Jamin Pugh, better known to wrestling fans as Jay Briscoe, tragically died aged 38 last week. Pugh, along with his brother Mark, has become one of the most identifiable and impactful wrestling teams of the 21st century, The Briscoes.
After Pugh’s death, however, controversy grew. All Elite Wrestling planned to organize a show in homage to Briscoe to dynamite, the professional wrestling company’s flagship show. But according to Dave Meltzer, WBD blocked the idea of the tribute show.
Meltzer, on his Live Wrestling Observer show, said (via Inside the Ropes) “There was a graphic at the beginning of the show (Dynamite) and at the very end of the show there was a mention of Excalibur. Lots of guys had armbands, lots of them, but there wasn’t a big tribute because they weren’t cleared by WarnerMedia (Warner Bros. Discovery) to do one.
A Pugh tribute show was held after Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite taping. AEW President Tony Khan has announced that the show will be available through the Ring of Honor streaming service Honor Club and the ROH YouTube page.
Free for everyone means free, it will be free (not behind a paywall) on Honor Club, + we will also post the tribute show in its entirety on ROH YouTube, also free for everyone, because tonight this team is will reunite to shoot a special ROH event honoring the late Jay Briscoe
-Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) January 19, 2023
A decade ago, Pugh made deplorable homophobic comments that followed him for the rest of his life. Several close to Pugh noted that he had reformed.
It is of course important to note: this is not everyone’s excuse to accept. At least not so concretely. Pugh’s comments were hurtful to the LGBTQ+ community and, ultimately, these are the voices everyone needs to listen to. WBD reportedly did not want the Briscoes to feature in its lineup because of these comments. WBD is certainly within its rights to withhold anyone it doesn’t want on its networks for its own reasons.
But several problems still remain. Speaking to a few in the wrestling world, these issues seemed obvious to them as well.
“I was disappointed to learn that a tribute show honoring Jay Briscoe had been turned down,” said Gregory Hyde. Hyde, better known to his fans as “Stat Guy Greg”, resides on ESPN Cheap heat podcast series. “In wrestling,” Hyde continued, “there are certain age-old traditions and a tribute show is standard. Regardless of his past comments, his death was a tragedy and he deserved a proper send-off as someone clearly respected in the world. industry.
“Honestly, I thought as a result of this tragedy, that stance would soften,” said Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com. Sapp, editor of Fightful and operator of the Fighting selection subscription service, reported last year that WBD “didn’t want the Briscoes to air on its programming.” But before the idea was dismissed, Sapp thought they would soften their stance, “especially given the outpouring of support he and the family have received.”
Sapp also mentioned that he “officially asked WBD if the rumors that they were rejecting ‘more’ were true,” but said he didn’t get an answer.
It is important to return to Pugh’s contrition. Despite allegedly righting wrongs and attempting to change, WBD has always blocked the Briscoes from any appearances. But Dana Whitethem cfu President, was captured on video putting his hands on his wife. Despite this, WBD proceeded to power stroke, a slap-fight league led by White. Apparently, they didn’t decrease its coverage despite bombing in the ratings. These hypocrisies have not gone unnoticed.
“There is an incredible amount of hypocrisy!” Sap said. “I was pleasantly surprised that Power Slap didn’t work out well because it’s a dumb idea to begin with. Beyond that, the effective mascot of this one was filmed slapping his own wife upside down. weeks ago Given the heartfelt apologies and explanations that Jay Briscoe had made a few years earlier of how things were handled with and by Dana White, I couldn’t believe it.
Sapp added that he thinks the show will be canceled, but WBD will have “an egg on its face and come out doubly bad.”
Hyde agreed that there were hypocrisies in the way situations were handled. “Dana White’s Power Slap shouldn’t air,” Hyde said. “Especially after the incident involving his wife on New Years Eve. I think it’s hypocritical of WBD to cancel a Jay Briscoe tribute show while promoting the show as Dana White continues to suffer no consequences for his actions.
It doesn’t stop there with The Briscoes or Dana White. Professional wrestling writer Bill Hanstock chastised WBD for its hypocritical practices, both in and out of the wrestling world.
“Jay has expressed continued regret and contrition for many years over his past comments,” Hanstock said. “You only have to do a U-turn around the LGBT struggle on Twitter to see that anyone who has worked with him over the past few years will attest that he has worked to become a better person and a better ally. He Too bad WBD chose to ignore this while continuing to receive sponsorship money from companies like Chick-Fil-A, whose owner helps fund anti-gay and anti-trans legislation, and broadcasts Dana White’s mighty slap with Dana White front and center, after him and his wife banging each other on camera.
These issues, as implicated by Hanstock, involve several wrestlers already under contract to the company who have their own insidious marks. He continued on these points.
“And any other number of issues, including being okay with AEW hiring wrestlers who have been credibly accused of sexual harassment. Just some semblance of consistency would make this Briscoe situation a little less insulting to Jamin Pugh’s fans, wrestlers and family,” Hanstock said.
There are public allegations of such misconduct by the wrestling community, including Darby Allin, who often features prominently and is a multiple-time champion. And Deadly Jaybrought from Ring of Honor, was placed on TV without such a turnaround.
AEW’s decision not to go against the grain is something of a compromise. But it’s also much more of an indication that they’ll have to keep doing as WBD says. The company is expected to strike a new TV rights deal soon amid constant changes at WBD. And right now, getting a smart and satisfying deal done is a top priority.
“If WBD is giving something a firm no, it’s just the cost of doing business that AEW will have to acquiesce,” Hanstock said.
“I think as AEW proves its worth and willingness to work with WBD, the latter should trust AEW’s judgment in certain circumstances,” Sapp suggested. However, as Sapp noted, the company had a few infamous mistakes “where AEW got away with more slack than expected — particularly the Nick Gage pizza-cutter spot.” Gauge used a pizza cutter during a match on Dynamite during a picture-in-picture commercial for Domino’s, which was pushed back by advertisers.
Hyde was a little less optimistic. “In the short time they’ve been there, I don’t think they’ve done enough to increase their value,” Hyde said. “And WBD has been so ruthless over the past few months that it really feels like bending over backwards to appease WBD bosses won’t do anything to keep AEW safe.”
Overall, WBD remains well within its rights to greenlight or withhold its entities as they wish. AEW’s decision not to bite the hand that feeds them is probably the right decision. But for WBD, it’s yet another reminder that hypocrisies and selective punishments still linger everywhere.