AEW President Tony Khan reportedly pushed hard for WarnerMedia to allow ROH World Tag Team Champions The Briscoes on AEW Dynamite this week.
Dynamite featured a more significant tribute to the late Jay Briscoe than the week before, along with the AEW debut of Mark Briscoe, who defeated Jay Lethal in the main event. WarnerMedia officials reportedly changed their stance on allowing The Briscoes on AEW programming at the last minute, after nixing a significant tribute to Jay the week before.
Word is that Khan “pushed really hard” for this and got WarnerMedia officials to change their minds. Network officials were reportedly “pretty dead set” against the idea.
AEW’s deal with WarnerMedia reportedly gives the network the right to ban people from the TV shows, and this carried over to additional events as Khan wanted to book The Briscoes for AEW All Out last year, but he couldn’t get that cleared. The Observer notes that Mark and Jay were signed to multi-year six-figure contracts in early 2021, but due to the ban they could only be used on ROH programming.
It’s no secret that WarnerMedia kept The Briscoes off AEW TV due to homophobic comments Jay made almost 10 years ago, which he apologized for numerous times. Word now, via the Wrestling Observer, is that WarnerMedia also didn’t want The Briscoes on AEW TV because of their past use of the Confederate flag on their ring jackets and gear. The brothers stopped wearing the flag a while back.
As of this week, there are no further restrictions on Mark appearing on AEW programming. This week’s Dynamite appearance was not a one-off booking as he is expected back, but there’s no word yet on when he will be used again.
Stay tuned to WrestlingHeadlines.com for more.
Follow Marc on Twitter at @this_is_marc. Send any news, tips or corrections to us by clicking here.
