Jay Briscoe
Jamin "Jay" Pugh (born January 25, 1984) is an American professional wrestler best known by his ring name Jay Briscoe, and is currently working for Impact Wrestling. He has previously worked for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Ring of Honor (ROH). He is a record 12-time ROH World Tag Team Champion with his brother, Mark Briscoe, with whom he also has a reign as IWGP Tag Team Champion in NJPW, as well as being part of three Six-Man Tag Team Championship teams in both ROH and NJPW. As a singles wrestler, Briscoe is also a  two-time ROH World Champion. On 2022, along with his brother they were inducted into the ROH Hall of Fame. Professional wrestling career. Combat Zone Wrestling (2001–2003, 2010–2012). Jay and Mark Briscoe made their debuts for Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) at "Delaware Invasion" on January 20, 2001, being brought in to job 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 did not win. At the end of 2001 and into 2002, CZW's territory (that is, the area at which they held the majority of  their events) 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 were 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 Briscoes 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 Briscoes 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 Briscoes returned to CZW again on November 10, 2012, facing Dave and Jake Crist in a losing effort. Jersey All Pro  Wrestling (2001–2002, 2005). Jay Briscoe made his Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW) 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 successfully retained the title over the Briscoes in a regular match. The Briscoes 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 Briscoes competed at JAPW's 11th Anniversary Show against LAX (Homicide and Hernandez). During a brawl outside the ring, Mark suffered a large gash on the side of his head. Ring of Honor (2002 – present). Debut and Tag Team Champions (2002–2004). The Briscoe Brothers have wrestled most extensively for Ring of Honor. Jay wrestled on  ROH'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 (most of ROH's earliest shows took place in Philadelphia). 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", which he did not win. 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 Briscoes began, in 2003, to feud with A.J. 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 A.J. 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, A.J. Styles, Bryan Danielson, and Jerry Lynn respectively. Since Joe took pinfalls at "The Conclusion" (to Mark) and "The Last Stand" (to Jay), both brothers subsequently earned shots at his world title. Both fell; Mark at "Final Battle 2003" and Jay at "At Our Best" in a memorable and bloody steel cage match. They dropped the tag team title to the CM Punk and Colt Cabana 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 (Punk and Cabana), the Briscoe Brothers, and the Prophecy team of Dan Maff and B.J. Whitmer. The Briscoes 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 Briscoes and the Rottweilers. Return and various feuds (2006–2013). The Briscoe Brothers returned to ROH at the "Fourth Anniversary Show" in 2006, forcibly including themselves in a match that was at first between the teams of  Tony Mamaluke, Sal Rinauro, Jason Blade and Kid Mikaze. They won in their re-debut. They then feuded for the tag team championship again, but much as they had against Styles and Red three years earlier, they lost in three shots against the champions at the time, Austin Aries and Roderick Strong, at "Ring of Homicide", "Destiny", and "Unified". As before, the storyline was that this cost them any chance at the belts for as long as those champs held them. It was around this time that the Brothers became enforcers for Jim Cornette's heel character as ROH Commissioner , fighting battles against his enemies, most notably Homicide and his partner Samoa Joe at "Glory By Honor V: Night Two" and in anything goes, falls count anywhere, elimination match at "Dethroned". During this time, they also feuded with Kenta and his partners Davey Richards and Naomichi Marufuji, facing Kenta and Richards at "Time to Man Up" and Kenta and Marufuji at "Glory By Honor V: Night One". At "Fifth Year Festival: Chicago", the Brothers finally reached the top of the mountain again, defeating Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal to win the tag team championship. Their reign, however, proved to be  brief, as they in turn to dropped the belts to Naruki Doi and Shingo Takagi in their first defense, at "Fifth Year Festival: Liverpool". After this match, the storyline was that the brothers felt they needed to "man up" due to losing the title in their first defense, just as they had the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship earlier in the year. Thus, the two faced off what was described as "one time only" at "Fifth Year Festival: Finale". The match ended in a draw, with both of them unable to answer the referee's standing ten-count. At  the next event, "All Star Extravaganza III", they won the title back from Doi and Shingo, but in the course of the match Mark was seriously injured attempting a Shooting Star Press to the floor. Mark was kept in the ICU of hospital for two nights, and suffered a seizure there before eventually being released. Two weeks later, at "Fighting Spirit", Mark made an unadvertised and unannounced return, entering through the crowd to come to his brother's side during his match with Erick Stevens against Kevin Steen and El Generico. The storyline was that with Mark out and injured , Jay was tagging with Stevens as a replacement. The No Remorse Corps then ran in and attacked Stevens, and Jay was momentarily left without a partner until Mark entered. Mark eventually suffered the fall in the match