Bruce Blank

Now I was never a HUGE fan of Grunge - I liked the P.E. and all but it's not a huge personal loss to me that he's dead But it's DAMN sad that yet another performer is taken from this earth way, way, way, way too early - I mean dead at 39? That's just a tragedy on so many levels Rest in Peace man - may you be the last for a while (Which I unfortunately doubt)

1) Apolo is going to be fired, probably this week. 2) Hardy has actually made TNA money, unlike Strong / Aries. The punishment here, if they are off for several weeks/months, is too harsh. But TNA is completely right to discipline. 1) They booked him even after he no-showed the last time, no message sent then 2) He made money so he’s exempt from the rules? Then I know exactly what message they’re sending to everyone and it’s “We’re big pussies for only going after the little guy” And they’re punished for POTENTIALLY missing the show – that’s like saying “You’re fired cause you were thinking of calling in sick next Tuesday” Yeah that’s not retarded

Woops forgot to predict myself The Main Event (non-title) El Luchadore Magnifico © vs. "The Icon" Max King © - There is a reason ELM is the longest reigning world champion (and the 2nd longest too) while Max has been on a roll since his return I think this'll be too big a challenge for the Icon Lethal Lottery Match (Pool D) Todd Cortez and Allan Hadrian (0/0) vs. Jay Hawke © and Arch Griffon (0/0) Mr. "M.I.A." & "Mr. Generic" (read the profile it smells of a "For the tournament" character) will not be able to withstand the awesome power of Hawke Hogan and the Griff-man Lethal Lottery Match (Cross-pool) The Crimson Skull and Jason von Dierch (0/1) vs. Christian Fury and Mistress Sarah (0/1) Skull said he wasn't writing - so unlike the other matches since his return we know it up front. Can it be anyone other than the Whip & the Furious? no it can't. Lethal Lottery Match (Pool B) "Hollywood" Spike Jenkins and Zyon © (1/0) vs. Ghost Machine 2.0 and Matt Myers (0/1) The surprising no-show last show (I assume it was a no show since no GM matche was posted) puts the odds on Zyon & Spike's side - if GM shows then last show's effort would have to be tripled to beat it. but I'm not sure he will show. Bruce Blank © vs. Insane Luchadore A 30 minute draw after giving everyone a STUNNING display of chain wrestling and mat work that'll put everyone, everywhere to shame as they're just that technically proficient. Lethal Lottery Match (Cross-pool) The Asian Underground (Akira Kaibatsu and Michael Cross) (1/0) vs. Ced Ordonez and Laberinto (0/1) the Underground - you got to ask? Opening Bout Amy Stepens vs. Kevin Coyote Coyote is coming along in leaps and bounds and I think he'll get a "break through" win in the singles ranks soon - but this is not it. It'll be interesting to see my partner and a future opponent go at it. SPECIAL BONUS MATCH Jimmy the Doom vs. An Octopus PUSSYMANIA RUNNING WILD!! and how do you pin an octopus? you'd have to put all eight of it's shoulders to the mat - which leads to the question: "Does it even have shoulders"??

Alright comments on people who commented on my comments (select points not everything) First up – Hawke Hogan Yes. Maybe I over-explained it. What I was trying to say was that you actually under explained it – I pictured in my mind how it COULD have gone, but it was never really explained how he did it. And now – Zyon Each time you explained what happened AFTER the fact – since this isn’t a visual game we can’t see that he was deposited on the apron, we couldn’t see that she wasn’t standing upright – that was explained afterwards leading to the reaction of “Huh??” and then afterwards “Ah okay now I see” I try to get a mental image of the action in my head both when I read and when I write, so I try to explain what happened AS it happens – I try to stick to that as best as possible to keep my reads in the moment. Yes he uses Fury to balance for leaping – but did he leap one footed? Did he land and balance and then jump off the top rope on one foot? If he did – then it’d make for an impressive visual and should definitely have been described to make the moment that much more “special” If he didn’t do it all one footed – then he really didn’t sell just how bad a shape the ankle was in (as you said yourself) in the least. That’s it I dunno what else to comment on, but I wanted to tie up the loose ends.

Now I know you're both really talented writers with like 6 - 10 times the fed time that I've had but I got to say that that's just an excuse and a bad one at that. There is no way you can ever convince me that there isn't "room to sell" in a match - I'm sorry but that ain't right. that'd be like sending 2 X-Division guys to the ring for 5 minutes, they hit all their flippity-floppity high spots and then some but get back up from each of them until one move "magically" keeps them down... erm ... I've seen that on TNA, but that doesn't mean it doesn't suck. (I find it a shame I'm the only one who's done any kind of detailed comments I was hoping to get a few comments on the stuff I've had a hand in this week - but I warn you, if it sucks I'll claim the "Other guy" did that )

We SO need a Doomtopian Announce team and the Doomtopian Announce Table doesn't break like that pussy Spanish one, no it stays whole and hurts a whole lot more! *thumbs up*

