show-sized ROH events, with mostly freelance talent. A strategic use of AEW names would move tickets without going over budget. I wouldn't count on Bryan Danielson being on every show, but they could maybe use him to fill the Hammerstein Ballroom once in a while. Eventually, maybe they can build some of that "NXT is better than WWE" buzz. The goals should be modest--they're not going to land a TV deal, or sell out Madison Square Garden again. If they can at least reclaim the underground cred that ROH used to have, I'd call that a success.