LG
04-21-2013, 02:47 PM
We're going to do something a little different tonight. Since I was reviewing ROH's Defy Or Deny 2 DVD anyway, I decided to give whoever's around and looking at the site a special surprise and do a pseudo-live DVD review with segment-by-segment updates as if I were doing my weekly Impact report. So if you're an ROH fan and, like me, have nothing better to do with your Saturday night, I hope you enjoy it!
Just to bring you up to speed, Defy Or Deny 2 was the second night of a swing ROH took through the Midwest back in January that a lot of people have pointed to as the weekend ROH really started building the momentum of the resurgence they've experienced so far in 2013. The main event is a Defy Or Deny four way elimination match, as ROH WOrld Champion Kevin Steen has the opportunity to permanently eliminate Michael Elgin, Roderick Strong, and Eddie Edwards from title contention if he can win the match. Also, Kyle O'Reilly and Davey Richards will have their long awaited first singles encounter since their split seven months earlier, Matt Hardy takes on BJ Whitmer, SCUM will face the Briscoes and Jay Lethal, and a whole lot more, so here we go!
Proving Ground Match: TV Champion Adam Cole vs Silas Young
Young is coming off a very strong run of appearances in the Top Prospect Tournament and recent DVD tapings, and now the veteran gets the chance to face the TV Champion and possibly earn a title shot if he comes out on top. A large part of the crowd is behind Silas, who gets the advantage during the early feeling out process, but Cole comes back with a couple of dropkicks and gets a 2 count. Young backdrops Cole out to the apron and boot him to the floor, then follows cole outside and rams him into the barricade. Young keeps up the aggression, ramming Cole's face into the ring apron and then rolling him back inside and getting a cradle for 2. Cole fires back with right hands, but a knee to the midsection shuts Cole right back down and then Young puts the boots to Cole in the corner. Young violently rams Cole back and forth into the corners, but Cole fires up and takes Young out with a clothesline and a neckbreaker, followed by an enziguiri and a running knee for 2. Cole with a fireman's neckbreaker over the knee for 2, Young returns the favor with a nasty looking back suplex into a neckbreaker over his own knee, Cole is out at 2 and hits Young with a brainbuster over the knee and makes a cover, but Young grabs the ropes just before 3. Young blocks a figure four and gets the backbreaker/lariat combo for 2, he hits the Finlay Roll and goes for the headstand moonsault, but Cole superkicks him during the headstand part and hits the Florida Key for the win.
Winner: Adam Cole
Good opener, Young got a good run at Cole and the crowd was really into the false finishes and got excited when it looked like Young was going to score the upset a couple of times.
Bobby Fish vs Tadarius Thomas
This ought to be a fun match between two guys who work a lot of martial arts into their matches. They do some basic chain wrestling to start, Fish plays some mind games by backing off to the ropes whenever Thomas starts to get an advantage and then rams Thomas to the corner and drives in some shoulderblocks. That slows Thomas down quite a bit, and allows Fish to hit a springboard twisting senton and hit a back suplex. Fish grounds Thomas with a bodyscissors to prevent him from using any of his fancy moves, Thomas escapes and gets a few shots in but Fish regains the advantage almost immediately with some nice kicks. Fish blocks a Tiger suplex attempt and counters to a Samoan Drop for 2, then stops to tell a fan in the audience that he's number one. That gives Thomas enough of a chance to recover that he's finally able to rock Fish with some kicks. Truth Martini comes down to ringside to observe as Thomas hits a Slingblade for 2. More kicks from Thomas and he hits the Tiger suplex, but Fish lands right on the bottom rope and no count is made. Fish dodgesa charge in the corner and Thomas hurts his knee on the middle turnbuckle, and Fish goes after the knee like a shark. Fish stops to exchange more words with the fans before coming back inside to dish out more punishment to the leg of Thomas. Thomas gets a series of rollups for 2, but Fish counters another Tiger suplex attempt by rolling right into an anklelock with a bodyscissors, and Thomas taps out almost immediately.
Winner: Bobby Fish
I enjoyed this a lot, and it made Fish look strong since he pretty much squashed a guy who just had a competitive match with the World Champion the night before.
