McXal's Reviews

This episode runs opposite Death Before Dishonor. That was a tricky spot back when ROH ran traditional TV tapings, and is now even more challenging as their TV is mostly made up of clips from live-shows. The main event was taped at Honor For All, and is the Defy Or Deny Match between Matt Taven, Jay Lethal, Kenny King and Jeff Cobb. Outside of that, the Cagematch suggests that the episode has two TV-exclusive bouts, mostly featuring undercard guys and enhancement talent. Quinn McKay and Ian Riccaboni are our hosts, with Caprice Coleman joining Ian for main event commentary in Nashville, TN...

Our first highlights package spotlights the Shinobi Shadow Squad vs Silas/Felino/Okumura trios match from Saturday Night At Center Stage. The footage includes Silas' protege Josh Woods attacking the CMLL veterans after the match. In the locker rooms later on Josh catches up with Silas, who asks to see Woods' notebook. The Last Real Man isn't impressed with Josh's work, and stubs out a cigarette on the pages...

Up next is a TV-exclusive bout with the Soldiers Of Savagery facing Sal Rinauro and Michael Stevens. It's nice to see Sal back in ROH, but it's also extremely brief because his team are decimated by SOS and pinned in less than a minute.

At Honor For All, Jeff Cobb talks to Quinn ahead of Defy Or Deny. He says he NEEDS another shot at Matt Taven, so will go through all three guys to secure another title match...

This is our second TV exclusive bout of the night, and one supposedly put together to showcase the 'exciting young teams' in ROH's tag division. We've seen Master & Machine before, the zany pairing of blue chipper Griff Garrison (now in AEW of course) and the diminutive but fiery Marcus Kross. Their opponents are familiar; formerly known as Dalton Castle's Boys, the Tate Twins appear under their own name on TV for the first time. They appear dressed in capes with a superhero-inspired entrance theme - enough fanfare to suggest that ROH had some plans to give them some opportunities to establish themselves as an act outside of Dalton. This is taped in Atlanta, GA.

Kross starts with Brent Tate (the twin with the darker hair apparently), and the Twin continuity quickly becomes a factor as Brandon blind-tags without Kross' knowledge and wipes him out with a springboard crossbody. A monkey flip launches Kross across the ring, into position for a double stomp which gets 2. Marcus shows his fire by dropkicking his way past both Tates, unleashing Griff who absolutely destroys the Twins! He throws Brandon into Brent, then Spears him almost through the mat for 2. Brandon tries a chokeslam on Kross, who back flips through it and hammers Tate to the ground. Springboard enzi/powerbomb combo on Brent gets 2...so Brandon wipes Garrison out with a big dive on the floor. The Tates hit a double gourdbuster on Kross to win at 05:49 (shown)

Rating - * - It was nice to be able to watch one of the Tate's matches and be able to tell them apart. Unfortunately it wasn't a match that will live long in the memory. Kross and the Tates in the same ring was just too much goofball comedy for my liking. The one benefit of that is that it made Griff stand out even more. That guy so clearly has star potential and it's no surprise that he finds himself contracted to All Elite Wrestling as of writing this review. By putting The Boys over here I'd suggest that ROH were betting on the wrong horse...

Quinn and Ian spotlight ROH's return to the UK for the Honor United 2019 Tour. The confirm the World Title will be defended on the tour, and that 'tickets are moving really fast'. Having attended that Tour I can confirm they are telling a bare-faced lie there. To set the stage, we journey back to Honor Re-United, and the final of the International Cup where Mark Haskins defeated Hangman Page.

Jay Lethal contemplates his prospects in Defy Or Deny. Does he risk it all to get another shot at the World Title that he cannot live without? He leaves affirming that the World Title is so important he has to risk being banned from challenging just for another shot...

