Tony Khan recently appeared as a guest on the Battleground podcast for an in-depth interview covering all things pro wrestling.
During the discussion, the AEW and ROH President spoke about his reaction to the untimely passing of Jay Briscoe, being excited for Mark Briscoe’s match at AEW Dynamite on Wednesday night and more.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On Mark Briscoe vs. Jay Lethal: “It’s going to be a great match to honor a great man. These two men requested this match, Wednesday would be the 39th birthday of the late, great Jay Briscoe. His longtime friend and rival, Jay Lethal, and his brother, Mark Briscoe, wanted to have this match to honor the legacy of Jay Briscoe and I fought hard to make it happen and I’m really excited about the match. I believe it’s going to be a great one and it’s great that they’re going to be able to honor the legacy of somebody that everybody in pro wrestling has so much respect for, the great Jay Briscoe, on his 39th birthday. With everything happening, this is going to be something really great for everybody in the locker room who is rallying around the Briscoe family.”
On how everyone was in shock ahead of last week’s Dynamite due to the news of Jay Briscoe’s passing: “Last week, to be honest, a lot of us were still in shock. We were not 24 hours off finding out that Jamin had passed away. Jay Briscoe is somebody that is beloved in the wrestling business and everybody here really liked him and we’ve gotten to know him, many of us at AEW, a lot better in the last year since I acquired Ring of Honor with the Briscoes being the top tag team in the history of Ring of Honor and now the Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions. The whole thing was a shock to everybody and I think everybody in the locker room immediately tried to rally around Jay’s family, around Mark, and everybody trying to bring good energy together to try and support Jay’s two daughters in their recovery from what was a tragic accident.”
On how Jay’s daughters, who were also in the accident, are recovering: “Thankfully, there has been some positive news about the recovery that Jay’s two daughters are making from the accident. The whole thing has been a shock. Going into this show, we’ll see how everyone has been coping this past week, but I know it’s not going to be easy.”
On how tomorrow’s Dynamite is taking place on Jay’s 39th birthday: “I’ll never forget where I was and it’s one of those things, you’ll never forget where you were when you hear some of these terrible things. Absolutely, I think we were all in shock. It’s at least beautiful that everybody can come together on Wednesday Night Dynamite and honor the life and legacy of Jay Briscoe this week because it’s not only been a week since he was tragically taken away, but it’s also his 39th birthday. It’s a beautiful thing that his brother Mark and his long time friend and rival Jay Lethal can go out there and go one-on-one to celebrate Jay Briscoe on AEW Dynamite.”
Check out the complete Tony Khan interview from the Battleground podcast via the YouTube player embedded below. H/T to Fightful.com for transcribing the above quotes.
