Matt Taven: Briscoes Match At Final Battle 21 Was Perfect Ending To ROHs Sinclair Era

The goal has not changed — Matt Taven still wants to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship in honor of the late Jay Briscoe.

Matt Taven was asked who he wants to face at Death Before Dishonor* by James Stewart of Stick to Wrestling. Taven said he wanted to win the tag titles because it helps keep Jay Briscoe’s memory alive.

The Kingdom came up short in their attempt to win the titles at Supercard Of Honor. Because of the loss, Taven wants the titles even more now.

“We’ve been saying it for so long. We’ve been having our eyes on the Lucha Bros and those tag team titles. To me, I went into Supercard of Honor with one goal in mind. It was to pay tribute to my friend, Jay Briscoe, the only way I knew how, which was the titles they held for 13 times. I wanted to pull them from the ceiling. I wanted to reach for the sky, and I wanted to bring them home with me.

“It’s been a tough time since Jay’s passed. Little mementos like that, I don’t know if it makes you feel better, but it kind of makes you feel like you’re doing something to keep his memory alive. To me, when we walked away that night without the tag team titles, it’s been eating me alive ever since.”

Reach For The Sky

“Unfortunately, that’s how we keep him alive these days is in our memories, and how we pay tribute to him. That was a big thing with the Reach did the Sky Ladder Match. It was something I clearly wanted to be a part of as soon as it was announced because Jay had done so much for me. Even when Mike came back to Ring of Honor, we reformed this new version of The Kingdom. Us and The Briscoes had some of our favorite matches ever. Final Battle 2021, that’s one of my favorite matches of all time. To me, that match is the perfect ending to the Sinclair era.”

Matt Taven wants to win the titles to honor Jay, but he specifically wants the new design because they feature a side plate of The Briscoes.

“It’s a big hole in my heart for losing Jay. I can hear Jay in the back of my mind like, ‘Come on, man. You gotta keep going.’ That’s the type of person he was. I do my best to continue that kind of mindset and to honor his legacy with everything we do. A part of that is holding the Ring of Honor [World Tag Team Championship].

“There’s a side plate on the Ring of Honor Tag Team Titles of The Briscoes doing the Doomsday Device. This belt behind me is the second version of the tag belts that we won. I love the original ones, but I need that Ring of Honor Tag Team Title just because of the tribute that it has to Jay Briscoe on it. I feel like I won’t be complete without [it], and hopefully this Friday, I can make that come true.”

* At the time of the interview, the tag team title match hadn’t been announced yet.

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