8 Live Observations From ROH/NJPW Global Wars PPV

Out of all the matches on the card, this one got me the most invested. And it wasn’t because I knew about the storylines—I didn’t—it was because the in-ring action and succession of near-falls was just superb. This was one of the best tag team matches I’ve seen in recent years, done at a frenetic pace.

We got a little backstory on the feud between the two during the video package, and that was enough to get me interested. What followed between the champs War Machine and the Briscoes was nothing less than two teams who obviously knew each other well.

Spot after spot, near fall after near fall, these guys seemed relentless in their quest to one-up each other.

There was only one problem with the match: The finish sucked.

Here’s what I saw: The Briscoes were setting up their finisher (Doomsday Device?), but it was broken up at the last second. Jay Briscoe was taken out by a spin kick, and then War Machine hit their finisher (Fallout?) on Mark Briscoe. But the three count was weak, and hard to hear. The ref signaled for the bell, but the timekeeper didn’t ring it. So we all thought it was a two-count. The ref then had to go back and signal again several times before the bell was finally rung.

The whole thing fell apart at the very end because the guys outside the ring couldn’t get the bell to ring. It was a shameful ending to an otherwise outstanding match. That deserved much, much better, but it was still a great contest.

(4 ½ stars out of 5)