The Independent Mid-Card 06.26.07: Briscoe vs. Briscoe (Part IV)

Jay Briscoe vs. Mark Briscoe
Ring of Honor – Fifth Year Festival: Finale – Liverpool, UK – March 4, 2007

The Wrestlers:
Jay & Mark Briscoe – After winning the ROH World Tag Team Titles at ROH Fifth Year Festival: Chicago in February of 2007, the Briscoes seemed poised for an extended run with the belts. Few fans gave the Dragon Gate team of Shingo & Naruki Doi any sort of real chance to upend the new champions in their first defense, leading to one of the most shocking upsets in Ring of Honor history when the titles did indeed change hands on the first of two nights in Liverpool. Jay and Mark, a wreck without their titles, were left to regroup. So Jay proposed that the brothers face off one-on-one the next night in an attempt to toughen each other up for their eventual tag title rematch. Mark agreed and the match was signed: one night only, Jay Briscoe vs. Mark Briscoe.

The Match:
Gimme Back My Bullets hits and the Briscoes come out to the ring together. They’re walking more slowly and methodically than usual and seem kind of subdued on their way to ringside. Mark prays in the corner as usual while Jay rolls into the ring and stretches on the ropes. They are introduced in the ring after the music stops playing which is a nice touch as in-ring introductions are usually reserved for ROH World Title defenses and very special main events. Mark, wearing white trunks, is introduced first at 214 pounds and then Jay, in black trunks, is announced at 216 pounds. As the referee checks both men, the crowd starts up a surprisingly clever “Let’s go Briscoe/Let’s go Briscoe” dueling chant that even manages to amuse Jay enough that he starts chuckling. The two brothers slap hands in the middle of the ring and the ref calls for the bell.

The two brothers circle and lock up. Jay forces Mark back to the corner, but they keep switching momentum around the ropes and continue to bullfight off of the collar-and-elbow tie up. Mark pushes Jay off and the two men circle again. The crowd starts another amusing chant (this time it’s “Fuck ‘em up Briscoe, fuck ‘em up!”) and this time both men actively acknowledge it. Another lockup and Jay armdrags Mark over. Dueling “Let’s go Mark/Let’s go Jay” chants start and the brothers circle for a third time. Another lockup and this time Mark segues into a hammerlock. Jay rolls out and gets a leg trip before grabbing a front facelock on the mat. Mark works his way to his feet and gets a fireman’s carry to take Jay over before grabbing an armbar. They work their way to their feet and Mark transitions into a wristlock, wrenching in on the arm. Jay simply grabs the ropes and Mark is forced to break.

The brothers circle for a bit and then go in for a lockup. Mark gets a takedown on Jay and drops an elbow to his knee. Mark keeps hold with a leglock, forcing Jay to elbow him in the jaw and hit a series of crossface forearms to try to break it. Jay counters into what amounts to a seated Dragon Sleeper, but Mark works back to the leglock. Jay is determined to counter and this time moves into a cross armbreaker that forces Mark to put his feet on the ropes to break. Jay stands up and backs off, but Mark complains a bit before standing up and circling again.

Jay offers a test of strength, switching arms along the way, but when Mark goes to grab his hand, Jay just lights him up with a stiff slap to the face. Mark now wants a test of strength, and this time we get one, with both brothers struggling off of a double knucklelock. Mark gets the best of it early, forcing Jay to his knees, and when Jay works his way to his feet, Mark just kicks off one of the knucklelock and gives his older brother a receipt for the slap. Jay backs off and regroups in the corner for a moment.

They circle once again and then lockup leading to Mark grabbing another wristlock. He wrenches in the hold again, but Jay is able to spin out and counter into a side armdrag. Mark gets a headlock takedown, but Jay gets a headscissors to counter. Mark nips up right out of the headscissors and they go into a leapfrog sequence until Jay gets a single-leg takedown and grabs a leglock of his own. Mark tries to get a break by clawing at his brother’s face, but Jay holds on and Mark is forced to try something else as the referee’s count reaches four. Mark works his way to the ropes and Jay releases the hold.

The brothers move to the center of the ring and lock up once again. Mark grabs a side headlock and tenaciously holds it when Jay tries to whip him off the ropes. They work back to their feet and this time Jay tries to backdrop suplex his way out, but Mark still holds onto the headlock. Jay tries to whip out of the move again, but this time Mark releases and counters into a snapmare takedown before just punting his brother in the back. Mark backs off and Jay gets back to his feet. The fans politely applaud and the Briscoes lock up again. This time Mark takes advantage with a series of forearms, but when he tries to run off the ropes, Jay follows him in and gets a Cactus Clothesline that sends both men over the top and to the floor.

