Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter
As we have already noted, Jay and Mark Briscoe have signed brand new deals with Ring of Honor and will not be headed to the WWE Performance Center in Florida this summer. WWE did in fact make them an offer, which the Briscoes took back to ROH officials and ROH offered them more. When they took it back to Canyon Ceman over at WWE, they were told the company wouldn’t go any higher in their negotiations, which essentially made the decision for them.
Jay (31) and Mark (30) have been with Ring of Honor since the very beginning of the promotion, winning tag team gold a record eight times – with Jimmy Jacobs now in WWE, there is nobody even remotely close to beating that record. Jay is the current reigning ROH World Champion, and one of only two men (the other being Austin Aries) to win the belt twice.
Several years ago prior to the brothers settling down with families and taking over the family chicken farm, it would have been feasible to take a chance on WWE developmental, hopefully break onto the main roster and hit it big. There’s obviously a lot of money to be made there if the company sees a lot of star potential in you. The two also operate a landscaping business on the side, and have been discussing the opening of a wrestling school. Taking a deal with WWE would effectively end all their side endeavors, which will be a great fall back when full-time pro wrestling is no longer an option for one or both, whatever the reason may be. It’s just not a great investment at this time in their lives, to take a chance on WWE, when the company doesn’t see enough potential to match or beat a second offer from Ring of Honor.
