The Briscoes & Naomichi Marufuji vs Matt Sydal, Atsushi Aoki, & Ricky Marvin from ROH Live in Tokyo 2007

Post by Will Young:

Context

This was ROH’s first show held in Japan, supported by talent from partner organization Pro Wrestling NOAH and from the Dragon Gate promotion. The Briscoes were in their fourth reign as ROH Tag Team Champions after defeating Naruki Doi & Shingo in March. Matt Sydal had previously held the titles that year with Christopher Daniels. Naomichi Marufuji had previously competed for ROH in 2005 and 2006, once facing Bryan Danielson for the ROH World Championship, and teaming with fellow NOAH wrestler KENTA (Hideo Itami) on more than one occasion. Ricky Marvin had beaten The Briscoes with partner Kotaro Suzuki earlier in the year for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. Atsushi Aoki was a junior prospect filling in for an injured KENTA.

 

The Match

If you’re not familiar with Japanese six-man tag team matches, they are a little different than their North American counterpart. These tag matches are specifically utilised a lot more liberally on puroresu shows, and generally, are meant to pack more wrestlers onto a card. In these matches, there can sometimes be very popular wrestlers (depending on the importance or lack thereof of a show), who you can usually bet will not be a part of the decision, and less popular/younger wrestlers who are usually there to get pinned (albeit not here). It is a bit forumlaic, but it does allow for a large mix of wrestlers to face one another in fun exhibitions, which is exactly what this match is.

 

This match has a bevy of wrestlers who are in some of their best high-flying years, from the younger Briscoes and Marufuji to the always exciting Sydal and Marvin. There’s nothing especially revolutionary about the stuff being done here, but these are all quality wrestlers, and it is fun to see them do their stuff for a good long time. The length and initial slower pace may scare off some viewers, but if you stick with it, this match does pay off in its more chaotic ending minutes. Give it a watch if you’ve got some time and want to watch some fun-ass wrestling.

 

High Spots

6:35 – A unique triple-team

16:14 – Handspring into a DDT

16:34 – Marvin walks the ropes

20:34 – Picture-perfect springboard moonsault

 

Aftermath

The Briscoes would lose their ROH Tag Titles near the end of the year to Age of the Fall. Sydal would wrestle his final ROH match against Delirious in September before leaving for WWE, where he would become Evan Bourne. Marvin would lose his Junior Tag Titles with Suzuki to the Dragon Gate team “Speed Muscle” in 2008. Marufuji would compete several times with ROH in 2007, and would go on to win the GHC Tag Team Championship at the end of the year with Takashi Sugiura.