Ring of Honor holds its first, free fan confab at Philly tourney this weekend

WHEN HE'S not pile-driving opponents in the ring, Jay Briscoe chugs whiskey, cusses a lot and cleans up dead chickens around his back yard.

He'll be happy to tell you all about it at #HonorCon, Ring of Honor's first fan convention as part of the local professional wrestling organization's 12th anniversary weekend at the Pennsylvania National Guard Armory.

#HonorCon, a free event that begins at 1 p.m. tomorrow, will feature meet and greets with the wrestlers, autograph signings, an arm-wrestling tournament, a Q&A panel and limited-edition merchandise.

Tonight and tomorrow night, the squared circle will rock as Chris Hero challenges ROH World Champion Adam Cole, Kevin Steen battles Cliff Compton in an unsanctioned Philly street fight and Matt Hardy appears in a grudge match. That's just some of the action fans have come to expect from ROH over the past dozen years.

Briscoe competed at ROH's inaugural, 2002 event, "The Era of Honor Begins," at the Murphy Recreation Center, in South Philadelphia. ROH had formed after another Philly-based wrestling group, Extreme Championship Wrestling, folded the previous year.

Briscoe lost to Amazing Red in the second match on a card that included Eddie Guerrero, Daniel Bryan, Christopher Daniels and many others.

But Briscoe, who hails from and still lives in southern Delaware, where he was born Jamin Pugh, realized that this was the beginning of a wrestling revolution. "Just being in that locker room and looking at all of the talent, I knew this was something special," Briscoe said.

Watching his fellow grapplers blossom and leave ROH for the national spotlight of World Wrestling Entertainment and TNA Wrestling, Briscoe and his tag-team partner (and real-life brother), Mark, weathered talent raids, management shifts and the resignation of company founder Rob Feinstein.

"It's definitely been one hell of a ride," Briscoe said. "I remember the numerous times people would say ROH is a sinking ship, and that kind of talk motivated us to come together. We always overcome and emerge stronger, and now we're on a real good roll."

Currently the hottest free agent in pro wrestling, AJ Styles has returned to ROH after an eight-year absence from the company, whose reputation he helped cement with classics against the Briscoes and Samoa Joe.

Scheduled in matches with Jay Lethal and, for the first time, "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin, Styles plans at this weekend's anniversary shows to pick up right where he left off.

"I worried about being the outsider coming in, but they invited me back with open arms," Styles said. "I hope to help these guys achieve the ultimate goal of getting to prime-time TV."

While the FCC might not welcome the uncensored Briscoe with open arms, the Philly crowd sure will as he defends his version of the ROH World Championship against Mike Bennett tonight.

"Hell, I'm not even sure what to expect from HonorCon," Briscoe said. "But I know that match with Bennett is gonna be a good one, you can believe that."