Jay Lethal Discusses How Jay Briscoe AEW Tribute Match Came About

After Jay Briscoe's tragic death on January 17, AEW quickly put together a Ring of Honor tribute show the next night that was taped after "AEW Dynamite" to air on Honor Club and YouTube. The following week though, AEW was able to put together a proper tribute match on "AEW Dynamite" as Jay's brother, Mark Briscoe, took on Jay Lethal. On a new episode of "Talk Is Jericho," Lethal revealed the conversations that led to the tribute match coming together.

"The true story is I questioned one of Mark Briscoe's friends, Jeff Jones, and I said, 'Hey, I haven't really talked to Mark because every time I talk to him, he's super strong and not really showing emotions. Do you think this is going to be it for Mark?'" The response he received stunned Lethal. "'Not only would he love to wrestle, but he'd love to try and get on this Wednesday,'" he added. "I said, 'Wait, what? Hold on, let me call you back.' So then I call Sonjay [Dutt] and I'm like, 'Hey, if there's any chance of Mark even being there, can I please, please do something with him?' He goes, 'Well, let me ask.' He texted me: 'I think it's a possibility.'"

Lethal then heard that Mark Briscoe had also requested to work with him on "Dynamite," which he thought was "insane." He described the tribute bout as a match unlike any he had had before and explained how nervous he was going into it. Lethal and Mark Briscoe were able to wrestle in the "Dynamite" main event on January 25, which would have been Jay Briscoe's 39th birthday. Mark emerged victorious before celebrating on the stage with members of both the AEW and ROH rosters.