Mark Briscoe has talked in depth about the “whirlwind” between his brother’s passing and the tribute match to Jay on AEW Dynamite.
Mark was the guest on this past week’s episode of the AEW Unrestricted podcast.
Speaking to Aubrey Edwards and Will Washington, he opened up about the passing of his brother:
It was the day before my birthday. It was January 17th, and my birthday is the 18th. That was the day that my brother passed, and I saw him earlier that day, and he was just being a goofball. He’s like, “You ready for your big day tomorrow?” And then, a couple hours later, I’m getting a phone call. I’m like, “What’s happening?” You know what I mean?
Briscoe described the next few days as a “whirlwind,” adding:
I talked to Tony [Khan]. Tony texted me, he said, “Hey man, can I give you a call?” And I was like, “Hey,” and he called me. And then between, I can’t remember exactly how it was brought up ’cause like I said, everything was such a whirlwind at the time. But of course, I’m talking to Lethal ’cause he’s one of my best friends; I talk to him all the time anyway.
But then the idea of that match had come up, and Tony was all for it. He was 100% like, “If you want to do it, then let’s do it.” And I was like, “Shit, yeah. Damn right.”
He admitted, though, that in the immediate period after his brother’s passing, he had doubts about ever returning to the ring:
You know, when it first happened, I was almost like, “Well, I don’t know if I ever want to wrestle again.” And then as the hours go, it’s almost like, “Shit, Jamin will be pissed if I…” You know what I mean? If I hung up the boots now, he’d be mad as hell.
Mark continued by saying that he felt the timing of the tribute match, on January 25th, was meant to be, and saw God’s hand in how things came together:
The way that the next week’s Dynamite was on Jamin’s birthday, to me, it’s like, OK, that’s a little more than a coincidence. It’s just like God’s time. And then for me and Jay Lethal to be able to get that main event match, it was just — it was strangely comforting. It brought me a lot of comfort, as in everything’s gonna be all right.
He also described how he was dealing with his brother’s loss several months on:
Keep on keeping on and carry him. Jay’s with you, like, your brother’s with you. Y’all been on this journey all these years. And that’s not changing.
You ain’t by yourself now. It’s just now I’m representing him in the physical and he’s still with us in the spiritual. You know what I mean?
I just got that overwhelming peace and the comfort and, “Hey, carry on, keep on keeping on. Don’t let this be something that brings you down. Use this almost as a springboard to even take the journey higher, take the journey further. Keep grinding. Do what Jay wants you to do and keep on keeping on.”
