Jay Briscoe
Jamin Dale Pugh, known by his ring name Jay Briscoe, was an American professional wrestler. He was known for his time with his brother Mark Briscoe as the Briscoe Brothers in Ring of Honor, where he was a two-time ROH World Champion, ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion, and record 13-time ROH World Tag Team Champion. Other championships held by Briscoe over his career include the Impact World Tag Team Championship and IWGP Tag Team Championship. He was inducted into the ROH Hall of Fame in 2022.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (2000–2001)
Jay Briscoe was trained to wrestle by Eddie Valentine, Glen Osbourne, and Jim Kettner. He debuted on May 20, 2000, at the age of 16. Throughout 2000, he and his brother Mark wrestled a handful of tag team matches for the Delaware-based East Coast Wrestling Association. In January 2001, they appeared with Maryland Championship Wrestling.Combat Zone Wrestling (2001–2003, 2010–2012)
The Briscoe Brothers made their debuts for Combat Zone Wrestling at Delaware Invasion on January 20, 2001, being brought in to job, teaming with independent wrestler Eddie Valentine, as part of a three-on-one handicap match against Trent Acid. At the inaugural Best of the Best event, a show somewhat atypical of CZW in that it is a tournament spotlighting athletic junior heavyweight wrestling as opposed to violent hardcore matches, the two advanced past the first round in a three-way match with Nick Mondo where the stipulation was whoever took the fall would be eliminated. They were then matched against each other in the second round, with Jay winning and advancing further. This match was seen by fans as the best of the tournament, and seen in retrospect as having been responsible in large part for helping launch the brothers' careers, as they were new to the independent circuit and very young at the time.After losing in title opportunities at Breakaway Brawl and A New Beginning, the brothers won the CZW Tag Team Championship on July 14, 2001, as they defeated the original H8 Club at H8 Club: Dead?. They lost it, however, in their first defense, to Johnny Kashmere and Justice Pain on July 28, 2001, at What About Lobo? Mark wasn't used for several months after that, but Jay continued on as a singles wrestler in that time, even facing Justice Pain for the CZW Heavyweight Championship at September Slam on September 8, which he lost.
At the end of 2001 and into 2002, CZW's territory was shifting from Sewell, New Jersey, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in order to hold events regularly at the old ECW arena, beginning with December 15's Cage of Death 3. At this event, they faced Nick Gage and Nate Hatred, but wore masks and were identified as The Midnight Outlaws. This was likely to get around the fact that Jay was only 17 and Mark only 16 at the time; this meant, as they were under 18 years of age, that they could not legally work in a sport wrestling exhibition in the state of Pennsylvania. As CZW regularly began holding shows in the Philadelphia area, the Midnight Outlaws made appearances at the next four CZW events. At A Higher Level of Pain on April 13, 2002, Jay appeared across the ring from the Midnight Outlaws, tagging with Ruckus against Mark and someone else. By this time, he had turned 18. Jay and Ruckus won the match, and this was the last time either Jay or Mark appeared for CZW until April 12, 2003, where Jay and Mark both returned for Best of the Best 3. Jay was a surprise entrant after being taunted by A.J. Styles, and Mark filling in for the injured Ruckus. Jay advanced to the semi-finals, where he lost to B-Boy, and Mark lost his fill-in match to Sonjay Dutt. The two faced off with the Backseat Boyz for the CZW World Tag Team Championship at Truth or Consequences on June 14, but failed to win the belts.
On December 11, 2010, at Cage of Death XII, the Briscoe Brothers Returned to CZW challenging newly crowned CZW World Tag Team Champions Philly's Most Wanted of Blk Jeez and Joker to a title match in January. On January 7, 2011, at "From Small Beginnings Come Great Things" Philly's Most Wanted retained the CZW World Tag Team Championships against the Briscoe Brothers in a no contest. The Briscoe Brothers then challenged Philly's Most Wanted to a no disqualification rematch. On February 12, 2011, at "Twelve: The Twelfth Anniversary Event" The Briscoe Brothers defeated Philly's Most Wanted to become the new CZW World Tag Team Champions. They lost the title back to Philly's Most Wanted on May 14, 2011. The Briscoe Brothers returned to CZW again on November 10, 2012, facing Dave and Jake Crist in a losing effort.
Jersey All Pro Wrestling (2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008)
Jay Briscoe made his Jersey All Pro Wrestling debut on March 24, 2001, at March Madness Night 2, losing to Insane Dragon and Dixie teaming with his brother Mark Briscoe. It is unclear how, if at all, JAPW's ownership and management worked around Pennsylvania's child labor law, as both brothers were underage at the time of this and two subsequent appearances in the old ECW arena. They made three other appearances in JAPW in 2001, and unsuccessful challenge for Dragon and Dixie's JAPW Tag Team Championship on June 15 at Here to Stay.Jay Briscoe made his return to JAPW in 2002. On July 13, 2002, at Unfinished Business, Jay Briscoe and Insane Dragon won the JAPW Tag Team Championship after scoring simultaneous pinfalls on the members of Da Hit Squad. The six men went on to meet in a rematch of sorts at the next event, Royal Consequences 2 on August 10, 2002, Jay and Insane Dragon defended the titles against Da Hit Squad and the team of Mark Briscoe and Deranged in a tables, ladders, and chairs match, which Da Hit Squad won. Two shows later, on September 20 at Family Crisis 2, Da Hit Squad retained the title over the Briscoe Brothers in a regular match.
