10 Essential Jay Briscoe Matches

10. Jay Briscoe Vs. Samoa Joe (ROH At Our Best)

Some might argue that there are greater entries into this mid-noughties rivalry, but as a feud-ender, Jay Briscoe and Samoa Joe's At Our Best encounter was Briscoe and Joe at their best.

Stemming from months of interaction between both sides - which included a highly-touted classic for Jay and Mark's Tag Team Titles vs. Joe and AJ Styles - Jay and Joe were locked in the confines of a steel cage. This was no copy-and-paste WWE steel cage job. Forgoing a strategic plan, Briscoe and Joe used every crevice of the cage to craft a wonderfully-layered World title match. They worked a brisk, intense pace throughout, Jay switching from desperate underdog to escape Joe's wrath and thus the cage before realising, actually, he had the match in hand.

Spoilers; he didn't.

In one spot, as prolific as it was nauseating, Jay was sent face-first into the cage wall as his blood splattered. The ring was Samoa Joe's canvas in more ways than one - and Jay Briscoe was his paintbrush.

A euphoric crowd reaction bellowed out from the, at the time, largest ROH crowd in history, aiding a wounded Briscoe as he slowly crept up the aisle following an expected, yet defiant loss. From this night on, Jay Briscoe was THE guy.