BG Says Special Edition: The Briscoe Brothers and the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship

The first Special Edition focused on Naomichi Marufuji’s run with the GHC Heavyweight Championship. I’m not going to stray to far from that for my sophomore effort in that we’re still in NOAH but the wrestlers are different. Marufuji made history when he defended his title in the US, but he’s not the only one who would accomplish firsts in NOAH around that time period.

In TNA Steiner Brothers pointed out how forced and manufactured the Team 3D’s claim of winning every major tag title in the business is. The Steiners rightfully said that they’ve won the WWF, WCW, NWA and IWGP Tag team titles while wrestling in those promotions while the Team 3D won meaningless titles in WWE just to be given the label of most decorated tag team ever.

Recently, Ring of Honor has tried to make the Briscoe Brothers into something of a modern version of the Steiners. At Pro Wrestling NOAH’s January 7th show the Briscoes challenged Takashi Sugiura and Yoshinobu Kanemaru for the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Titles. Usually when an American team debuts in a Japanese company with the amount of fanfare that the Briscoes came to NOAH with nobody expects them to win any kind of title. This time around things went differently.

Takashi Sugiura & Yoshinobu Kanemaru VS. The Briscoe Brothers [GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match – 1/7/07]
I’ve wanted to see Sugiura since he made his appearance in ROH. Kanemaru and Mark start. They lock up and Mark powers Kanemaru to the ropes. They fight to the mat where Mark puts on a wristlock. Jay tags in and hits a hurricanrana. He hits a leg lariat and Kanemaru bails. Jay dives out onto him. Mark knocks Sugiura to the floor and dives out onto him, almost ripping his own head off in the process. Back inside Jay hits a snap suplex on Kanemaru. He puts on a chinlock and tags to Mark. Kanemaru hits a dropkick and tags to Sugiura. Sugiura hits a back elbow for 2. He puts on a chinlock but Mark tags out to escape. Jay distracts the referee as Mark chokes Sugiura in the corner. Mark tags in and hits a snap suplex for 2. Sugiura puts on a hammerlock but Mark escapes by tagging out. Jay hits a drop toehold and tags to Mark. Mark hits a double stomp for 2. He hits a gutwrench suplex and a kneedrop for 2. Jay tags in and hits an elevated legdrop for 2. He goes to the eyes and hits a backbreaker. He puts on a chinlock as Naomichi Marufuji looks on. Mark tags in and hits a dropkick. Jay tags in and hits a back elbow for 2. Mark tags in and the Briscoes hit a springboard leg lariat Hart Attack for 2. Sugiura hits a gutbuster and boots Mark to the floor. Kanemaru tags in and rams Mark into the barricade. He jumps off the barricade and hits a guillotine legdrop before rolling Mark into the ring and getting 2. He puts on a camel clutch but Jay breaks it up. Kanemaru goes low on Jay to get rid of him. He hits a dropkick on Mark but Mark comes back with a chinbreaker. Sugiura tags in and hits a back suplex for 2. He puts on a Boston crab but Mark gets to the ropes. Kanemaru tags in and puts on the Mark Nulty Special. Mark gets to the ropes. He hits a forearm and tags to Jay. Jay hits a dropkick on Kanemaru and one on Sugiura. He hits a backdrop on Kanemaru for 2. He hits a Yakuza kick for 2. He climbs the ropes but Kanemaru catches him with a dropkick on the way down. Sugiura tags in and hits a boot in the corner. He suplexes Jay across the ring for 2. He jumps off Jay to hit a forearm on Mark and then hits the Karelin lift of Jay for 2. Mark tags in and hits the yelping splash for 2. He hits an exploder suplex for 2. Jay tags in and they hit the double shoulder tackle. They mess up but eventually hit the powerbomb/neckbreaker combo for 2. Kanemaru dropkicks Mark and Sugiura hits a German suplex on Jay. He hits another German suplex for 2. He hits a dragon suplex for 2. He hits a spear and puts on an anklelock. Mark breaks it up with a springboard dropkick. Jay hits a DVD but Sugiura comes back with the Olympic Slam. Mark and Kanemaru tag in and Kanemaru hits a DDT for 2. He hits a bodyslam and a moonsault for 2. Sugiura hits a spear and lifts Mark up so Kanemaru can bring him down with another DDT for 2. Kanemaru hits a brainbuster for 2. He comes off the top to hit a DDT and hits a double brainbuster with Sugiura. Jay hits a DVD on Sugiura and Mark hits a powerbomb on Kanemaru. Mark misses a shooting star press and Kanemaru hits a brainbuster for 2. Jay runs in and hits a lariat on Kanemaru. Mark knocks Sugiura off the apron and the Briscoes hit the springboard Doomsday Device on Kanemaru for the win and the titles at 20:45. I’d heard Sugiura was a Kurt Angle clone but I hadn’t realized to what extent. The match was very good and I’m sure it could have been even better with a hot crowd to energize the Briscoes.
Rating: ***¾

After the Briscoes won the GHC Jr. Heavyweight tag titles everyone was excited to see them defend the belts in ROH. That wouldn’t come to pass unfortunately. Immediately after winning the belts Ricky Marvin and Kotaru Suzuki came out to the ring to challenge the Briscoes for the titles. Let’s take a look at that match, which took place at NOAH’s First Navigation 2007 show.

