AEW's Mark Briscoe Reveals When He And Brother Jay Fell In Love With Wrestling
It's not too much of a stretch to see the influence of Extreme Championship Wrestling in Mark Briscoe. The AEW star was guest on the "Battleground Podcast," and revealed that while he and his brother enjoyed cheering the likes of Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior as kids, it was discovering Philadelphia's hardcore indie promotion that changed everything for them.
"The first time that we ever took a glimpse at the original ECW ... that's when we fell in love with professional wrestling," Briscoe said. "That's when it was like, 'Alright, we now know what we are destined to do on the planet Earth.' And go out there and get down like these wild dudes in this bingo hall in South Philly, Pennsylvania, man. That's what we've been doing our whole career. That's what we've been focused on: the violence."
Along with his brother Jay, Briscoe began his career in Combat Zone Wrestling, a similarly violent promotion. The Briscoe Brothers would go on to become the most decorated tag team in ROH history, winning gold a record 13 times. Briscoe officially signed with AEW in 2023 while continuing to make appearances for ROH.
Briscoe pulled off an impressive victory against Chris Jericho at WrestleDream with the ROH World Heavyweight Championship on the line. But Jericho, who's continued to taunt Briscoe with mentions of his late brother Jay, provoked him into a rematch on the October 23 episode of "AEW Dynamite" in a Ladder War match, which "The Learning Tree" leader won. On the "Battleground Podcast," Briscoe indicated his rivalry with Jericho is far from over.
"Jericho, you're a wonderful sports entertainer. You also a good professional wrestler. But you can't get down the way that Dem Boys can get down," Briscoe said.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit the "Battleground Podcast" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.