I was going through exactly the same process with those 3 balls. First choice was Defiant, but I scratched it because multiple people told me it was great out of the box, but shell died quickly, which is what happened to my Theory. I love the Vivid core, but think it will be a better matchup when they put a pearl or hybrid shell on it. Couldn't get a Revenge with the pin distance I wanted. Finally noticed that the Nexus p+r had almost exactly the same specs and rating as Defiant. Drilled it, and am very happy with it.