The Briscoe Brothers VS. Ricky Marvin & Kotaro Suzuki [GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match – First Navigation 2007]
ROH executive Sid Eyk is shown in the crowd, which is actually a cool touch showing how important this match could be to ROH. Suzuki and Mark start. They trade strikes and Suzuki grabs a headlock. Jay comes in and gets taken down. Suzuki and Marvin each take both Briscoes down on their own with armdrags and dropkciks and then follow them to the floor with suicide dives. Back in the ring Mark puts Suzuki on the mat. Jay tags in and gets kicked down. Marvin tags in and hits a dropkick for 2. He puts on a strangle hold but Jay gets to the ropes. Mark tags in and hits a vertical suplex for 2. He puts on a chinlock and tags to Jay. Jay hits a back elbow for 2. Suzuki tags in and hits a dropkick for 2. He hits a bodyslam and climbs the ropes. Suzuki chases Jay up top and Mark chases Suzuki up top. Marvin brings Mark down with a reverses hurricanrana and Suzuki brings Jay down with a regular hurricanrana for 2. Marvin tags in and hits a double back elbow with Suzuki for 2. He puts on a Mexican surfboard and tags to Suzuki. Suzuki hits a leaping forearm for 2. He puts on a camel clutch and positions Briscoe for Marvin to run down the ramp and hit a dropkick for 2. Suzuki puts on an abdominal stretch but Jay hiptosses out. Suzuki hits a dropkick and tosses Jay to the floor. Marvin tosses Jay into the barricade and rolls him back into the ring. He tags in and puts on a half crab. Suzuki tags in and gets dropkicked down. Jay hits a backdrop on Marvin and tags to Mark. Mark hits a yelping dropkick on Marvin and a leg lariat on Suzuki for 2. Jay tags in and hits a forearm in the corner as Mark dives onto Marvin on the floor. The Briscoes hit the springboard leg lariat Hart Attack for 2. Mark tags in and hits a double stomp for 2. He puts on the Mark Nulty Special but Suzuki gets to the ropes. Mark hits a fistdrop and tags to Jay. They hit the double hiptoss for 2. Jay hits a dropkick and tags to Mark. They hit the double shoulder tackle for 2. Mark puts on a seated abdominal stretch but Marvin breaks it up. Jay tags in but Suzuki fights him off with the Bit Blaster and tags to Marvin.

Marvin cleans house, tripping up both Briscoes and then hitting both with a Lionsault. He kicks Jay in the face and dropkicks Mark from across the ring. He hits the Shellshock on Jay for 2. He hits a rolling cutter for 2. Jay comes back with a Yakuza kick and tags to Mark. Mark gets a sunset flip for 2 and then powerbombs Marvin into the turnbuckle. He hits an exploder suplex for 2. Marvin blocks the springboard splash and hits a superkick. Suzuki tags in and hits a crossbody for 2. He hits the Axis Assault and a frog splash for 2. He climbs the ropes and counters a superplex attempt from Mark to a neckbreaker. He swings Marvin’s legs into Jay, knocking him to the floor, and then follows him out with an assisted Space Flying Tiger Drop. He hits the Funnel Blast and a German suplex for 2. Mark hits two exploder suplexes and a superkick but Suzuki catches him with a hard strike and they both go down. Jay and Marvin tag in. Jay hits a facebuster for 2. Marvin gets a roll up for 2. Marvin hits a stunner but Jay catches him with a lariat before they both go down. Mark tags in and hits a powerbomb for 2. Marvin ducks a clothesline and hits a superkick and the Pride Bomb. Jay hits Marvin with a DVD and Suzuki hits Jay with a Tombstone Piledriver. Mark hits Suzuki with a German suplex and everyone is down. Marvin hits Mark with the Santa Maria Slam for 2. Suzuki tags in and gets hit with a back suplex for 2. Marvin blocks Mark from hitting his part of the springboard Doomsday Device by catching him in MIDAIR with a hurricanrana. I’ve never EVER seen anything like that before. Suzuki hits Jay with a reverse hurricanrana and a DDT. The Briscoes hit a double big boot on Suzuki for 2. They hit the powerbomb/neckbreaker combo for 2. Jay hits another DVD and Mark hits a shooting star press for 2. Suzuki flips back to block another Doomsday Device attempt and Marvin superkicks Mark. Suzuki hits a another Tombstone Piledriver on Jay. Marvin and Suzuki sandwich Jay with dropkicks to the face and hit stereo 619s for 2. Suzuki hits Mark with the Blue Destiny for 2. Marvin and Suzuki sandwich Jay’s head with kicks and hit a knee kick Doomsday Device. Marvin helps Suzuki hit a heavy handed Blue Destiny for the win and the titles at 26:26.

I’d never watched a Ricky Marvin match in full before and I can now say I’m officially a fan. This is the match that showed NOAH fans what the Briscoes are really made of. This was probably the best match of theirs that I’ve ever seen, and one of the best tag team matches I’ve ever seen. Seriously, it was filled with so much that you never see in typical tag matches and really reinforces why NOAH having a junior tag division is worthwile. I can’t wait to see Marvin in ROH in July.
Rating: ****¾

The 411:  I’ve heard some people say that the title loss was just a big spotfest, but I don’t see it that way. That match was the Briscoes’ style, and honestly it was the very peak of what I think they are capable of right now in that style. The win showed NOAH that the Briscoes meant business but the loss showed that they were every bit as good as anyone on that roster. ROH strung it into a storyline that saw the Briscoes win the ROH tag titles and then lose them to Dragon Gate’s Shingo & Naruki Doi on their first defense. They decided that two strikes was enough and wrestled each other to toughen up. After that Jay Briscoe essentially won the belts back by himself after Mark was seriously injured during the rematch against Shingo and Doi. They are still the champions today and are putting out great defense after great defense with no end it sight. The title win wasn’t released officially on DVD, but you can find it very cheap HERE. The title loss (the match you really want to see) is available at ROHWrestling.com. Also, if you can write me to tell me why "The time when the person is arranged," is an appropriate teaser for this column I'll write you back with a shortcut to viewing these matches.

Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]