All Continental Classic 2023 reviews linked here.
It says a lot about Mark Briscoe’s talent that he may have had the better performance in this bout. The match sort of does live and die by him. By the time Mox busts him open on the steel steps, Mark taps into some good old fashioned babyface charm. Truly excellent face in peril physicality from the man here, always going for the ropes, physically reaching out to the crowd and channeling their energy. It’s beautiful stuff, the kind of thing you fine tune and internalize after decades of tag team work. Even when we get into some of the more formulaic tropes like getting up from big suplexes, Mark puts in that small bit of additional work to convey the effort it takes to actually absorb that shock and continue. He’s not popping up like nothing happened, he’s dragging himself up on the ropes, actively fighting through the pain. Pure, honest to god fighting spirit. Enough of it that I found myself rooting for the upset here, one that would make sense within the tournament context too. We don’t get that, but it’s the power of Mark Briscoe that makes hope worth having.
Rating: ***¾
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