The main portion of this DVD features a documentary of the Briscoes with some matches sprinkled throughout. We begin with the Briscoes on their farm, picking up dead chickens in the coop. Mark gives us an explanation as to why so many chickens die. Footage is then shown of Papa Briscoe reacting to the idea of this documentary happening. Mark’s interactions on the farm paint him exactly like Kel from the 90s television show Keenan and Kel. The Briscoes talk about growing up in Sandy Fork and getting into professional wrestling. They show some spots around the farm where backyard wrestling used to happen.
Match #1: Jay Briscoe vs. Mark Briscoe (Honor Invades Boston – 8/24/02)
This is Mark’s in-ring debut in Ring of Honor. Both Briscoes are still in high school. They slap each other. Jay escapes a cross armbreaker and lays in a series of crossfaces. Both men continue to attempt submissions to no avail. Mark hits a northern lights suplex and Jay is a bit surprised. Jay connects with a mafia kick and Mark retreats to the floor. They exchange chops at ringside and Mark throws his brother into the ringpost. Jay begins to bleed from his forehead. Mark hits an overhead suplex in the ring and takes control. Jay comes back with a basement dropkick and a falcon arrow. Mark responds with a springboard ace crusher from the middle rope. He hits a tombstone but gets caught by a series of dragon screw leg whips. Jay starts working over the right leg and hits a torture rack backbreaker. Mark fires back with an exploder but whiffs on a plancha. He recovers with a springboard dropkick but clutches his knee in pain. Jay hits a splash mountain and both men are down. They trade strikes and Mark hits a dragon suplex. He adds another dragon suplex but Jay won’t stay down. Mark misses a moonsault and Jay connects with a big lariat. Jay hits a death valley driver for a nearfall. He hits a steiner screwdriver but misses a top-rope senton. Mark connects with a shining wizard and hits the Cutthroat Driver for the win at 16:56. An excellent debut match for Mark, who was immediately seen as Jay’s equal. If this match didn’t play out as well as it did, you could argue that the Briscoes would never have really taken off in Ring of Honor. The action was predominantly back and forth and though the match hasn’t necessarily aged well, it clearly did a lot for both men. ***½
The Briscoes tell the story of how Mark lost his teeth.
Match #2: ROH Tag Team Titles: Izzy and Dixie © vs. Jay and Mark Briscoe (Main Event Spectacles – 11/1/03)
Both teams begin brawling before the opening bell. Special K hit a gourdbuster on Mark. Izzy monkey flips Mark into Jay on the apron. That makes Jay extremely angry. The Briscoes hit a backbreaker-flying knee strike combination on Dixie. They isolate him until he takes advantage of some miscommunication and makes the tag. Izzy cleans house with a series of strikes. Dixie lands a dive to the floor onto Jay. Izzy follows with a fosbury flop. Mark adds a shooting star press from the top rope. Dixie throws Mark into the barricade. Back in, Mark hits a springboard ace crusher on Dixie. Izzy ducks a doomsday device and hits a reverse hurricanrana on Jay. Izzy also hits a standing sliced bread on Mark for a nearfall. The Briscoes recover with the Veg-O-Matic on Izzy but he forgets to kick out. Oh well. The Briscoes polish him off with the doomsday device. Jay hits the Jay Driller on Izzy and the Briscoes become the new ROH Tag Team Champions at 9:55. While not the best Briscoe match you‘ll see, it’s obvious why it was included. Some moments of sloppiness really killed their flow but the end result was the correct one. **½
Match #3: ROH World Tag Team Titles: Ladder War: Jay and Mark Briscoe © vs. Kevin Steen and El Generico (Man Up! – 9/15/07)
Both teams brawl into the crowd. Mark spears Steen into a set of chairs while Jay just hurls Generico into some chairs. Mark runs into some men in ski masks in the crowd. I bet they’re just innocent bystanders. Generico absolutely waffles Jay in the head with a chair shot. A ladder is brought into the ring. Generico dropkicks Jay to the floor and tries to climb. Jay stops him with a sit-out gourdbuster. The Briscoes biel Generico into a ladder propped in the corner. Generico goes into convulsions because he’s awesome. Steen back suplexes Jay onto the ladder. Generico yakuza kicks a ladder into Jay’s face. Generico tries to climb but gets caught by a nasty german suplex. All four men are down as the crowd chants for them. Mark puts a ladder on top of Generico and lands a shooting star press. Jay leg drops Steen through a ringside table. The Briscoes send staff to get them the super-tall utility ladder. The crowd surfs the ladder to ringside. The Briscoes hit a doomsday device on Generico. Mark had to dive through the ladder to hit that maneuver. Steen slows down the Briscoes by just hitting them with a ladder. Smaller ladders are positioned under the big ladder. Jay sends Generico through one of the smaller ladders with a Jay Driller. Jay punches Steen through the other smaller ladder and grabs the belts. The Briscoes retain their titles at 27:21. Gabe Sapolsky would go on to say that he regretted booking this match due to the violence and what both teams had to put their bodies through. There were obviously high expectations but that’s only because ROH did a good job of holding off doing this type of match until it was warranted. Everyone remembers the aftermath, but this Ladder War delivered exactly what it promised and provided a fitting end to the feud. ****¼
Match #4: ROH World Tag Team Titles: Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin © vs. Jay and Mark Briscoe (Final Battle 2011 – 12/23/11)
