Mark Briscoe reflected on his career with Jay Briscoe when the duo was inducted into the 2024 Indie Wrestling Hall of Fame on Sunday afternoon.
Briscoe went into detail about the final run with Jay, working all around the independent scene in what he referred to as the “guns blazing tour.” Their busy scheduled throughout 2022 ended up being the last run for Jay, who tragically passed away in early 2023.
Mark described how The Briscoes spent numerous years under a contract with ROH that forced them to ask permission to work dates outside of the promotion. He described that time as “bittersweet,” as it allowed them to earn more than before but prevented them from living the independent wrestling lifestyle that they were previously familiar with.
The Briscoes started to work around the independent scene frequently once again in 2022, allowing them to perform “here, there, everywhere,” as he described it. This time included runs in GCW, HOG, NWA, IMPACT Wrestling, and more.
Mark spoke highly in particular about the final two matches they had as a team in this tour. In December 2022, the duo faced FTR’s Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood in a critically acclaimed dog collar match at ROH Final Battle.
“Tony [Khan] bought Ring of Honor, and then we ended up having these matches with FTR,” he said. “The timing of things was crazy, man. The timing of things was crazy. When we had that dog collar match in December 2022 and Jay Briscoe got there with the crimson mask, in all his glory, what God put him on earth to do … To go to that wrestling ring, to bust his a**, to bleed like a wild man, to look like a wild, crazy individual. For that dog collar match to be our swan song, like, what we got to go out on, that was really cool.”
The Briscoes faced FTR three times in 2022. Mark recalls being impressed by them. “Oh shoot,” he remembers thinking. “These boys, I might have heard about them before, but they are pretty good.”
Mark then discussed their last match as a team, which came just a week later. The Briscoes appeared at a House of Glory show, where they dropped their belts to Jay Lyon and Midas Black.
“Our last match, fittingly, we put over the brothers,” he said. “Main event up in HOG, up in House of Glory. But that’s how you do, man. When you’re on your way out you put over the young talent. Give them the rub, give them the swat on the a** and go kill it.”
Mark’s full acceptance speech can be seen in the video below:
