I wasn't sure I'd like this much as the last Briscoes match I watched from around this period was, how you might say, dogshit. But this was really good, right there in the sweet spot between your traditional southern tag and peak ROH workrate, but never being ridiculous even at around 25 minutes (which it didn't really need to be but we can deal). It had a fairly simple story told well - the Briscoes are the tag champs and a natural unit while Joe and Danielson are the dream team, albeit a dream team of two very different individuals. The latter pretty much dominated the first half entirely, but they did it in very individual ways. I don't think there was a single acknowledgment from either that they had a tag team partner they could work with, other than one moment where Danielson held Mark Briscoe in place so Joe could come in and take over. It worked for them and they looked a league above the Briscoes. Danielson was so good in this, grabbing Mark's arm and just ragdolling him about, telling Mark to hit him before taking his head off with an uppercut. The closest the Briscoes came to sustaining offence in the first half was briefly isolating Joe, but then Jay threw a chop and shouted like he enjoyed how INTENSE that chop was and Joe fucking slapped his teeth out for being dumb. The Briscoes were clearly working in tandem though, even if it was something as simple as a blind tag from one of them to get the other out of trouble. Eventually it paid off in the best way possible, with the ULTIMATE double-team transition, when Jay hoisted Danielson up from the blindside and Mark hit a Doomsday Device. Danielson sold the hell out of it as well, and considering he'd been in full control up to that point he really needed to so it might look like he was in actual danger. He crawled to the edge of the ring and went limp over the bottom rope, which let Jay and Mark take turns standing on his neck while the other goaded Joe into the ring. From there the Briscoes worked like a team and did all the things good teams do - quick tags, keeping Danielson isolated in their corner of the ring, running distractions where necessary, hitting actual double-teams, all the things Joe and Danielson didn't do. It played into the finish as well. Danielson makes the hot tag and Joe comes in swinging, but he lets himself become preoccupied with humiliating Mark on the floor. He's tossing Mark around and hitting ole kicks, asking the crowd if they want another one, soaking up the moment, while back in the ring Jay hits a Jay Driller on a still-woozy Danielson. If Joe had been paying a little more attention he might've been able to break up the pin, maybe stop the move from happening altogether, but as it is Mark is able to hold him back long enough for Jay to get the 3. I don't see myself watching a ton of Briscoes matches again but this was good stuff.
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