The crowd seems to be solidly behind the Briscoes. Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team attack them with the titles before the opening bell. Haas back suplexes Jay across the barricade. Shelton suplexes Mark onto the entrance ramp. WGTT even utilize chairs on the outside. Shelton irish whips Mark into a chair shot from Haas. The champions are in total control as they continue their attack with chairs. The crowd has totally turned on them as well and with good reason. Jay is now busted open after a chair shot. WGTT sloppily execute a double team maneuver and the crowd violently chants at them. Mark shows some fight but Shelton plants him with a DDT. Jay connects with a superkick on Shelton and trades forearms with Haas. Mark spears Shelton and the Briscoes biel him across the ring. Jay takes off Shelton’s shirt, revealing taped ribs. Haas eventually tags into the match and hits a powerslam on Jay. WGTT hit an atomic drop-superkick combination on Jay for a nearfall. Jay flatlines Haas into the middle turnbuckle but gets caught by a dropkick from Mark. Mark hits an iconoclasm on Haas for a two count. Shelton prevents a spike Jay Driller. Haas hits rolling german suplexes on Jay. He applies the Haas of Pain but Mark breaks up the hold. Shelton tried to stop Mark and hurt his ribs. Paul Turner calls for help to check on Shelton and he gets helped to the back. Haas is alone in the ring with the Briscoes. Haas tries to fight back but accidentally takes out the referee. Shelton comes back out and brings a board into the ring. He hits Mark across the head with it. Jay superkicks Haas and the Briscoes follow with the doomsday device to become the new ROH World Tag Team Champions at 21:39. This was an absolute disaster. I don’t know if the crowd was supposed to be cheering or booing WGTT early on and there was absolutely no structure to this match. In fact, I don’t understand the logic of letting this match take place after WGTT used all of the weapons before the official opening bell. I think this was the case of ROH not understanding its fan base because this contest fell flat on its face. *½
Papa Briscoe talks about how much he loves watching his sons wrestle. He then discusses wrestling at Final Battle 2010 against the Kings of Wrestling. Clips are shown of that match, but the full match is included in the bonus section. Jay talks about his son and some adorable clips are shown of Jay’s son wrestling in the Briscoes’ backyard ring. “He’ll be champion someday, but he has to pay his dues in the chicken house first.” Footage is played of Jay defeating Kevin Steen for the ROH World Title as well as hype for the Jay vs. Mark match at Best in the World 2013. That ends the main portion of this DVD. The following is included in the bonus section:
Match #5: Jay Briscoe, Mark Briscoe, and Papa Briscoe vs. Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, and Shane Hagadorn (Final Battle 2010 – 12/18/10)
Jay hurricanranas Hero and connects with a leg lariat. Papa gets a chop in before the Briscoes hit stereo shoulder tackles. Mark attempts a rollup a minute into the match. Good. The Briscoes biel Claudio across the ring. Claudio hits a gutwrench suplex on Jay and the Kings of Wrestling continue the attack until Hagadorn screws things up. Papa tags in and stares down Claudio and snaps off a headscissors. This happened. He makes out with Sara Del Rey at ringside and Paul Turner ejects her. The Kings isolate Mark until avoids a boot from Hero and makes the tag. Jay flatlines Hero into the middle turnbuckle and connects with a mafia kick. Hero responds with a roaring mafia kick. Claudio and Mark collide after both attempting clotheslines. Everyone connects with strikes. Hagadorn low blows Jay. Papa takes Hagadorn down to the canvas and reigns down punches. The Briscoes land stereo dives to the floor. In the ring, Hero catches Papa with a vicious roaring elbow. Mark saves him from the KRS-1 and Papa hits a stunner on Claudio. The Briscoes (Jay and Papa) hit the doomsday device on Hagadorn for the victory at 15:36. This was a lot more fun than it had any right to be. Even though the crowd still refused to fully cheer the Briscoes (perhaps due to their interference at Supercard of Honor V), they ate up everything Papa did and popped huge for the finish. Overall, I’d consider this a resounding success, despite having some qualms about the hatred between the Briscoes and Kings not being showcased enough. ***¼
The rest of the bonus features include:
-An extended story of how Mark lost his teeth.
-Mark showing off and climbing his favorite tree.
-The Briscoes performing an impromptu task for Uncle Jethro
-A “shoot interview” with Mark displaying his gun collection.
-The Briscoes and Jim Cornette meeting at a local news station for an appearance.
-Mark delivering a public service announcement about world hunger from the chicken coop.
Overall: This felt like a television special leading up to Best in the World (and it was!) rather than a DVD with substance. The main portion lasts less than two hours and the documentary parts, while somewhat interesting in that cameras were sent to the Briscoes’ farm, don’t give too much insight into the Briscoes’ lives. ROH has been releasing some awesome two-disc compilations of current roster members with a lengthy interview on one disc followed by ten to twelve matches on the next disc. Only five matches were included here and some of them can be found on prior compilations. This DVD might be worthwhile for diehard Briscoes fans, but I would certainly recommend picking up any of their prior compilations instead of this one.
You can purchase this DVD at Ring of Honor’s store right here.