Match link: Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. The Briscoes @ ROH Man Up 2007
NOTES
I wish YouTube uploads had the entrances for matches, I wonder if wrestling tapes and DVDs officially put out used to.
MATCH
The reversal shoulder tackle into the audience gate thing smash by Steen is incredible. I don't see people reversal out of a pickup like that in such a clean and realistic way.
Mark's hand on the rail to make his throw into the crowd safer was beautiful and easy to miss.
Love how right into the action they're going!
Love the way Generico uses the chop. As someone who's very tired of chop battles, the Chop -> Stagger -> Chair Throw spot is beautiful.
I only remember seeing it in Penta vs. Iyo, but I adore the opponent throw into crowd of chairs, with the sorta flip/somersault into them, looks very impactful.
Jay Briscoe's punches look great.
Generico is fantastic at looking just absolutely spent.
Steen popcorn spot is funny!
The amount of head chair shots is a little brutal.
Nobody has ever sold being tossed out of the ring as well as Mark Briscoe just did. (4:32)
The setup for/the execution of the Generico dropkick on Jay was amazing, so impactful.
The way Mark flails his arms during the jumping knee adds so much to how unwieldly and fun the move is.
Maybe it's a consequence of most wrestling I see being for TV, but I adore that while Mark/Generico are fighting in the ring, Steen and Jay are just going at it, having their own battle on the outside.
Tiny oversell by Generico but it's really fun regardless and the open-hand push down on it by Jay adds something to it.
A time or two I've seen Steen give some impressive boots to the midsection, which is a maneuver I think often looks poor.
Steen's neckbreaker where he lands Jay on his knee looks devastating.
Mark's springboard kick is beautiful, and his wild yell adds something special to it.
Mark Briscoe is selling into the barricade like his life depends on it.
The corner sequence with Generico and Mark Briscoe is awesome, I love how they *smash* into everything, such as the turnbuckle.
The spot of Jay being squished between two ladders looks like it destroyed his head.
Never seen a low blow look as impactful as Mark Briscoe selling one from Steen. (11:40)
The bump of Steen falling off the ladder is beautiful as much as it is terrifying. Love it.
The dive under the ladder tag spot was so beautiful and unexpected. Never seen anything like that. Wow.
Little bit of superkick spam, not a huge fan.
Jay grabbing the wrist to stop Steen from grabbing the titles...beautiful.
Ending falls a tiiiny bit flat for me, but a great match.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The spots are beautiful and get the adrenaline pumping, there's a great flow to the match, these guys are incredible. I am blown away by all the little things they do incredibly well, like their setup moves looking impactful, giving focus to the whole spot, not just the exciting part.
I am astounded by how much these guys are willing to put their bodies on the line to sell for one another. Mark slamming into the barricade, Kevin falling off ladders, Jay being smushed by ladders, Generico looking completely exhausted the entire time.
My only real problem with this match, and maybe as I move further along in my wrestling journey I'm learning that it's just a problem I have with TLC-type matches in general, is that it feels a little...random? My point is that from a Steen/Generico perspective in-universe, what do they seek to improve on after this match? What did they do wrong that caused them to lose? What were the Briscoes so good at? This is maybe just a nitpick, this match has a gorgeous flow and it's always incredibly entertaining, but in some ways as theatrical combat it doesn't work for me too much. Again, this could just be a TLC thing. I wonder if they have any no-stipulation matches together, I'm curious to see that.
This is now one of the matches I will put on for friends who don't watch wrestling. Had a great time.
And yeah, that dive under the maintenance ladder was absolutely wild.