Jamin Pugh, better known to the professional wrestling world as Jay Briscoe, is dead at age 38. Briscoe was a key member of the Ring of Honor roster since the company’s first-ever show in 2002. Briscoe achieved incredible success in ROH, winning theROH World Championshiptwice, the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship once, and the ROH World Tag Team Championship a record-breaking 13 times with his brother Mark Briscoe.After AEW president Tony Khan purchased Ring of Honor in March 2022, Jay and Mark continued to be mainstays in the promotion. Most recently, The Briscoes found themselves in a critically-acclaimed feud againstAEW tag team FTRthat culminated in a Double Dog Collar Match at Final Battle 2022. The Briscoes won the match via referee stoppage to win back the ROH World Tag Team Championship.On January 17, Jay Briscoe was involved in a fatal car accident in Laurel, Delaware. Briscoe and the driver of another vehicle, who has yet to be unidentified, died as a result of their injuries. Briscoe’s death was announced to the world byRing of Honor owner Tony Khan, who promised that he do whatever he could to support Pugh’s family.
Pugh and the other driver were not the only ones injured in the crash. As revealed by Pugh’s wife Ashley on Facebook, their daughter Gracie needed surgery on her back following the accident. Their daughter Jayleigh also suffered “some pretty serious injuries,” but is “stable and resting.” Ashley asked for prayers for her children and family. “Jamin would want the whole world praying for his little girl.”
Numerous wrestlers and wrestling personalities have offered their condolences in the wake of this tragedy, praising Jay Briscoe as one of the best wrestlers in the business. Despite having never wrestled for WWE on TV, Briscoe’s passing was acknowledged on the latest episode of NXT, withWWE chief content officer Triple Hdescribing Briscoe as “an incredible performer” in a statement on Twitter.