Charlie Haas vs Rhett Titus
Charlie gets a microphone before the match and makes friends with the fans by running down Rhett Titus and Milwaukee's sports teams. Titus has more than had enough of Haas by this point in his life and knocks his lights out as Haas takes a chug from his beer. Haas rolls out to the floor, but Titus goes right after him and rams him into the barricades before dumping a beer over his head. They go back inside and Titus tears Haas' shirt off, wipes his rear end with it, and rubs it in Haas' face before planting him with a vertical suplex. Haas tries to escape back out to the floor and Titus goes out after him, but now Haas rams Titus into the barricade, tears the barricade cover off and nails Titus with it, then rolls inside and waits for Titus to drag himself back in. Titus beats the count and gets drilled with a hard punt from Haas, who proceeds to lay in more of a beating as the fans chant that Shelton Benjamin is better than he is. This just serves to infuriate Haas, who nails Titus with another couple of clotheslines and catches him in a chinlock. Haas puts all his body weight on Titus' neck by scooting his hips off the mat, but he allows himself to be distracted by the crowd again as they do another "Shelton's better" chant. Titus dodges a corner charge, backdrops Haas, and he starts to make a comeback with an IED in the corner, followed by a Sky High for 2. Titus blocks a German suplexattempt and hits a leapfrog bulldog for 2, they trade big boots and Haas hits the Hacker Slam for 2. The crowd now chants "you're not Angle" at Haas as he ducks a clothesline from Titus and hits Uncle Slam for 2. Haas dumps Titus out of the ring and Titus hits the apron hard on his way out. Haas back suplexes Titus onto the barricade and then rolls him back inside, flips off a fat guy at ringside, and comes inside with his case of beer. The referee takes the case away, but Titus grabs a can that rolled out, nails Haas with it, and goes up top. Titus goes for a frogsplash, but Haas gets the knees up and cradles a stunned Titus for the win.
Winner: Charlie Haas
Very heated match, Titus finally loses the feud with Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team once and for all, a crushing loss that surely led to him joining SCUM only weeks later.
Steve Corino, Jimmy Jacobs & Rhino vs Jay Lethal & The Briscoes
Corino gets a microphone and cuts a lengthy promo before the match running down Milwaukee for being a place with no good wrestling legends other than the Crusher, then responds to an ECW chant by saying that he and Rhino are basically the only two guys from ECW still in the game. Lethal and the Briscoes rush the ring after Corino gets done running his mouth, and Lethal starts kicking Corino's ass ass everyone else fights their way out to the floor. Corino slides out to the floor as well, so Lethal hits a baseball slide and wipes Corino out with a dive. Jay rams Jacobs into the barricade as Mark unloads on Rhino, and Lethal brings Corino back inside and gets a dropkick, then mounts Corino and just unloads with right hands as everyone finally gets back to their corners. Jay comes in and pummels Corino with right hands and kicks, then chokes him with his boot. Mark comes in to dish out much of the same to Corino, and throws in some headbutts to boot. Lethal comes back in with a double axhandle for 2 as Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness put over the excellent Adam Cole vs Jimmy Jacobs match from the night before. Jay comes in and takes a couple of cheap shots from Jacobs and Rhino, allowing Corino to hit the Colby Shock and tag in Rhino. Corino and Jacobs gouge Jay's eyes as Rhino distracts the referee, then Jacobs tags in and hits a neckbreaker for 2. Jay gives Corino a Flatliner into the second turnbuckle and tags out to Lethal, and he comes in and cleans house. Jacobs bounces around like a pinball as Lethal dishes out punishment and hits the Lethal Combination for 2. Jacobs nails Lethal as he goes for the Lethal Combination, and Corino nails Lethal with a lariat from the apron. Now Lethal suffers cheapshots from the outside as the Briscoes distract the referee by trying to come to the rescue. Lethal desperately fights back and hits a springboard elbow on Rhino, flops around looking for his corner, and makes the tag to Mark, who comes in like a bundle of fire and destroys Corino with Redneck Kung Fu, even whipping out the fabled crane kick. Now all six men are in the ring duking it out, the Briscoes and Lethal get simultaneous ten punch counts in the corners, then they dump Corino and Jacobs and trap Rhino in the ring. Lethal hits Hail To The King, Mark hits the froggy bow and makes a cover, but Jacobs breaks it up at 2. Lethal sends Corino into the barricade as the Briscoes set Jacobs up for the Doomsday Device, but Jacobs escapes and takes Jay out of the action with an eye gouge, and Rhino hits the gore on Mark for the win.
Winners: Steve Corino, Jimmy Jacobs & Rhino
Solid match, they told a great story here and SCUM needed the win to rebuild some momentum.
Matt Hardy vs BJ Whitmer
Matt Hardy cuts a prematch promo complaining that he isn't getting a TV Title shot after beating Adam Cole clean with a wrestling move at Final Battle, and tells Whitmer that he's not getting in his way and he's going to prove he's stronger than death when he beats Whitmer. Whitmer tells Hardy that what he forgot to consider is that he's one of the toughest dudes to ever compete in ROH. The bell rings and they tie up, Whitmer takes Hardy to the corner and breaks clean, but Hardy gets a cheapshot that just earns him some hard shots from Whitmer. Hardy goes out to the floor to create some space and runs like hell when he sees Whitmer going for a dive. Hardy comes back in, eats a leg lariat, rolls right back out to the floor, and gets wiped out with a dive from Whitmer. Whitmer dumps Hardy back into the ring and hammers im with more hard hitting offense, including several chops that the crowd lights up for. Hardy blocks a superplex and knocks Whitmer into the ring, then hits an elbowsmash to the back of Whitmer's still tender neck. Hardy goes for a Twist of Fate, then changes direction midstream and DDT's Whitmer for 2 instead. Hardy with a series of legdrops to Whitmer's neck, then a series of clothelines in the corner and a bulldog for 2. Everything Matt does is targeted at Whitmer's neck as he gets a chinlock, stands on the back of Whitmer's head, and crossfaces him on the middle rope. Hardy mistimes a move and they collide mid-ring and both go down. Whitmer is up first and he hits a pair of clotheslines and a spinebuster for 2, Whitmer with a series of rolling suplees but can't put Hardy away, and Hardy ducks a clothesline and hits the Side Effect for 2. The crowd chants "same old s***" at Hardy as he elbowdrops Whitmer and goes for the howling legdrop, Whitmer dodges and hits rolling fisherman's suplexes for 2. Whitmer destroys Hardy with right hands, the referee pulls Whitmer off and gives Hardy an opening to hit a backdrop suplex and the Twist of Fate, but Whitmer kicks out at 1. Hardy goes for another Twist of Fate, Whitmer counters to a rollup for 2, but Hardy hits another Twist of Fate for 2. Hardy is in shock that he can't put Whitmer away, and he puts Whitmer in the double underhook guillotine choke. Whitmer refuses to give up and can't make the ropes, so Whitmer's partner Rhett Titus comes down to ringside and throws the towel in for Whitmer.