This is the second time Taven has been placed into a Defy Or Deny Match during his reign. At State Of The Art he actually won, and as a result Flip Gordon (the last man eliminated) remains barred from challenging for the World Championship. Tonight Taven steps up to another three men who have already lost one title match to him - with the opportunity to permanently exclude another big name from the title picture. He ended Cobb's undefeated streak at Best In The World, he pinned his old rival Lethal clean at Manhattan Mayhem (with King also in that one)...but is he completely focused on this match knowing that Rush is now in hot pursuit of a title shot as well? Amy Rose accompanies Kenny to the ring once again, and Lethal is visibly irritated by her presence given how she factored into his unsuccessful Best Of Three Series with Kenny. Rhett Titus has also joined commentary, still annoyed at King's comments about his career and his wife back in Philadelphia.

Kenny and Lethal refuse to shake hands, such is the ill-will that still exists between them. Taven, meanwhile, is such an asshole to everyone that the match begins with all three of his opponents simultaneously jumping him. Ian and Caprice point out that in the last Defy Or Deny Taven refused to participate early on - so starting the match is a significantly different strategy. He and Kenny are dumped out of the ring by Jay, leaving he and Cobb to square off for the first time. Lethal enjoys some success...but is then horrified to see Jeff no-sell basically all his offence. Standing moonsault dodged by Lethal, into his hiptoss/dropkick combo. Cobb goes for a stalling suplex on the champion, and succeeds even though Kenny was kicking him in the stomach. A biel sends Taven spiralling across the ring, with Lethal and King still brawling outside. The match becomes a rather surreal Scramble Match; King and Taven forming an impromptu team and working together to beat down both Lethal and Cobb. Their strategy appears to be keeping Jeff outside the ring so that they can single out and really put a hurting on their common enemy in Lethal. Figure 4 by Taven, revelling in trapping Lethal in one of his signature moves. It is broken when Cobb pulls King off the ropes and gives him a RAZOR'S EDGE on top of the World Champion! Helicopter Toss on Taven gets 2. One Night Stand from King to Cobb! Taven swoops in to give Kenny Just The Tip...but in turn eats an Ace Crusher from Lethal. King and Jay keep gravitating towards each other like magnets; every sequence in the match appears to begin and end with them coming to blows. Lethal eventually leaves the ring to have Amy Rose ejected from ringside, and in the melee Taven grabs the title belt and nails Cobb with it. Todd Sinclair spotted that, and disqualifies Taven at 16:10 - meaning we will see the award of a title shot for the winner tonight. As Taven furious argues with the ref, he causes Todd to miss Kenny picking up the belt and smacking Lethal in the face! Royal Flush nailed, and King eliminates Lethal at 16:43. The final two are King and Cobb, with Jeff battling to avoid the Royal Flush then barely kicking out when King pins him with his feet on the ropes. Tour Of The Islands nailed, handing Cobb the win and the title shot at 18:31

Rating - *** - This wasn't in the same league as the State Of The Art 2019 Defy Or Deny. It was lively and made for a fun main event for free TV - but for the most part this felt like total filler. I really hated that they made this a full-on Tornado Rules scramble, and I didn't particularly enjoy the lay-out which basically delivered a match packed with barely-connected spots then a flurry of eliminations at the end. The only part I found particularly memorable were the feud-building flash-points between Lethal and King...and since they've been feuding on and off for more than a year, that really wasn't providing anything new. Cobb getting a title rematch is interesting, but in truth the nature of his loss at Best In The World has already killed his credibility and it will take more than a forgettable win like this on a B-show to rebuild him.

Tape Rating - N/A - Not the best episode this week. Defy Or Deny was decent enough for television, but in truth stands out as one of the weakest ROH live show main events of 2019 so certainly isn't worth hunting down or going out of your way to see. The rest of the show was light on meaningful content since we're clashing with the Death Before Dishonor PPV. SOS appeared briefly for another squash, but left without really advancing their reputation or characters. The rebranded Tate Twins still wrestle a lot like The Boys, which I'd suggest isn't what ROH's tag division needs right now either. Strangely, I thought the passionate promo Lethal delivered about his love of being ROH World Champion was the best thing on the whole broadcast. It was only brief, but it succinctly captured the motivations and emotions of a man who has been in the main event scene for years...but is enduring a frustrating 2019.