Jay Briscoe Tribute Wasn’t Confirmed Internally In AEW Before Tuesday

Jay Briscoe’s tragic passing created a void in the world of professional wrestling. The late tag team specialist passed away in car accident last Tuesday. His untimely demise led to an outpouring of support and condolence. WWE went out of their way to publicly acknowledge the incident as well.

Click here for our full coverage of AEW Dynamite from this week.

AEW finally put The Briscoes on national television this past Wednesday night. The promotion aired a beautiful tribute video for Jay Briscoe on the show. Tony Khan brought in Jay’s brother Mark Briscoe to work Dynamite. Mark squared off against Jay Lethal in an extremely emotional main event.

Sean Sapp provided an interesting backstory on the Jay Briscoe tribute from behind Fightful’s paywall. According to the report, the tribute as well as Mark Briscoe’s match wasn’t confirmed internally until Tuesday. Read the complete details below:

The Jay Briscoe tribute went off well, and many things were changed to accommodate it on AEW Dynamite.

Prior to Tuesday, it didn’t look like the tribute or Mark Briscoe’s match was happening, but AEW moved many things around to make it a reality. Ian Riccaboni was booked for the show Tuesday, and flew in just hours before the show.

Darby Allin vs. Buddy Matthews was originally scheduled to main event, and had some time trimmed in order to help make room for the Mark Briscoe vs. Jay Lethal match. We’re told the Gunns/Acclaimed video was also longer, and was trimmed to make some time. One source told us that it was impressive how they were able to provide Mark Briscoe and Jay Lethal as much time as they needed without compromising anything else that was advertised.

Those we spoke to were very happy with the show.

We’re told Kenny Omega wanted to be there, but has been battling visa issues. FTR had already been scheduled to be backstage at the show.

Dalton Castle was at the show and came to sit front row to cheer on Mark Briscoe.

As previously reported, WarnerBros Discovery would not even allow Mark Briscoe on AEW television, even after his brother Jay Briscoe passed away. Then WarnerMedia eventually changed their minds after a lot of convincing from Tony Khan.

Wrestlenomics reported that the January 25, 2023, episode of Wednesday Night Dynamite brought an overnight average of 1 million viewers, with a .32 in the 18 to 49 demographic.

What’s your take on this story? Sound off in the comments!