Winner: Matt Hardy
Whitmer looked like an f'ing warrior here, and he's not happy with Titus for throwing the towel in on him, but Titus tries to reason with him as Nigel McGuinness comes down to ringside to sort things out. Hardy asks Nigel if he saw him make BJ tap out just now, and says he's not going to stop until the TV Title is his and he'll do whatever it takes to get it if Nigel will give him the shot. Adam Cole comes out to the ring and Hardy tells Cole that he beat him clean at Final Battle, but Cole tells him to do everyone a favor and shut his mouth. He's said before that he has no problem defending the TV Title against him, and he and Hardy go back and forth until Hardy attacks Cole and gets his ass kicked. Hardy grabs the TV Title belt as a crew of referees comes in to break them up and lays Cole out with it, then steals the belt and heads off to the back.
Davey Richards vs Kyle O'Reilly
O'Reilly nails Davey with the crazy diving dropkick off the apron as Davey makes his entrance, and they brawl on the floor until Davey rams O'Reilly into the barricade and drills him with the running punt across the ring apron. They go back inside and Davey hits a snap suplex for 2, then hammers O'Reilly with kicks before locking him in the Texas Sunrise. Davey really cranks on the hold until O'Reilly makes it to the ropes, O'Reilly goes to the second rope but Davey yanks him out of the corner and kicks him on the way down. They go out to the apron where O'Reilly gives Davey a brainbuster onto the apron, and Davey is DEAD as the crowd chants "holy s***" at what they just saw. O'Reilly waits for Davey to drag himself back inside and then catches him in a front guillotine choke, but Davey makes it to the ropes to force the break, so O'Reilly unloads with a couple of kicks and a back elbow for 2. O'Reilly with a modified version of the abdominal stretch where he figure fours Davey's legs instead of grapevining them, and he rolls backward into a guillotine for 2. Davey tries to get back to his feet and trade blows with O'Reilly, but O'Reilly boots Davey's head off and then unloads with a flurry of strikes and a legsweep for 2. Davey hooks O'Reilly into a surfboard out of nowhere, but O'Reilly slips out and goes to the eyes before fishhooking Davey's mouth and then drilling him with more kicks. Davey responds with some haymakers and they trade blows again before Davey counters a sunset flip to a double stomp. O'Reilly rolls out to the floor and Davey wipes him out with a dive through the ropes. Back inside they go as they go face to face and trade right hands, Davey gets the advantage and nails O'Reilly with the handspring enziguiri for 2. O'Reilly blocks a German suplex and hits a series of kicks, Davey with kicks of his own and a German suplex with a bridge for 2, O'Reilly hits Davey with a kneestrike that knocks him silly, they trade big boots and more kneestrikes and O'Reilly hits a running punt and goes for a Regalplex, but Davey rolls through into an anklelock and O'Reilly almost immediately escapes. They trade big boots and forearms, O'Reilly counters the Alarm Clock to the Regalplex, but only gets 2. The crowd chants that "this is awesome" as they again trade blows in the middle of the ring, Davey is all fired up as he hammers O'Reilly with kicks, then O'Reilly with a series of his own kicks, Davey with kicks, O'Reilly with a backdrop suplex, Davey with a backdrop suplex, they trade sole butts, then hit simultaneous knockout kicks and both men are down. Holy crap, this is great! O'Reilly and Davey both go out to the apron and fight back and forth over a cornerpost, they climb the corner as they continue trading blows and O'Reilly hits a top rope backdrop suplex and goes right to the guillotine choke, Davey counters to a jackknife cradle for 2 but O'Reilly kicks out and goes back to the guillotine choke. Davey is out again and O'Reilly hits a dropkick, a tornado DDT, a brainbuster for 2, and goes back to the guillotine choke. Davey gets to his feet and counters the choke to an anklelock, and he finally breaks the choke and O'Reilly immediately rolls through the anklelock into a pinning combination for 2. Davey with the Alarm Clock and a charging forearm in the corner, clothesline turns O'Reilly inside out, then Davey hits a tomstone for 2. Davey comes off the top rope with a double stomp for 2, Davey with a knockout kick to the head and O'Reilly reaches up to grab the referee's hand to block the three count. Davey looks really pissed as he stalks the barely conscious O'Reilly, he picks him up and looks him in the eye, then takes his leg out and knockout kicks him for the win.