Jay lands on his feet and quickly picks his brother up for a hard chop to the chest. Mark responds in kind and the pair exchange strikes on the floor. They go back-and-forth for a bit until Jay bodyslams Mark on the hardwood floor. Jay picks Mark up off the ground, but the younger brother is able to reverse a whip into the guardrail and Jay goes crashing into the steel. Mark stomps his brother and then reorganizes the guardrails a bit. Mark hits a moonsault off of the guardrail onto the floor in a really cool spot. Mark hits a kick and a forearm shot to Jay before slamming his face into the announce table. Both men get into another stiff strike exchange until Jay just gets fed up and tosses Mark into the guardrail. Jay tosses his brother up onto the entrance ramp and follows him up. They exchange more strikes on the ramp and Mark is able to float over on a bodyslam attempt. Mark then gets a vertical suplex that drops Jay right onto the ramp. Mark pushes Jay down from the ramp and then rolls him back into the ring.

Mark goes for a springboard double axehandle back into the ring, but Jay counters to an inverted atomic drop. He then goes off the ropes looking for a Yakuza Kick, but Mark rolls under it and gets a spinning back kick. Mark then tries to come off the ropes, but Jay takes him down with a hurricanrana. Mark pops right back to his feet and they go into a leapfrog sequence until Mark gets a spinning leg lariat that looked incredibly crisp. Mark takes a moment to pose before hitting a kneedrop and covering for two. Mark grabs an arm-capture figure-four headscissors and the referee checks on Jay. Jay rolls over and gets his foot on the ropes to force the break. Mark gets a gutwrench suplex and comes off the ropes with a jumping kneedrop before hooking the near leg for two.

Mark pushes Jay into the corner and hits a pair of forearms. He then drags his older brother to the next corner, but now Jay’s ready to fight back. The two men exchange forearms until Mark takes control. Mark puts Jay on the top rope and hits a palm strike. Mark goes to the apron and tries for a springboard Ace Crusher, but Jay just chops him in the chest on the springboard and Mark goes crashing to ringside. Jay hops off the top rope, but Mark grabs his legs to put him down in the ring. Mark then pops back up to the apron and comes in with a slingshot double stomp. Mark follows up by running into the corner and hitting a springboard twisting senton off of the second rope and covers for another two count. That was a nice bit of focus on the chest by Mark.

Mark slugs away at Jay, but Jay is able to reverse a cross corner whip. Mark floats over on the blind charge and then counters a clothesline into a Northern Lights Suplex attempt. Jay shifts his weight mid-move, however, and plants Mark with a DDT. That looked amazing. Seriously, Mark literally bounced off the mat on that move. Jay blows snot on his brother and then picks him up for another bodyslam. Jay comes off the ropes with a running legdrop and covers for two. Jay grabs a Japanese stranglehold for a bit before releasing to stomp his brother in the back of the head. Jay follows up with a series of strikes until Mark floats over on a suplex attempt. Jay gets a standing switch and Mark elbows out, but comes off the ropes right into a kitchen sink knee to the midsection from Jay. Jay gets a forearm shot and whips Mark into a leapfrog sequence before planting him with a dropkick for two.

Jay forces Mark to the corner and then whips him cross corner before following him in with a clothesline. Another cross corner whip is reversed and this time Mark follows Jay in with a dropkick and then immediately hits his modified exploder suplex. Mark covers for a two count. Mark goes for another of his modified exploders, but Jay elbows out and goes off the ropes. Mark is able to counter a clothesline attempt, but Jay segues right into a sitout jawbreaker and runs off the ropes before hitting a Yakuza Kick for two. Jay’s upset that that didn’t finish. Jay locks in the Stretch Plum, but Mark works his way to the ropes to force the break. They get into a stiff slap exchange and then switch it up and start stiffing each other with forearms until Jay gets a kick to the midsection and hits a European uppercut. Both men go off the ropes and Mark is able to land a superkick. Mark goes for a running forearm, but Jay is able to backdrop him over the top rope to the apron. Mark gets a forearm strike from there, but when he goes to springboard in, Jay dropkicks him and sends him crashing all the way to the floor. Maybe Mark shouldn’t try to springboard in anymore.