The Briscoe Brothers did not appear for JAPW again until late 2005, again in a tables, ladders, and chairs match for the tag team title, this time against the teams of Teddy Hart and Homicide, the Backseat Boyz, and The S.A.T. The match, which took place at JAPW's 8th Year Anniversary Show, was won Hart and Homicide. At the next show, Fall Out, the S.A.T. defeated them and thus became number one contenders to the tag team championship. More recent JAPW appearances came in early 2006, losing along with the Outcast Killers to the S.A.T. once again at Wild Card II in a tag team title match, and then at Brotherly Love to the team of Sabu and Sonjay Dutt, a match they also lost. In October 2008, the Briscoe Brothers competed at JAPW's 11th Anniversary Show against LAX. During a brawl outside the ring, Mark suffered a large gash on the side of his head.
Ring of Honor (2002–2023)
Early appearances (2002–2004)
In February 2002, Briscoe wrestled on Ring of Honor's first-ever show, The Era of Honor Begins, losing to Amazing Red. Mark seconded him to the ring but could not wrestle because of Pennsylvania's child labor law. Jay wrestled each of ROH's next four shows, against Spanky, Tony Mamaluke, Doug Williams, and James Maritato, losing to all but Mamaluke. At Honor Invades Boston, when Mark was able to perform, he defeated his brother, in the second-to-last match of the night. The Brothers went on briefly to feud against each other, during which time Jay scored a non-title win over ROH Champion Xavier at Glory By Honor. This earned him a title shot at All-Star Extravaganza, where he lost. At Scramble Madness, back in Boston, the brothers' storyline involved them picking their own partners for a tag team match. Jay picked past foe Amazing Red, whereas Mark's partner was Christopher Daniels, as he seemingly joined The Prophecy. Daniels pinned Red to win the match. The Brothers' feud against one another concluded at the First Anniversary Show, when Jay defeated Mark in a match, and the two hugged afterward to signify their reunion. Mark never explicitly left the Prophecy, but in forming a team with his brother, he stopped teaming with them.Newly united as a team in ROH, the Briscoe Brothers began, in 2003, to feud with AJ Styles and Amazing Red, then holders of the ROH Tag Team Championship, losing in title matches at Night of Champions, The Epic Encounter, and Death Before Dishonor, which by stipulation was their last match for the title for as long as Styles and Red held it. Before the last match, a poll was held on ROH's website, asking the fans if they wanted to see a third match between the two teams. Over 80% of respondents voted 'yes'. At Beating the Odds, they returned from a brief absence to score a pair of wins which were depicted in the storyline as being improbable, Mark over ROH veteran B. J. Whitmer and Jay in a Four Corner Survival match with ROH World Champion Samoa Joe, NWA World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles, and Chris Sabin, pinning Sabin to earn a future title shot at Joe. At ROH's Maryland debut, Tradition Continues, Joe retained over Jay.
The Brothers took part in the gauntlet match at Glory By Honor 2, which was held to fill the tag team championship left vacant by Red suffering a serious knee injury. They defeated and eliminated the Special K team of Hydro and Angeldust as well as the Ring Crew Express, before being eliminated by the other Special K team in the match, Izzy and Dixie, due to outside interference from Angeldust. After Izzy and Dixie later won the tag team title, the Brothers were granted a shot at it, at Main Event Spectacles. The reason given in the storyline was they were given the shot since they only lost in the gauntlet match because Special K cheated. In the opening segment of that event, they were aligned with Jim Cornette, because, in the storyline, Cornette wanted to create new champions. They attacked his former client, Samoa Joe, who Cornette abandoned since he already was a champion. They went on to win the belts later in the show. At The Conclusion, The Battle Lines Are Drawn, and The Last Stand, which was by stipulation Joe's last shot at the tag team title for as long as the Briscoe Brothers held it, they retained the belts over Joe and a different partner each time: AJ Styles, Bryan Danielson, and Jerry Lynn, respectively. Since Joe took pinfalls at The Conclusion and The Last Stand, both brothers subsequently earned shots at his world title. Both failed, with Mark losing at Final Battle 2003 and Jay being defeated at At Our Best in a memorable and bloody steel cage match.
They dropped the tag team title to the Second City Saints at ROH's Chicago-area debut, ROH Reborn: Stage Two, working in ROH for the first time as outward heels. At the next show, Round Robin Challenge III, the title switched three times among the teams in the round robin challenge: the Second City Saints, the Briscoe Brothers, and the Prophecy team of Dan Maff and B. J. Whitmer. The Briscoe Brothers defeated Maff and Whitmer in the fourth match of the night to win the title for a second time, and then lost it back to Punk and Cabana in the main event. The Brothers both participated in ROH's inaugural Survival of the Fittest tournament, with Mark going over Alex Shelley in his qualifier and Jay falling to Homicide. Mark did not, however, win the elimination final. After losing a two out of three falls tag team title match to Punk and Cabana at Death Before Dishonor II Part 1, ending that feud, they lost in separate singles matches to members of the Rottweilers the next night. Between that and their victory in tag team action at Testing the Limit, it is likely that a feud was planned between the Briscoe Brothers and the Rottweilers.