Winner: Davey Richards
This match was AWESOME. If anybody had any doubt as to how good Kyle O'Reilly is, this match proved it as he and Davey went all out to have a strong contender for ROH Match of the Year. The match was seven months in the making, and was 100% worth the wait.
Defy Or Deny Elimination Match: ROH World Champion Kevin Steen vs Roderick Strong vs Eddie Edwards vs Michael Elgin
Roderick does a prematch promo reminding everyone how he won the only other Defy Or Deny match in ROH history, he calls Steen a fatass, and runs his mouth until Eddie Edwards cold cocks him. Everyone goes nuts brawling and going out to the floor where Edwards wipes out all three opponents with dives. Steen shuts Edwards down by powerbombing him onto the ring apron as Elgin and Strong go at it on the inside with Elgini getting a (very) delayed vertical suplex. He literally holds Strong up for a full minute before dropping him, and even Steen applauds from the floor as Elgin covers for 2. Steen runs in and clotheslines Elgin before dumping Strong out to the floor and hitting a DDT on Elgin for 2. Strong drags Steen out to the floor and rams him into the barricade before coming back in and putting the boots to Elgin. Elgin and Strong go at it as Steen regains his bearings and runs in to attack both men. Strong drills Elgin with a dropkick and Steen htis a senton, but Strong steals the pinfall attempt from Steen and covers Elgin for 2 before kicking Edwards off the apron. Elgin fires back on both men, hitting Steen with a bicycle kick and then DEADLIFTING him into a release German suplex before going back to fighting Strong. Steen gets onto the ring apron, but Edwards finally recovers and slams Steen off the apron and onto the entry ramp. Elgin flapjacks Strong and then Edwards comes in to try and double team Elgin with Strong, but Elgin picks them both up and goes for a double Alabama Slam. They escape and hit a seires of knockout kicks on Elgin before Strong hits a half nelson backbreaker on Eddie for 2. Elgin hits an STO on Strong and then gets a pair of clotheslines and a Black Hole Slam for 2. Edwards hits Elgin with a missile dropkick, then they trade blows until Edwards hits a leaping enziguiri, Elgin hits a charging clothesline, Edwards hits a running kneestrike, Elgin boots Edwards in the face and goes for a Codebreaker, but Elgin catches him in midair and hits an Air Raid Crash for 2. Elgin superplexes Eddie off the apron, but Eddie blocks the move and allows Strong to come in with a flurry of offense on Elgin. Elgin hits a hard forearm, powerbombs Strong into the corner, then picks Steen up in a fireman's carry as he enters the ring, picks Strong up, and hits a double fallaway slam before taking a top rope double stomps from Edwards for 2. DAMN that was an awesome sequence. The crowd is solidly behind Elgin as he goes for Chaos Theory on Eddie, Eddie escapes but Elgin drills him with a clothesline, hits an enziguiri on Strong, and gets planted with a pop up powerbomb and an F5 from Steen. Steen goes for a cover and Elgin is out at 2, Steen goes for a package piledriver, Elgin backdrops Steen, Elgin rolls through and powers Steen up into a powerbomb. He tries another one but gets a superkick, leaping kneestrike, and a vertical suplex into a backbreaker from Strong, and Elgin is eliminated.
Damn, they had to practically kill Elgin to beat him, and that makes him look like a HELL of a monster. Strong drills Edwards with a running kneestrike, Edwards hits him back with an enziguiri and the Backpack Driver for 2, and Steen hits Edwards with a top rope senton for 2 before covering Strong for another 2. Strong takes Steen's legs out and superkicks him, then he gets Steen up and hits a gutbuster as Edwards hits him with a top rope double stomp and Strong steals another cover on Steen for 2. Strong and Edwards go face to face, and they trade chops as Steen is out of it in the corner. Strong with a leaping enziguiri, Edwards reverses a backbreaker attempt to a crucifix, Strong back Edwards into the corner and chops him, Edwards gets a rollup for 2 and goes for the Achilles Lock, Strong escapes and goes for the Stronghold, Edwards reverses to the cradle he used to beat Strong for the title, then gets Strong in the Achilles Lock and stomps on the back of Strong's head as Steen comes in and hits a somersault legdrop to the back of Strong's head. Strong is out, and the referee calls for the fall and eliminates him.
Steen immediately comes in and kicks Edwards low and hits the package piledriver, but only gets 2. Steen goes up top and tries for the swanton, Eddie gets the knees up and Steen rolls out to the apron. Edwards goes to the top rope and goes for a double stomp to Steen on the apron, but Steen moves out of the way and hits a package piledriver on the apron, then quickly rolls Eddie back inside and covers him for the win.