As always these are just my opinions on this crazy game that we like to play, don’t take them too seriously or as a show of bad intentions, cause they’re not. Note: I do these as I read along so something that may be answered later in the match may pop up as a question – I don’t go back and re-edit earlier comments, they’re ”live” so to speak. So to the Twilight Zone version of Spike/Zyon Vs Fury/Sarah Please don’t tell me that the SWF has a “Pep squad” as the answer to the WWE gimmick, I wouldn’t be able to bear it… if they’d be confined to “off TV” appearances I would personally NOT devote part of my match write up to a straight copy & paste of a past promo and would probably have gone with some sort of rundown of the issue instead, I’m just thinking of the word limit here and well it drags out the time it takes to get to the action. I stand corrected – TWO promos, what I said before now expands exponentially as we get no new content in the write up. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND HERE IS SARAH!! It definitely made more out of her “surprise return” than the other match – but again it would have been cool with a little Pete/King rundown of what Sarah is all about for us newbies. Doesn’t have to be much, just a few lines you know to get everyone a little up to speed That’s actually an issue I’ve had with every “surprise” appearance of a guy that’s been gone for like a year or more – no one brings the new guys up to speed (We feel very left out ) Some good back and forth between Zyon & Fury initially, “Zyon and Spike working to keep the fresh man in the ring,” King observes as Spike comes out firing against Fury. “But Christian seems loathe to do the same...” – I copied that out because well I didn’t see anything from Fury that resembled “loathing” – just a regular match with Zyon, that could have been better established. And Spike cheap shotting Sarah? He’s not a heel yet, just determined and willing to do anything to win a match – knocking her off the apron like that didn’t ring true to Spike (he’s a rat sure, but he’s still balancing on the border of heeldom, not over it yet, I think it’s important to play that) Fury abandons his in ring advantage to check on Sarah – but abandons that mid-stream… confusing but maybe it’s part of the story so I’ll log it under “wait and see” With Fury getting his ass kicked for a while he’s officially the “Tweener in peril” although the “hot tag” was played more as an unintentional tag and a surprise to everyone but her. NOW We’re telling the “reluctant partner story” *thumbs up* Zyon seems to be very “in” the match even when he’s not legal, I would probably have played him off as sticking to the rules more, at the very least have him saving Spike be a good place to refer to their uneasy alliance. Fury seems to want to tag in even when Sarah is in control – does he really loathe her so much that he can’t even let her have a moment in the spotlight? Glory hound Man Spike has been in there long, got his ass kicked for most of it yet doesn’t go for a tag when he has the chance – PLAY UP THE TENSION! (Oh and explain what their double team was instead of saying “she was double teamed” cause I get this sexual connotation when I read it ) Zyon isn’t strong enough to belly to back suplex Sarah? Does she block it? Is she a heifer? (kidding) And from the belly to back position it’s damn hard for Sarah to hit Zyon in the side… unless it’s the side of the head, but it doesn’t say. Ah there I see it – she held the top rope apparently… I think … maybe? That’s twice someone is dumb enough to throw Fury/Sarah into their OWN corner Now I’m no expert, but I’ve watched a LOT of tag-team matches ranging back to 1985 and never has it been question if a hand is smacked by the partner – NEVER! Even if the partner in or out of the ring didn’t want it. I’m just saying… never in 21 years of tag-team watching. Hmmm since Sarah tagged in it’s been 90% their team in charge of the match (General observation – my own philosophy is to give my opponents more “them time” cause I’m writing myself a win, so I can afford to give them a period of kicking my ass, put them over even in defeat) Spike heeling it up again instead of letting Zyon show some gumption and resist the submission. And did Zyon “No sell” the Dragon Sleeper from Fury? And man that was an out of the blue finish with zero build to it, it’s like someone ran out of words and had to bring it home quickly. Sarah wins it for the team and Fury is STILL pissed – is he like PMS’ing or something? At least be neutral since you got a point (Not “Moved on” as the write up said, but I chalked that up to the rules of the tournament being misunderstood) In conclusion: not a bad match at all – shame there was hardly any Spike/Zyon references, they were also just “bodies” in the match from the time Sarah tagged in until the Dragon Sleeper sequence and could have been replaced with any opposing team. I would have liked a few “high lights” along the way – it was solid, even wrestling with very few peaks and valleys, but the peaks are what stands out, what people remember from this. I’ll remember 2 things about this match tomorrow – Mistress Sarah is back and they won the match. But it was easier to read than the Spike/Zyon match, it was not a rush job at all. (If I seem to give this more comments than the Spike/Zyon match it’s cause well it’s just 1 match I got to comment on and not a whole show so I can go into a bit more detail) I hope the comments help? And remember they’re just comments from a guy who likes to write his garbage matches

I promise to do a more detailed run though of this and I will when I get the time to sit down but I have to make one comment. I guess it's proven once and for all that it's not good gramma that gets you the win that's for damn sure - and to someone who's had his commented on often enough I'm glad to see that it's not a big factor in calling a match. thank you for putting that worry to rest /More to come

So the sum total of the build for the Angle / Taker match is "the competitive rivalry is played up through out the match"? how weak is that? I mean they've got Taker'Lighting at the Rumble and then... well I guess the announcement of the match and... hell if I know, it's not been much. Do they expect the match to sell itself with "Hey it's Angle and the Undertaker - something you haven't seen since Angle was a healthy human and the Undertaker made more than 10 apperances a year"? just cancel the PPV and be done with it instead of such inept booking

Can I just say Fuck TNA for booking Apollo after the PPV no show then Fuck TNA for booking Jeff Hardy after a couple of PPV no show then.

