I’ve had the privilege for over the past four and a half years to write for, in my opinion, the best wrestling website going in World Wrestling Insanity. And during a majority of that time I’ve created one of the most reliable resources of Ring of Honor wrestling news in “The ROHbot Report”. Here is the first opinion piece I wrote for the debut “Report” about the crossroads Jay Briscoe was at during the spring of 2008.
And that brings me to one man. This man is the reason we’re going to witness this tournament. And that man is Jay Briscoe. Jay decided, with his brother’s wrist injury/surgery, to team with Austin Aries to defend the gold against The Age Of The Fall in ROH’s Hammerstein Ballroom debut. After the match, Jay told Mark, who got involved in the wild brawl, that he couldn’t defend the belts without him. Jay laid the belts on the floor, walking out with his brother. So what’s Jay to do now that he’s not going after the Tag Team title? Mark is out for the summer, and maybe the fall. And we’ve seen that Jay isn’t too successful when it comes to World title matches.
Very rarely has Jay looked to have a chance in any World title match he’s competed in, outside of the one with Samoa Joe in 2003. So, no tag team partner worth of Jay’s attention outside of his brother, and singles aspirations are pretty much null. And seemingly his feud with Jimmy Jacobs is done until Mark comes back. What’s a Briscoe to do? I think the ending of the 5/22 Videowire was the perfect answer to do. Jay needs to leave.
Now, before you start sending the hate mail, hear me out. Even though the crowd gives The Briscoes some of the biggest ovations in ROH history upon any entrance, there’s been a growing hatred for the brothers from Delaware. From their dominance of the Tag division to their unique, often called no psychology, style, a certain group of fans have been leading the charge against The Briscoes. It’s similar to the backlash Nigel McGuinness suffered after winning the ROH World title. It started off pretty low key, but blossomed into a monster after a couple of months.
What better way than to give those fans what they want than to take Jay off the cards? We know he’s more motivated when he’s fighting with, or against, his brother than fighting by himself. Now, I understand from a financial stance that it wouldn’t be smart for Jay just to give up bookings for, quite possibly, his most lucrative shows, but maybe it’s time for Jay to take a step back. Give himself a little bit of rest from the ever-changing scope of the ROH fan base, while building up the inevitable return of The Briscoes. Like any star, The Briscoes have been running through ROH for over two years since their return at the Fourth Anniversary Show, and they’ve done everything in tag team competition while becoming the last of the true Ring Of Honor original greats. I think Jay needs to do the same thing the wrestlers of the territorial days did: leave from his home area for a good period of time to come back fresh in the eyes of the fans. I don’t know a better team than a fresh Briscoes. Mark’s injury could be a blessing in disguise if they can use it to return like never before.