Winner: Kevin Steen
Excellent main event, Steen won but everyone came out of this looking like a million bucks. Steen takes a microphone and calls out some loudmouth in the crowd to get in the ring, and of course the guy doesn't do it. Steensays he's the ROH World Champion and he doesn't care if the fans don't tell him he's the best in the world because he's definitely the baddest.
PWInsider
Just to bring you up to speed, Defy Or Deny 2 was the second night of a swing ROH took through the Midwest back in January that a lot of people have pointed to as the weekend ROH really started building the momentum of the resurgence they've experienced so far in 2013. The main event is a Defy Or Deny four way elimination match, as ROH WOrld Champion Kevin Steen has the opportunity to permanently eliminate Michael Elgin, Roderick Strong, and Eddie Edwards from title contention if he can win the match. Also, Kyle O'Reilly and Davey Richards will have their long awaited first singles encounter since their split seven months earlier, Matt Hardy takes on BJ Whitmer, SCUM will face the Briscoes and Jay Lethal, and a whole lot more, so here we go!
Proving Ground Match: TV Champion Adam Cole vs Silas Young
Young is coming off a very strong run of appearances in the Top Prospect Tournament and recent DVD tapings, and now the veteran gets the chance to face the TV Champion and possibly earn a title shot if he comes out on top. A large part of the crowd is behind Silas, who gets the advantage during the early feeling out process, but Cole comes back with a couple of dropkicks and gets a 2 count. Young backdrops Cole out to the apron and boot him to the floor, then follows cole outside and rams him into the barricade. Young keeps up the aggression, ramming Cole's face into the ring apron and then rolling him back inside and getting a cradle for 2. Cole fires back with right hands, but a knee to the midsection shuts Cole right back down and then Young puts the boots to Cole in the corner. Young violently rams Cole back and forth into the corners, but Cole fires up and takes Young out with a clothesline and a neckbreaker, followed by an enziguiri and a running knee for 2. Cole with a fireman's neckbreaker over the knee for 2, Young returns the favor with a nasty looking back suplex into a neckbreaker over his own knee, Cole is out at 2 and hits Young with a brainbuster over the knee and makes a cover, but Young grabs the ropes just before 3. Young blocks a figure four and gets the backbreaker/lariat combo for 2, he hits the Finlay Roll and goes for the headstand moonsault, but Cole superkicks him during the headstand part and hits the Florida Key for the win.
Winner: Adam Cole
Good opener, Young got a good run at Cole and the crowd was really into the false finishes and got excited when it looked like Young was going to score the upset a couple of times.
Bobby Fish vs Tadarius Thomas
This ought to be a fun match between two guys who work a lot of martial arts into their matches. They do some basic chain wrestling to start, Fish plays some mind games by backing off to the ropes whenever Thomas starts to get an advantage and then rams Thomas to the corner and drives in some shoulderblocks. That slows Thomas down quite a bit, and allows Fish to hit a springboard twisting senton and hit a back suplex. Fish grounds Thomas with a bodyscissors to prevent him from using any of his fancy moves, Thomas escapes and gets a few shots in but Fish regains the advantage almost immediately with some nice kicks. Fish blocks a Tiger suplex attempt and counters to a Samoan Drop for 2, then stops to tell a fan in the audience that he's number one. That gives Thomas enough of a chance to recover that he's finally able to rock Fish with some kicks. Truth Martini comes down to ringside to observe as Thomas hits a Slingblade for 2. More kicks from Thomas and he hits the Tiger suplex, but Fish lands right on the bottom rope and no count is made. Fish dodgesa charge in the corner and Thomas hurts his knee on the middle turnbuckle, and Fish goes after the knee like a shark. Fish stops to exchange more words with the fans before coming back inside to dish out more punishment to the leg of Thomas. Thomas gets a series of rollups for 2, but Fish counters another Tiger suplex attempt by rolling right into an anklelock with a bodyscissors, and Thomas taps out almost immediately.
Winner: Bobby Fish
I enjoyed this a lot, and it made Fish look strong since he pretty much squashed a guy who just had a competitive match with the World Champion the night before.
Charlie Haas vs Rhett Titus
Charlie gets a microphone before the match and makes friends with the fans by running down Rhett Titus and Milwaukee's sports teams. Titus has more than had enough of Haas by this point in his life and knocks his lights out as Haas takes a chug from his beer. Haas rolls out to the floor, but Titus goes right after him and rams him into the barricades before dumping a beer over his head. They go back inside and Titus tears Haas' shirt off, wipes his rear end with it, and rubs it in Haas' face before planting him with a vertical suplex. Haas tries to escape back out to the floor and Titus goes out after him, but now Haas rams Titus into the barricade, tears the barricade cover off and nails Titus with it, then rolls inside and waits for Titus to drag himself back in. Titus beats the count and gets drilled with a hard punt from Haas, who proceeds to lay in more of a beating as the fans chant that Shelton Benjamin is better than he is. This just serves to infuriate Haas, who nails Titus with another couple of clotheslines and catches him in a chinlock. Haas puts all his body weight on Titus' neck by scooting his hips off the mat, but he allows himself to be distracted by the crowd again as they do another "Shelton's better" chant. Titus dodges a corner charge, backdrops Haas, and he starts to make a comeback with an IED in the corner, followed by a Sky High for 2. Titus blocks a German suplexattempt and hits a leapfrog bulldog for 2, they trade big boots and Haas hits the Hacker Slam for 2. The crowd now chants "you're not Angle" at Haas as he ducks a clothesline from Titus and hits Uncle Slam for 2. Haas dumps Titus out of the ring and Titus hits the apron hard on his way out. Haas back suplexes Titus onto the barricade and then rolls him back inside, flips off a fat guy at ringside, and comes inside with his case of beer. The referee takes the case away, but Titus grabs a can that rolled out, nails Haas with it, and goes up top. Titus goes for a frogsplash, but Haas gets the knees up and cradles a stunned Titus for the win.