Technically it was Ben Hardy in Pete's place but Pete is back and ready to get down to bid'ness

now there is a challenge a figure 8 leg lock!

I tried to write the beginning of my match so as to imply that they could have gone directly from the opening promo into the first match, and thereby have cut to commercial in what would have otherwise been an "overly long" first segment. Looking at it that way then yes a commerical break mid match does make sense to do the commercial break and all. I guess we got an "SWF.com exclusive segment" And don't take my words too harshly or anything, I mean I'm just some dude who likes to write garbage matches

Best explanation ever!

Maybe he is... he is masked after all so no one knows if there is someone "known" under the mask. (not that I get the Mak Francis reference but still)

I went by the "In charcter" comment of 5 years as my guideline. it's always good to put writers with characters and it's a huge help in placing "level", "Mistress Sarah" didn't say much to me as a relative newbie but "Sean Davis" does and I'm looking forward to reading more.

Jarrett not chasing the world title? *thumbs up* I just wish they could come up with something OTHER than Joe/Daniels/Styles - mix it up a little cause it's starting to get repetitive really. The strength of the "Smackdown Six" for instance was that there were so many combinations to keep it fresh and interesting but TNA has already run every combination of those 3 on PPV a couple of times (or more)

Well I’ve had time to read, laugh, cry and mark out so let’s comment!! And please note none of this is meant as a put down or hostility, mainly me going “I would have done that differently” than anything else. ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ JJ Promo – “To be edited in when the promo is edited in” ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ Straight to the opening match of WC against Hawke’s tag-team partner in the lottery tournament Arch Griffon, nice bit of “taking the storyline into consideration” booking even if Hawke & Griffon aren’t regular partners and all. I think the Hardy addition is understandable – erm… Pete was in the bathroom, yeah that’s it It’s a shame that there Griffon/Hawke rivalry wasn’t really reflected upon in the “pre-match” hype by Hardy & King IMO. In the classic “speed” vs “power” match up speed seems to really have the advantage through more or less all of the opening segment – it’s not until Hawke & his partner “Clip Board” walks out to observe that Arch gets the advantage, not through strength but through distraction. Hmmm after being pummeled against ring posts and barricades WC punches his way out and then shows no slowing down as he bounces off the ropes (and is taken down by Arch) – he’s a resilient little Bahama-mama isn’t he? The commercial break was really weird, I guess it’s to give it a sense of realism but then again each segment on the show tends to start with “returning from a commercial break” – Peters must be raking it in hand over fist *thumbs up* A small man outpunching a big power house never made sense to me when I saw it on TV and well it doesn’t really here either, but it does build into a pretty good sequence where WC finally knocks Arch down (Finally? Didn’t he do it earlier in the match?) Nice touch by having Hawke save Arch – not because he cares about him but because it screws with WC One blocked/botched Superplex later and WC takes the win over the big man. Man if you were a TV viewer you saw: WC use the speed to get initial control, Griffon gets a move in before the break, the submission after the break which is extended to the point where you’d actually worry a bit about Arch and then WC comes back and generally stays in charge with no ill effects of the beating until he wins. The “Commercial break” placement made Arch look like he hardly got any offence in at all. It was a styles clash between “small & fast” and “big & strong” and to me it felt like WC didn’t handle the “big and strong” style that well. ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ Bruce & Amy – nutcrackin’ good fun I won’t comment on stuff I’ve had a hand in (Although Mike wrote the whole thing save a small edit or 2) ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ And it’s now time for the latest experiment in reviving the tag-team division – the Lethal Lottery. Jimmy & Manson take on Ghost Machine & Matt Myers. Ah Manson – never met a druid he didn’t punch those poor guys take abuse in every single match, I just hope Doomtopia provides medical coverage (but I doubt it) This weeks Matt Myers’ gimmick: Neo – hmmm I’m on the fence initially so I’ll just see where the match takes the gimmick choice. Quick “pussy tag” by Myers, that’s no way for the savior of the Matrix to act now is it? Someone should slap him for that… oh wait Ghost Machine did, good boy. Manson is soon replaced by Jimmy and the two of them go back and forth with no one really having the advantage for quite a bit. Tag to Myers who quickly gets a 450 splash in and a pinfall… well it would have been if Manson hadn’t broken it up, nice bit of team work on their part, a little touch that makes the two seem like they’re on the same page. Man Jimmy sure plays a mean pinball.. erm I mean punches a mean right hand, knocked the pussy Neo out. Strike that – it wasn’t that bad, Myers is pretty bouncy after taking the shot, my mistake. Ghost Machine is tagged and he beats up Myers? Well we all want to do it, but an all out fight between tag-team partners? And then it would seem that both men are allowed in the ring for an extended time without a count or anything – