Mark Briscoe says he considered quitting wrestling after brother’s death
Mark Briscoe says he briefly considered no longer wrestling after his brother Jay’s passing.
Briscoe defeated Kyle Fletcher to win the TNT Championship on Saturday night at AEW Full Gear. During the post-event press conference, Briscoe reflected on his wrestling journey since losing Jay close to three years ago.
Briscoe said:
“It’s amazing. I never necessarily thought that a night like tonight would happen. I’m a tag team wrestler, I’ve always been a tag team wrestler. So, it’s been three years now that I’ve put that behind me.”
“It’s really amazing. Want to thank Tony, want thank my family, thank God, and thank all of ya’ll, all the fans, everyone who supports it. I can’t really quite find the words, but it feels pretty good.”
He later said:
“When my brother passed, the first thing that popped in my head was I’m never going to be able to wrestle again. I don’t ever want to wrestle again. And it was a very short amount of time and I was like, ‘What are you talking about? No, that’s not how we do this. We’re not quitting, we aint quitters.’ And of course I didn’t. I felt him. He was like keep on keeping on brother, make us proud. And tonight is quite a validation. I just appreciate y’all so much.”
On this year’s ballot for the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame, Mark and Jay Briscoe received 48 percent of the 60 needed for induction. That was up from the 37 percent of the vote they received last year. The Briscoes were voted Tag Team of the Year in 2007 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards, and their rivalry with FTR in 2019 won Feud of the Year.
Briscoe became the 18th wrestler to win the TNT title at Full Gear. His win over Fletcher marks the 29th time the title has changed hands.
Mark Briscoe’s full appearance at the AEW Full Gear post-event media event is available below:
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.