2023 has been a difficult year so far for Mark Briscoe, but the Ring of Honor World Tag Team Champion is now All-Elite.
Last month, Mark’s tag partner and brother Jay Briscoe was killed in a car crash minutes from his home in Laurel, Delaware.
Jay’s daughters, Kayleigh and Grace were both severely injured in the crash, which also killed the driver of the other vehicle.
All-Elite
On this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite, Mark Briscoe defeated Josh Woods, a former ROH Pure Champion in his own right.
After the match, AEW President Tony Khan took to Twitter to confirm that Mark is under contract with AEW.
Lifting the Ban
It was only a few months ago that Briscoe being under contract with AEW seemed impossible.
Due to comments made a decade ago by Jay, both men had been essentially blacklisted from AEW programming by WarnerMedia.
Jay apologized multiple times for his homophobic comments, which he stated were as part of his heel character and not reflective of his personal beliefs.
It has been said that by the time of his passing, Jay’s apology was considered 100% legitimate by the wrestling world, and he had the support of many LGBTQ+ wrestlers in the industry.
Even after Jay’s passing, it was reported that Mark would not be allowed to appear, though Tony Khan “pushed and pushed” to lift the ban.
Briscoe’s one and only other AEW match saw him defeat Jay Lethal on the Jay Briscoe tribute edition of Dynamite on January 25, 2023.