Winner: Charlie Haas
Very heated match, Titus finally loses the feud with Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team once and for all, a crushing loss that surely led to him joining SCUM only weeks later.
Steve Corino, Jimmy Jacobs & Rhino vs Jay Lethal & The Briscoes
Corino gets a microphone and cuts a lengthy promo before the match running down Milwaukee for being a place with no good wrestling legends other than the Crusher, then responds to an ECW chant by saying that he and Rhino are basically the only two guys from ECW still in the game. Lethal and the Briscoes rush the ring after Corino gets done running his mouth, and Lethal starts kicking Corino's ass ass everyone else fights their way out to the floor. Corino slides out to the floor as well, so Lethal hits a baseball slide and wipes Corino out with a dive. Jay rams Jacobs into the barricade as Mark unloads on Rhino, and Lethal brings Corino back inside and gets a dropkick, then mounts Corino and just unloads with right hands as everyone finally gets back to their corners. Jay comes in and pummels Corino with right hands and kicks, then chokes him with his boot. Mark comes in to dish out much of the same to Corino, and throws in some headbutts to boot. Lethal comes back in with a double axhandle for 2 as Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness put over the excellent Adam Cole vs Jimmy Jacobs match from the night before. Jay comes in and takes a couple of cheap shots from Jacobs and Rhino, allowing Corino to hit the Colby Shock and tag in Rhino. Corino and Jacobs gouge Jay's eyes as Rhino distracts the referee, then Jacobs tags in and hits a neckbreaker for 2. Jay gives Corino a Flatliner into the second turnbuckle and tags out to Lethal, and he comes in and cleans house. Jacobs bounces around like a pinball as Lethal dishes out punishment and hits the Lethal Combination for 2. Jacobs nails Lethal as he goes for the Lethal Combination, and Corino nails Lethal with a lariat from the apron. Now Lethal suffers cheapshots from the outside as the Briscoes distract the referee by trying to come to the rescue. Lethal desperately fights back and hits a springboard elbow on Rhino, flops around looking for his corner, and makes the tag to Mark, who comes in like a bundle of fire and destroys Corino with Redneck Kung Fu, even whipping out the fabled crane kick. Now all six men are in the ring duking it out, the Briscoes and Lethal get simultaneous ten punch counts in the corners, then they dump Corino and Jacobs and trap Rhino in the ring. Lethal hits Hail To The King, Mark hits the froggy bow and makes a cover, but Jacobs breaks it up at 2. Lethal sends Corino into the barricade as the Briscoes set Jacobs up for the Doomsday Device, but Jacobs escapes and takes Jay out of the action with an eye gouge, and Rhino hits the gore on Mark for the win.
Winners: Steve Corino, Jimmy Jacobs & Rhino
Solid match, they told a great story here and SCUM needed the win to rebuild some momentum.
Matt Hardy vs BJ Whitmer
Matt Hardy cuts a prematch promo complaining that he isn't getting a TV Title shot after beating Adam Cole clean with a wrestling move at Final Battle, and tells Whitmer that he's not getting in his way and he's going to prove he's stronger than death when he beats Whitmer. Whitmer tells Hardy that what he forgot to consider is that he's one of the toughest dudes to ever compete in ROH. The bell rings and they tie up, Whitmer takes Hardy to the corner and breaks clean, but Hardy gets a cheapshot that just earns him some hard shots from Whitmer. Hardy goes out to the floor to create some space and runs like hell when he sees Whitmer going for a dive. Hardy comes back in, eats a leg lariat, rolls right back out to the floor, and gets wiped out with a dive from Whitmer. Whitmer dumps Hardy back into the ring and hammers im with more hard hitting offense, including several chops that the crowd lights up for. Hardy blocks a superplex and knocks Whitmer into the ring, then hits an elbowsmash to the back of Whitmer's still tender neck. Hardy goes for a Twist of Fate, then changes direction midstream and DDT's Whitmer for 2 instead. Hardy with a series of legdrops to Whitmer's neck, then a series of clothelines in the corner and a bulldog for 2. Everything Matt does is targeted at Whitmer's neck as he gets a chinlock, stands on the back of Whitmer's head, and crossfaces him on the middle rope. Hardy mistimes a move and they collide mid-ring and both go down. Whitmer is up first and he hits a pair of clotheslines and a spinebuster for 2, Whitmer with a series of rolling suplees but can't put Hardy away, and Hardy ducks a clothesline and hits the Side Effect for 2. The crowd chants "same old s***" at Hardy as he elbowdrops Whitmer and goes for the howling legdrop, Whitmer dodges and hits rolling fisherman's suplexes for 2. Whitmer destroys Hardy with right hands, the referee pulls Whitmer off and gives Hardy an opening to hit a backdrop suplex and the Twist of Fate, but Whitmer kicks out at 1. Hardy goes for another Twist of Fate, Whitmer counters to a rollup for 2, but Hardy hits another Twist of Fate for 2. Hardy is in shock that he can't put Whitmer away, and he puts Whitmer in the double underhook guillotine choke. Whitmer refuses to give up and can't make the ropes, so Whitmer's partner Rhett Titus comes down to ringside and throws the towel in for Whitmer.