after several bumps to the head. They then began to feud with Steen and Generico. After successfully retaining the tag title over Claudio Castagnoli and Matt Sydal at ROH's first pay-per-view "Respect is Earned", Steen and Generico showed up and immediately demanded their title shot; the scene followed with a wild brawl all over the building. The feud was followed  on both ROH's standard canon, with Steen defeating Mark at "A Fight at the Roxbury", and the PPV series, with the Brothers successfully retaining the tag team title against Steen and Generico at "Driven", after which Steen repeatedly attacked both brothers with a ladder. The Briscoes then retained over Steen and Generico in a steel cage match at "Caged Rage" and in ROH's first-ever ladder match at "Man Up". After the ladder match, Jimmy Jacobs and the other members of The Age of the Fall attacked the Brothers and hanged Jay upside-down from the apparatus which  held up the belts. It was announced that this would not be included in the footage shown on PPV, although it was soon after shown on ROH's video wire and was included with the DVD of the event. After Mark was again injured in a motorcycle accident, though considerably less serious, Jay was alone in a match held at the taping for ROH's fourth PPV, "Undeniable". This was an anything goes match against Necro Butcher of the Age of the Fall, which he did not win. On November 30, the Briscoes had a match which was taped to  be included in "Undeniable", a tag team title defense against Davey Richards and Rocky Romero, which they won. At "Final Battle 2007", the Briscoes lost the ROH World Tag Team Championship to Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black of The Age of the Fall, but won it back on April 12, 2008, at "Injustice", defeating Richards and Romero, who had since won the championship from Jacobs and Black. On April 20, ROH's official website reported that Mark had sustained a wrist injury due to Jacobs stabbing him with his trademark rail spike and stood to miss up to six months . The next day, the company announced that Jay and a partner of his choosing would continue to be recognized as the tag team champions. This partner was later revealed to be Austin Aries. After their successful defense against Jacobs & Black on May 10 at "A New Level", the championship was declared vacant. Mark returned to active competition at "Northern Navigation" on July 25, teaming with Jay and Aries to defeat The Age of the Fall in a no disqualification match. On December 19, 2009, at Final Battle 2009, the Briscoes won the ROH World Tag Team Championship for a record  sixth time by defeating The American Wolves (Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards). They went on to lose the championship to The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli) at The Big Bang! pay-per-view on April 3. On August 23, 2010, Ring of Honor announced that the company had signed the Briscoe Brothers to contract extensions. The Briscoe Brothers ended their feud with the Kings of Wrestling on December 18 at Final Battle 2010, where they teamed with their father Mike "Papa" Briscoe in a six-man tag team match, where they defeated Hero, Castagnoli and their manager  Shane Hagadorn. On January 25, 2011, Ring of Honor announced that the Briscoe Brothers had signed new contract extensions with the promotion. On March 19 at "Manhattan Mayhem IV", the Briscoe Brothers turned heel after suffering an upset loss against the All Night Xpress (Kenny King and Rhett Titus). On September 17 at Death Before Dishonor IX, the All Night Xpress defeated the Briscoe Brothers in a ladder match to become the number one contenders to the ROH World Tag Team Championship. At Final Battle 2011 on December 23, the Briscoes defeated Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas and  Shelton Benjamin) to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship for the seventh time, turning back to faces in the process. On May 12, 2012, at Border Wars, the Briscoe Brothers lost the title back to Haas and Benjamin. On December 16 at , the Briscoe Brothers defeated S.C.U.M. (Jimmy Jacobs and Steve Corino) and Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander in a three-way match to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship for the eighth time. They lost the title to Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly on March 2, 2013, at the 11th Anniversary Show. ROH World Champion and various  feuds (2013–present). On April 5 at Supercard of Honor VII, Jay Briscoe defeated Kevin Steen to become the ROH World Champion. Briscoe made his first successful title defense on May 4, 2013 at Border Wars 2013 against Adam Cole. On June 22 at Best in the World 2013, Jay successfully defended the ROH World Championship against his brother Mark Briscoe. The following day, Briscoe made another successful title defense against Matt Hardy. During the weekend ROH shot injury angles with both Briscoes. On June 25, it was reported that Jay Briscoe's contracts with ROH had expired and would  not be renewed. On July 3, Ring of Honor stripped Briscoe of the ROH World Championship. while also noting that Jay was slated to be out of action for three to six months. Jay Briscoe returned to ROH on September 20 at Death Before Dishonor XI to hand the title belt to the winner of the tournament, Adam Cole, who proceeded to attack him afterwards. On October 26 at Glory By Honor XII, Briscoe entered a storyline, where he introduced his own ROH World Championship belt titled the "Real World Title", claiming that he was the true champion since he  had never been defeated for the title. Jay received his shot at the ROH World Championship on December 14 at Final Battle 2013, but was defeated by Cole in a three-way match, which also included Michael Elgin. On February 