Mark Briscoe and Darius Martin have new friends watching their backs

A friend in need is a friend indeed. During episode seven of ROH TV, Mark Briscoe and Darius Martin were both in a pickle on separate situations, and they had new friends watching their backs.

Mark Briscoe won the opening contest against Ari Daivari, even though, Mark Sterling and the Varsity Athletes were being pests ringside. Immediately after the match, Tony Nese and Josh Woods attacked Briscoe. Sterling stomped a mudhole with his wingtips. Someone needed to step up and make the save.

FTR rumbled in to clear the ring the Varsity Athletes. Sterling was left alone in the sights of Briscoe, Dax Harwood, and Cash Wheeler. The lawyer pleaded for mercy. Luckily, his clients pulled him out of the ring to safety. It looked like Sterling was close to suffering a heart attack and may even crapped his pants a little.

Briscoe has history with FTR in an epic trilogy of contests fighting over the ROH Tag Team Championship. A deep bond of respect was forged through combat. The way this scene played out, don’t be surprised if we see Briscoe and FTR team up in six-man action. The Varsity Athletes are a trio worthy of a match. Heck, perhaps Briscoe and FTR can blossom into a cohesive unit to climb the ranks in the ROH six-man division. They would be a heck of a challenge for current champions Brian Cage, Kaun, and Toa Liona. Briscoe and FTR winning those titles would be a cool moment.

And yes, this might interfere with the current AEW storyline of Briscoe being tricked into a partnership with Jay Lethal, Jeff Jarrett, Sonjay Dutt, and Satnam Singh. There’s no reason these two stories couldn’t overlap to bring FTR into the mix to help Briscoe.

For Darius Martin, he was in action against rival Mike Bennett. Matt Taven and Maria Kanellis were ringside to support their Kingdom ally. Martin was solo, since Dante Martin was out due to injury. (Side note: Commentary stated that Dante’s leg surgery was successful, and a return is anticipated sooner than expected.) When Martin had momentum toward victory, Taven entered the ring for a blatant beatdown. The referee ruled the contest a disqualification. The Kingdom continued with their assault until Action Andretti arrived to make the save.

Backstage, Martin and Andretti explained their new partnership. The definition of insanity is repeating the same thing over and expecting different results. The Kingdom has pulled this behavior too often on Martin, so he put a plan into action. Andretti has been in that situation before, and he knew he had to have Martin’s back. The new pals issued a challenged to the Kingdom for next week.

The alliance of Martin and Andretti makes a lot of sense. Both are high-flying young guns with complementary styles. It also gives them a story to sink their teeth into for the ROH program. That should prove to be valuable experience going up against veterans Taven and Bennett.

What’s your take on the prospects of these two new friendships in ROH?