Winner: Matt Hardy
Whitmer looked like an f'ing warrior here, and he's not happy with Titus for throwing the towel in on him, but Titus tries to reason with him as Nigel McGuinness comes down to ringside to sort things out. Hardy asks Nigel if he saw him make BJ tap out just now, and says he's not going to stop until the TV Title is his and he'll do whatever it takes to get it if Nigel will give him the shot. Adam Cole comes out to the ring and Hardy tells Cole that he beat him clean at Final Battle, but Cole tells him to do everyone a favor and shut his mouth. He's said before that he has no problem defending the TV Title against him, and he and Hardy go back and forth until Hardy attacks Cole and gets his ass kicked. Hardy grabs the TV Title belt as a crew of referees comes in to break them up and lays Cole out with it, then steals the belt and heads off to the back.
Davey Richards vs Kyle O'Reilly
O'Reilly nails Davey with the crazy diving dropkick off the apron as Davey makes his entrance, and they brawl on the floor until Davey rams O'Reilly into the barricade and drills him with the running punt across the ring apron. They go back inside and Davey hits a snap suplex for 2, then hammers O'Reilly with kicks before locking him in the Texas Sunrise. Davey really cranks on the hold until O'Reilly makes it to the ropes, O'Reilly goes to the second rope but Davey yanks him out of the corner and kicks him on the way down. They go out to the apron where O'Reilly gives Davey a brainbuster onto the apron, and Davey is DEAD as the crowd chants "holy s***" at what they just saw. O'Reilly waits for Davey to drag himself back inside and then catches him in a front guillotine choke, but Davey makes it to the ropes to force the break, so O'Reilly unloads with a couple of kicks and a back elbow for 2. O'Reilly with a modified version of the abdominal stretch where he figure fours Davey's legs instead of grapevining them, and he rolls backward into a guillotine for 2. Davey tries to get back to his feet and trade blows with O'Reilly, but O'Reilly boots Davey's head off and then unloads with a flurry of strikes and a legsweep for 2. Davey hooks O'Reilly into a surfboard out of nowhere, but O'Reilly slips out and goes to the eyes before fishhooking Davey's mouth and then drilling him with more kicks. Davey responds with some haymakers and they trade blows again before Davey counters a sunset flip to a double stomp. O'Reilly rolls out to the floor and Davey wipes him out with a dive through the ropes. Back inside they go as they go face to face and trade right hands, Davey gets the advantage and nails O'Reilly with the handspring enziguiri for 2. O'Reilly blocks a German suplex and hits a series of kicks, Davey with kicks of his own and a German suplex with a bridge for 2, O'Reilly hits Davey with a kneestrike that knocks him silly, they trade big boots and more kneestrikes and O'Reilly hits a running punt and goes for a Regalplex, but Davey rolls through into an anklelock and O'Reilly almost immediately escapes. They trade big boots and forearms, O'Reilly counters the Alarm Clock to the Regalplex, but only gets 2. The crowd chants that "this is awesome" as they again trade blows in the middle of the ring, Davey is all fired up as he hammers O'Reilly with kicks, then O'Reilly with a series of his own kicks, Davey with kicks, O'Reilly with a backdrop suplex, Davey with a backdrop suplex, they trade sole butts, then hit simultaneous knockout kicks and both men are down. Holy crap, this is great! O'Reilly and Davey both go out to the apron and fight back and forth over a cornerpost, they climb the corner as they continue trading blows and O'Reilly hits a top rope backdrop suplex and goes right to the guillotine choke, Davey counters to a jackknife cradle for 2 but O'Reilly kicks out and goes back to the guillotine choke. Davey is out again and O'Reilly hits a dropkick, a tornado DDT, a brainbuster for 2, and goes back to the guillotine choke. Davey gets to his feet and counters the choke to an anklelock, and he finally breaks the choke and O'Reilly immediately rolls through the anklelock into a pinning combination for 2. Davey with the Alarm Clock and a charging forearm in the corner, clothesline turns O'Reilly inside out, then Davey hits a tomstone for 2. Davey comes off the top rope with a double stomp for 2, Davey with a knockout kick to the head and O'Reilly reaches up to grab the referee's hand to block the three count. Davey looks really pissed as he stalks the barely conscious O'Reilly, he picks him up and looks him in the eye, then takes his leg out and knockout kicks him for the win.
