By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Ring of Honor Wrestling TV (Episode 436)
Aired March 28, 2020 in syndication and on SBG regional sports networks, available Mondays on FITE.TV
The standard ROH opening aired and then the footage opened with a road sign welcoming travelers to Delaware. Jay and Mark Briscoe spoke outside their childhood home about their backyard wrestling roots. Jay recalled shattering Mark’s nose by kicking a chair into his face. Jay recalled his father seeing it and yelling to Mark to break Jay’s nose.
Mark picked up a piece of barbwire. Jay said they had a barbwire board in the yard, but the board has disintegrated. They also found a barbwire bat in a garage. Jay said their matches went all over the entire property and nothing was off limits. They entered a barn where two-day old chiclets were present. Jay spoke about the hard part being that they had to remove the dead. Jay spoke about working as a team on the farm and the need to count on one another…
The Briscoes vs. Kevin Steen and El Generico was shown from June 23, 2007 in Chicago Ridge, Illinois at the ROH Driven event. There were a pair of commercial breaks during the match, which the Briscoes won with a spike Jay Driller on Generico…
Powell’s POV: It was crazy to see just how young the Briscoes and Kevin Steen (a/k/a Kevin Owens) looked. I’d probably say the same about Sami Zayn, but I’m pretty sure he’s looked the same since he was a child. With the Generico mask, good luck proving me wrong.
They cut back to the documentary portion coming out of a commercial break. Jay spoke about how he and Mark always fought one another. Mark said Jay being older only means he’ll probably be dead at least a year before him. They both laughed. They noted that Jay is 11 months and three weeks older. Jay said there’s a week every year when they are the same age. They spoke about doing karate and other sports, and said pro wrestling started with them getting a trampoline.
Mark recalled not being allowed to wrestle when Jay started because he wasn’t 18 yet. Jay noted that Mark was legally allowed to wrestle in Boston, and Mark’s first match in ROH was against Jay. Mark boasted that he won. Jay said the referee missed an illegal move that should have led to Mark being disqualified. Jay said he whopped Mark’s ass the second time, then they had a draw in their third match when they couldn’t answer the ten count. Mark recalled winning another match in Philadelphia.
Mark said they are one of the greatest tag teams of all time and stressed that he was saying that without ego. Jay asked Mark how many singles world titles he’s held. Jay said he’s won two. “Congratulations,” Mark said before adding that he doesn’t care about singles belts. Mark said he’d take Jay’s belt off his pants and whoop his ass with it…
Jay Briscoe vs. Mark Briscoe for the ROH World Championship from the June 22, 2013 ROH Best in the World event in Baltimore, Maryland was shown. There were a couple commercial breaks during the match. Jay hit a pair of Jay Drillers during the match and went for a cover, but Mark kicked out of a pin attempt. Jay hit the move a third time and got the pin to retain the title and to close the show…
Powell’s POV: A fun episode with a lot of classic footage combined with what I assume was repurposed documentary footage. ROH can actually turn a negative into a positive. They are a promotion in need of a fresh start on a number of levels and this break from the usual format can provide that. It’s important that they come out of the gate strong once things get back to normal, but in the meantime this is a good way to fill the hour in that it gives viewers a nice mix of classic matches that many fans have not seen before along with some good character driven documentary style footage.
I thought this was the most enjoyable ROH tv show since the Elite left all those months ago… I think you’re right, this could be a lifesaving break for the company.