Another fairly recent (under 2 years is close enough for me) with three of Ring of Honor's deep tag team alumni facing off to see which team can regain the gold. All Night Express never truly lost the belts, as Kenny King walked out of the company during their 2011 reign to join TNA.
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My video begins with The Briscoes making their entrance, and their opponents are already in the ring for this 3 way #1 contenders tag team match. Kevin Kelly and “Mr. Wrestling III” Steve Corino are working commentary for tonight's event
MATCH 1: THE YOUNG BUCKS VS. ALL NIGHT EXPRESS VS. THE BRISCOES (TRIPLE THREAT #1 CONTENDERS ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS MATCH)
The winners of this match face either War Machine or The Kingdom at the 14th Anniversary show. The All Night Express hold the leverage here, they have a recent win over both of their opponents. All 6 men adhere to the Code of Honor and the two younger brothers Mark Briscoe and Nick Jackson of The Young Bucks start us off.
They circle and Mark gets a side headlock. Nick tries to shove Briscoe off but Mark Briscoe drops to one knee. Nick is taken down but escapes with a headscissors. Briscoe misses a wild swing and gets caught with a waistlock. Nick pushes Mark into the ropes but he stops himself before Jackson taunts Mark, then ANX in their corner. Nick Jackson getting too cocky too quick as Mark charges at him with a flying boot before tagging in Jay. Mark holds Nick Jackson for boots to the ribs from his older brother Briscoe. Mark gets out of the ring as Jay hits a headbutt. Jackson tries to make a tag to his brother but Jay catches him. Nick Jackson flips out of a back suplex. Nick Jackson lands in All Night Express' corner, and Rhett Titus gets the tag. Fans didn't like that one bit.
A surprising reaction by the crowd to Rhett coming in, with Briscoes vs. All Night Express being the original match for tonight. Titus gets a side headlock on Briscoe, and Kenny King blind tags his partner as Briscoe shoves him off. We get a nice sequence of reversals as Kenny King picks his spot to come in. Titus hits a scoop slam, and King decides it's time. Springboard legdrop off the bottom rope by King followed by a jumping splash by Rhett Titus gets ANX a nearfall. King hits Jay with a suplex and rolls through for mounted punches before getting a quick tag out to his partner. Titus comes in with a kick to the gut before both members of the All Night Express send him across the ring.
Titus follows Jay Briscoe with a back elbow in the corner, then sends him into a spinning kick from Kenny King. Rhett Titus covers and gets another nearfall. “Man Up” chant by the crowd as Kevin Kelly mentions that it's been 2 years since we've seen Rhett Titus in ROH and the All Night Express answered an open challenge by the Briscoes at All Star Extravaganza. Jay Briscoe turns the tide and sends Rhett Titus into the corner, Titus sends him over to the apron, but Briscoe hits a forearm. Briscoe runs into a Matt Jackson superkick on the apron! The Young Bucks drag Briscoe back into the ring and one gets the tag. Mark sees his brother is in trouble but he runs into a superkick from Nick Jackson. Nick waits for Rhett Titus to get back to his feet before hitting a gutbuster, and Matt flips over for a neckbreaker. Matt holds Kenny King in place on the apron as Nick hits a dropkick and the Young Bucks are feeling it!
The Young Bucks pose for the crowd and get a decent reaction, but Mark Briscoe and Rhett Titus send them out of the ring. Mark and Titus trade chops in the ring until Titus sends Mark across the ring, Mark dives through the ropes with a dropkick to hit one of the Young Bucks and catches himself back on the apron! Titus swings wildly but eats a shoulder to the gut, and Mark gets a running Blockbuster off the apron on the other Buck! Those mats don't give as much cushioning as you might think. Jay blindsides Titus and Cactus clotheslines them both over the top rope! Kenny King with a twisting plancha over the top rope onto Mark. The crowd celebrates with King but Jay flies at him with a tope! Rhett Titus follows with a somersault senton! Matt Jackson hits a superkick to Titus and the Young Bucks send him back in the ring. Matt Jackson climbs to the top rope and hits a moonsault to the floor but we can't see who he landed on. Nick just looks at him like “the fuck!?” as if he's not used to it. Nick hits a 450 splash in the ring, and Matt hits a second one. He sprung up from that moonsault. Steve Corino amusingly calls it a “900” and seems to be the Bucks' biggest fan. Kenny King saves Titus from taking the fall.
King takes it to The Young Bucks and holds on to the ropes as they prepare to superkick him. King ducks a double clothesline and kinda hurricanranas both Bucks over, Matt is the only Buck left in the ring, and Kenny King tries a handstand kick but gets caught with a SUPERKICK! To the kidneys. Mark Briscoe slides in the ring and takes it to Nick Jackson, but Jackson reverses an irish whip, Mark lands on his feet off a back body drop attempt That's the ol' Redneck Kung Fu! Mark turns around into another superkick though! Jay tries to roll his brother to safety and hits Nick with a running boot. Matt now in to help his twin, but catches some Jay Briscoe jabs. Headbutt by Briscoe sends Jackson into the ropes and Jay Briscoe hits a neckbreaker. Nick returns with a SUPERKICK! Mr Wrestling III says he's glad Steve Corino gave him the rights to scream superkick every time, but he could lose his voice in the first match. Mark Briscoe and Kenny King tag themselves into the match and the crowd is split between The Young Bucks and The Briscoes. Mark comes in hot, Kenny King reverses an irish whip, giving Jay a chance to grab a quick blind tag. Mark Briscoe ducks a clothesline and drops down into a jawbreaker. Jay runs in with a lariat knocking King down and they drop him with the Redneck Boogie, and Titus has to make the save!
Mark sends Titus back out of the ring and climbs to the top rope. Jay has King on his shoulders, but King ducks the Doomsday! Young Bucks back in the fold and it's SUPERKICKS! For everyone in the ring. Matt climbs back out to the apron and Penalty Kicks Titus under the jaw Meltzer Driver connects on Jay Briscoe! Mark breaks it up at 2 and stomps the hell out of both Young Bucks. Mark drags Jay back to their corner, Jay barely getting his arm up for the tag. Mark runs into a double superkick and gets set up for More Bang for Your Buck, but Rhett Titus was able to get the blind tag. Titus falls back to the floor and Kenny King catches the moonsault, Titus hits a dropkick before King slams one of the Bucks down. Mark Briscoe flies in with a screeching mule kick sending King into the corner. Mark takes it to Titus in the corner, setting him up top. Kenny King kicks Mark in the head momentarily saving his partner. King climbs to the top behind Titus, balancing on the corner post, SUPER ONE NIGHT STAND! 1! 2! 3!
WINNERS: THE ALL NIGHT EXPRESS (NEW #1 Contenders to ROH World Tag Team championships)
A nice quick sprint to start off this edition of Final Battle, all three teams had a sense of urgency about their work, and All Night Express really felt like the Wildcard team in this match against the more well-known and established teams, in contrast to the usual “win on your first night back” trope, and it kept me guessing which team would win. The Briscoes have both had successful singles careers in ROH since they began working here, but when they team it's still something special and as fluid as though they still team together every night. Fantastic paced match with a slight upset victory for the Express, I'll have to see where this lead.
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