8, 2014, Jay defeated Cole to retain his version of the ROH World Championship. The two world titles were unified in a ladder match on April 4 at Supercard of Honor VIII, where Cole was victorious, following outside interference from Matt Hardy and Michael Bennett. On May 17, the Briscoe Brothers took part in the ROH/New Japan Pro-Wrestling  co-produced War of the Worlds iPPV, where they unsuccessfully challenged Bullet Club (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) for the IWGP Tag Team Championship. On September 6 at All Star Extravaganza 6, Jay Briscoe defeated Michael Elgin to win the ROH World Championship, becoming only the second two-time ROH World Champion. On December 7, at Final Battle 2014, Briscoe successfully retained the ROH World title after defeating Adam Cole in a Fight Without Honor, which would end their year-long feud. On March 1, 2015, at the ROH 13th Anniversary Show, Briscoe successfully retained the ROH World Championship defeating  Tommaso Ciampa, Michael Elgin and Hanson in a four corner survival match. On March 27, 2015, at Supercard of Honor IX, Jay Briscoe defeated Samoa Joe in Joe's return match to Ring of Honor successfully retaining the ROH World Championship. Briscoe would go on to defend the ROH World Championship against Jay Lethal at Best in the World 2015 but was defeated, ending his championship reign at 9 months. On Best in the World '16, Jay failed to regain the ROH World title against Jay Lethal. The two shook hands afterwards. At Field of Honor The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe  and Mark Briscoe) was in a Tag Team Gauntlet match was they were unsuccessfully of winning the ROH World Tag Team Championship which included The Addiction (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian), War Machine (Hanson and Ray Rowe), The All Night Express (Rhett Titus and Kenny King), Chaos (Gedo and Toru Yano), Cheeseburger and Will Ferrara and Leon St. Giovanni and Shaheem Ali. At All Star Extravaganza VIII The Briscoes teamed with Toru Yano and were defeated by Kushida, ACH and Jay White in the first round of the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship Tournament. At Final Battle The  Briscoes unsuccessfully challenged The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) for the ROH World Tag Team Championship. At January 7, 2017, Jay defeated B.J. Whitmer in the first round of the Decade of Excellence. Briscoe defeated Jay Lethal in the second round. Briscoe was defeated by Christopher Daniels in the final round. On March 11, 2017, The Briscoes and Bully Ray defeated The Kingdom to win the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship. They lost the title to Dalton Castle and The Boys on June 23 at Best in the World. On September 22 at Death Before Dishonor  XV, Jay turned on Bully Ray, costing himself, Mark and Ray their match against Hangman Page and The Young Bucks for the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship. On October 20, Mark also turned on Ray, attacking him and Tommy Dreamer with his brother. On March 9, 2018 at ROH 16th Anniversary Show, The Briscoes defeated The Motor City Machine Guns to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship for the ninth time. They lost the title on October 14, 2018 against So Cal Uncensored (Kazarian and Scorpio Sky). On 2022, Jay with his brother Mark were nominated into  the ROH Hall of Fame. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2016–present). Through ROH's working relationship with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), the Briscoes made their NJPW debut on January 4, 2016, at Wrestle Kingdom 10 in Tokyo Dome, where they teamed with Toru Yano to defeat Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga and Yujiro Takahashi) to become the inaugural NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions. Through their affiliation with Yano, the Briscoes also became part of the Chaos stable. The three made their first successful title defense the following day against another Bullet Club trio of Fale , Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson. On February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka, the Briscoes and Yano lost the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship to Fale, Tonga and Takahashi in their second defense. The Briscoes and Yano regained the title three days later at The New Beginning in Niigata. On February 20 at , the Briscoes and Yano lost the title to The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson). The Briscoes returned to NJPW on June 19 at Dominion 6.19 in Osaka-jo Hall, where they defeated Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) to  win the IWGP Tag Team Championship. They made their first successful title defense on August 14 against the Bullet Club team of Hangman Page and Yujiro Takahashi. On September 22 at Destruction in Hiroshima, The Briscoe Brothers defeated reigning IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks for their second successful title defense. On October 10 at King of Pro-Wrestling, they lost the title back to Tonga and Loa. Personal life. In May 2013, Jay caused a controversy on his Twitter account, when he threatened to "fucking shoot" anybody that tries to "teach [his] kids that there's  nothing wrong with [same sex marriage]". He had previously also made other derogatory comments about homosexual people on his Twitter account. Pugh first apologized for the comment on ROH's website and again at a house show on May 11, explaining that the comments were meant to reflect the worldview of Jay Briscoe, 'the redneck character he plays on TV,' and not the views of Jay Pugh, the person behind the character. Pugh also agreed to donate his full pay from the next two shows to the Partners Against Hate (PAH) charitable organization.