Mark Briscoe Recalls WWE Telling The Briscoes They Were ‘Not Cosmetically Pleasing Enough’

The Briscoes (Mark & Jay Briscoe) are arguably the greatest independent wrestling tag team of all time as they won titles in all the major independent promotions, and never went to a nationally televised promotion like WWE, IMPACT Wrestling during the SpikeTV days, or AEW. 

Despite not signing with WWE, they did have a tryout during the FCW days. 

Speaking to Chris Jericho on Talk Is Jericho, Mark Briscoe looked back on the FCW tryout. 

“When we went down for the WWE tryout at FCW, that’s when one of the trainers or coaches was like, ‘This is what I’m seeing. [Jay], you’re super real cool. [Mark], you’re real crazy. That’s the dynamic you got going here.’ Then, we just naturally, as we progressed, and we were physically not who we were at 18, 19, 20, 21, but mentally and in the mindset aspect, we were well advanced of who we used to be. I used to be so timid. You watch old Briscoe Brothers, I’m so timid and so afraid to cut loose. As soon as I figured it out, ‘Wow, this is way easier than I thought it was.’ You don’t have to do quadruple springboard 450s. Just go out there, make a face, do a little head-wagging. Make some sound effects,” said Mark. 

When asked about not leaving with a contract, Mark recalled, “Before we left, everybody said, ‘They really like you, we think they’re going to bring you guys on.’ I guess it was a week or two after we got home, we were waiting to hear back. John Laurinaitis called and said, ‘We really liked your stuff, but I think we’re going to pass for right now. Let us know if you guys want another try.’ That kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I guess, when he talked to Jay, he said, ‘You know what he told me? He said we’re not cosmetically pleasing enough.’ ‘What? That’s cold man. I’m too ugly. Dagone.'”

Jericho and Mark both said that an appeal of wrestling is that not everyone is so put together. 

“That was our conversation. Like, what the hell. If that’s really how they feel, that’s not what we want to do anyway. If we have to be prim, pretty, and proper and maybe we get a job with WWE, that’s not what we’re looking for,” said Mark. 

Mark made it to AEW in January following the passing of his brother. 

Elsewhere during the interview, Mark discussed making his AEW debut on his brother’s birthday. You can find his full comments by clicking here. 

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