Jay recovers in the ring for a moment before following his brother out with a running no-hands somersault plancha over the top rope. Jay recovers first and rolls Mark back in. Jay then pops right up to the top rope and gets a frog splash from about two-thirds of the way across the ring for two. It seriously looked like there was no way he was going to land the move from there. Jay signals for the Jay Driller, but Mark blocks with a nifty back kick while still in the standing headscissors and then follows up with his series of Kung Fu throat chops. Mark puts Jay on top and follows, looking for a superplex. Jay blocks and dumps Mark down to the apron, but this time Mark is able to hit the springboard Ace Crusher and covers for two. Ok, so maybe Mark can go for more springboards.

Mark picks Jay up and the pair gets into another stiff strike exchange. Mark pushes Jay into the ropes and comes running with a knee strike, but ends up flying over the top rope and landing on the floor. Mark lands on his feet and pops right back up to the apron before springboarding in with a kick to the face. Mark then goes right back out to the apron and hits a springboard twisting splash for two. He seems determined to prove me wrong on that whole springboarding thing. Both men look exhausted as the crowd starts up an “R-O-H” chant.

Mark picks up Jay and puts him on top after a chop to the chest. Mark follows him up after a shot to the jaw, but Jay counters and brings his brother down with a top-rope gordbuster that puts both men down. That looked spectacular. The referee’s count reaches four before Jay gets to his feet. Jay hits a Screwdriver, but Mark grabs the ropes at two to break up the pinfall. Jay takes Mark over with a snapmare and locks in the Stretch Plum again. The referee checks Mark’s arm, but after the second check of the arm Jay just releases the hold and hits a short-arm lariat and covers for two. Good move by Jay there to try the lariat when his brother would least expect it.

Jay goes for the Jay Driller again, but Mark continues to sandbag him. Jay gets some clubbing forearms to try to aid him in hitting the move, but comes off the ropes and gets caught with another of Mark’s modified exploder suplexes. Jay no-sells but gets caught with another almost immediately and that’s certainly enough to stop the rally. Mark rolls over and gets the cover for two. Both men get to their feet, but they’re clearly exhausted at this point. Mark gets a series of shots on Jay in the corner, but there’s not a lot behind any of his strikes. Jay climbs out to the apron as the referee admonishes Mark for striking his brother in the ropes, so Mark pushes him back into the corner. The ref ends up falling to all fours and Mark comes springboarding off his back and takes Jay from the apron to the floor with what looked to be a headscissors takedown. That earns a well-deserved “Holy Shit!” chant from the crowd. The referee checks on both men before Mark rolls Jay back into the ring. Mark follows slowly and gets a simple cover for two.

The referee begins a double count and reaches five when Jay makes it to his feet. He calls for Mark to stand up. The two start hitting each other with forearms and go back and forth a number of times before Jay just kicks Mark in the gut and spikes him off the mat with the Jay Driller. Jay’s too tired and hurt to go for the cover and the referee starts counting again. As the count reaches eight, both men sort of just pop up and get to their feet, eyes still somewhat glazed over. Jay almost cracks a smile as he stands up and then both brothers start absolutely stiffing each other with straight right hands to the face. A forearm by Mark sends both men crashing down to the canvas and again the referee counts. This time it only gets to three before Jay is able to pull himself up with the help of the ropes. Jay pulls Mark to his feet and hits him with a series of forearms, but when he goes off the ropes Mark grabs him and just plants him with a Cutthroat Driver. The referee begins to count as neither man is moving at all. Neither man has moved as the count reaches ten and the match ends in a draw at 27:05.

A couple of fans boo, but the rest of the crowd gives both men a standing ovation for their efforts. The official announcement is a double knockout resulting in a draw. A “That was Awesome” chant start up, as does a “Thank you, Briscoes” one. In a nice touch, Jay & Mark have yet to move by the time the announcement is made, and the referee pours water onto both men’s faces to really sell the finish. Jay is the first one to his feet, to a big ovation, and Mark is soon to follow. Both men down bottles of water and then a fist pound and embrace in the middle of the ring cues Gimme Back My Bullets back up. The Briscoes leave together to another standing ovation, and motion that they’re coming for the ROH World Tag Team Titles.

The Analysis:
This is an interesting match to compare with Jay & Mark’s singles contest from Honor Invades Boston. While that match had clearly defined face-heel roles and more focused offense, the crispness and level of complexity in this contest just outshone that one in every aspect as far as I’m concerned. Over the last five years, the Briscoe Brothers have developed and nuanced their offense to a level that just wasn’t reasonable for them in 2002.