Winner: Davey Richards
This match was AWESOME. If anybody had any doubt as to how good Kyle O'Reilly is, this match proved it as he and Davey went all out to have a strong contender for ROH Match of the Year. The match was seven months in the making, and was 100% worth the wait.
Defy Or Deny Elimination Match: ROH World Champion Kevin Steen vs Roderick Strong vs Eddie Edwards vs Michael Elgin
Roderick does a prematch promo reminding everyone how he won the only other Defy Or Deny match in ROH history, he calls Steen a fatass, and runs his mouth until Eddie Edwards cold cocks him. Everyone goes nuts brawling and going out to the floor where Edwards wipes out all three opponents with dives. Steen shuts Edwards down by powerbombing him onto the ring apron as Elgin and Strong go at it on the inside with Elgini getting a (very) delayed vertical suplex. He literally holds Strong up for a full minute before dropping him, and even Steen applauds from the floor as Elgin covers for 2. Steen runs in and clotheslines Elgin before dumping Strong out to the floor and hitting a DDT on Elgin for 2. Strong drags Steen out to the floor and rams him into the barricade before coming back in and putting the boots to Elgin. Elgin and Strong go at it as Steen regains his bearings and runs in to attack both men. Strong drills Elgin with a dropkick and Steen htis a senton, but Strong steals the pinfall attempt from Steen and covers Elgin for 2 before kicking Edwards off the apron. Elgin fires back on both men, hitting Steen with a bicycle kick and then DEADLIFTING him into a release German suplex before going back to fighting Strong. Steen gets onto the ring apron, but Edwards finally recovers and slams Steen off the apron and onto the entry ramp. Elgin flapjacks Strong and then Edwards comes in to try and double team Elgin with Strong, but Elgin picks them both up and goes for a double Alabama Slam. They escape and hit a seires of knockout kicks on Elgin before Strong hits a half nelson backbreaker on Eddie for 2. Elgin hits an STO on Strong and then gets a pair of clotheslines and a Black Hole Slam for 2. Edwards hits Elgin with a missile dropkick, then they trade blows until Edwards hits a leaping enziguiri, Elgin hits a charging clothesline, Edwards hits a running kneestrike, Elgin boots Edwards in the face and goes for a Codebreaker, but Elgin catches him in midair and hits an Air Raid Crash for 2. Elgin superplexes Eddie off the apron, but Eddie blocks the move and allows Strong to come in with a flurry of offense on Elgin. Elgin hits a hard forearm, powerbombs Strong into the corner, then picks Steen up in a fireman's carry as he enters the ring, picks Strong up, and hits a double fallaway slam before taking a top rope double stomps from Edwards for 2. DAMN that was an awesome sequence. The crowd is solidly behind Elgin as he goes for Chaos Theory on Eddie, Eddie escapes but Elgin drills him with a clothesline, hits an enziguiri on Strong, and gets planted with a pop up powerbomb and an F5 from Steen. Steen goes for a cover and Elgin is out at 2, Steen goes for a package piledriver, Elgin backdrops Steen, Elgin rolls through and powers Steen up into a powerbomb. He tries another one but gets a superkick, leaping kneestrike, and a vertical suplex into a backbreaker from Strong, and Elgin is eliminated.
Damn, they had to practically kill Elgin to beat him, and that makes him look like a HELL of a monster. Strong drills Edwards with a running kneestrike, Edwards hits him back with an enziguiri and the Backpack Driver for 2, and Steen hits Edwards with a top rope senton for 2 before covering Strong for another 2. Strong takes Steen's legs out and superkicks him, then he gets Steen up and hits a gutbuster as Edwards hits him with a top rope double stomp and Strong steals another cover on Steen for 2. Strong and Edwards go face to face, and they trade chops as Steen is out of it in the corner. Strong with a leaping enziguiri, Edwards reverses a backbreaker attempt to a crucifix, Strong back Edwards into the corner and chops him, Edwards gets a rollup for 2 and goes for the Achilles Lock, Strong escapes and goes for the Stronghold, Edwards reverses to the cradle he used to beat Strong for the title, then gets Strong in the Achilles Lock and stomps on the back of Strong's head as Steen comes in and hits a somersault legdrop to the back of Strong's head. Strong is out, and the referee calls for the fall and eliminates him.
Steen immediately comes in and kicks Edwards low and hits the package piledriver, but only gets 2. Steen goes up top and tries for the swanton, Eddie gets the knees up and Steen rolls out to the apron. Edwards goes to the top rope and goes for a double stomp to Steen on the apron, but Steen moves out of the way and hits a package piledriver on the apron, then quickly rolls Eddie back inside and covers him for the win.
Winner: Kevin Steen
Excellent main event, Steen won but everyone came out of this looking like a million bucks. Steen takes a microphone and calls out some loudmouth in the crowd to get in the ring, and of course the guy doesn't do it. Steensays he's the ROH World Champion and he doesn't care if the fans don't tell him he's the best in the world because he's definitely the baddest.
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