This contest had a lot of nice internal storylines, including Mark’s persistent use of springboard maneuvers, with him not getting discouraged when the first couple of attempts went awry, knowing that ignoring that part of his offense would be a bad decision long-term. There was also the nice inclusion of a series of moments where Jay encouraged his brother to get up after taking a big move, which worked because Jay had been the one to propose the match in the first place. Though both brothers went for a number of covers, they never really lost sight of the goal: toughen each other up by dishing out and taking as much punishment as possible.

I for one really enjoyed the story that Mark and Jay told in this match. The announcers said it well a number of times: If they’ll do this to each other, imagine what they’ll do to someone standing in the way of them regaining their titles. Jay and Mark looked like killers here, willing to do absolutely everything to gain an advantage. Amongst the best parts of the match is that both men’s finishers were able to put down a difficult opponent not only for a three count, but no less than an eight count. If part of the idea was to get over how hard it would be for an opponent to survive a Jay Driller or Cutthroat Driver, then this match indeed delivered in spades. As a nice bit of internal continuity, it’s nice to note that in both this match and the match from Boston in 2002, it was the Cutthroat Driver that ended up finishing the match.

The Aftermath:
Jay & Mark Briscoe would face off with Shingo & Naruki Doi in their ROH World Tag Team Title rematch on Ring of Honor’s very next show. The match was an excellent back-and-forth affair for the first part until Mark went for a shooting star press to ringside and landed on his head. Though Mark was stretchered out of the arena and taken to a local hospital, Jay was able to somehow hit the Jay Driller and pull out a victory, single-handedly winning the belts for he and his injured brother. Immediately following the match, former ROH competitors Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin rushed the ring and challenged Jay to put the titles on the line in Chicago a month or so later. Jay, ever the fighting champion, agreed to the match before being beat down. So the match was set: Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Murder City Machine Guns of Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin, April 28th in Chicago Ridge, Illinois.

Over the next month, Mark would slowly recover from a concussion, but the injury would be aggravated during a match against Kevin Steen & El Generico that began with Jay teaming with ROH newcomer Erick Stevens. When Stevens was attacked by the No Remorse Corps, Mark rushed to ringside to join his brother, even though he was not yet medically cleared to compete. Steen & Generico targeted Mark’s head and neck, taking advantage of his injury to earn the upset victory. Though Mark seemed fine during an Ultimate Endurance match against a trio of talented teams in late-April, it was unclear whether he was truly at one-hundred percent entering the Briscoes’ title defense against Shelley & Sabin.

The Final Word:
So, the ROH DVD release schedule held up and we’re going to extend the Summer of Briscoe by a week. I have been raving about the Briscoes vs. MCMG match to anyone and everyone who will listen since it happened at the end of April and now that it has been released on DVD, it only seems right to include it as the final chapter of this special IMC event. For those of you who like to know in advance what to expect from the next edition of this column, get ready for next week, because it’s my current pick for Match of the Year.

As for this week’s match, you can see it by purchasing Fifth Year Festival: Finale from rohwrestling.com. The card also features Samoa Joe’s final ROH appearance as well as Shingo & Doi’s first ROH World Tag Team Title defense against the No Remorse Corps of Roderick Strong & Davey Richards and a brutal Falls Count Anywhere match between BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs.

Elsewhere on 411 this week are a number of columns and reviews that you should be sure to check out. Ari has Column of Honor, Stu’s got Friendly Competition and Bayani’s got Truth B Told. There’s a great edition of Buy or Sell with Stu and Jacob Ziegler and also Part 4 of Stu’s look at ROH in 2006.

In terms of reviews, JD has a review of some FIP stuff while Jake & Brad are now up to ROH’s Fifth Year Festival: Liverpool, the show before the one I looked at today. Brad’s also got Volume 2 of his Best of Japan 2005 compilation, which I’m pretty much ready to buy on his recommendation alone.

Last, but certainly not least, week two of the Independent Draft Spectacular is up now, as is the section including our debut cards. I cannot stress enough how awesome this whole project has been for each of the writers involved. We’ve had a ton of fun doing it and hope you’re having as much fun following it. I will tell you here that I have a surprise debut planned for my first show, which will be posted next week.

Now that I’ve gotten the plugs out of the way, it’s time for me to sign off. Just a quick note that I got the chance to meet Brad Garoon and Jake Ziegler this weekend at the ROH show in Chicago and they’re just awesome in every respect. Strange as it may sound, I have a newfound appreciation for how to watch ROH live after getting the chance to sit with them at Saturday’s show. Read everything either of them writes, period. That said, I’m out until next Tuesday. Have a good one kids.

Oh, and go buy Straight Shootin’ with Samoa Joe & CM Punk. I watched it last night and just laughed my ass off for like three hours.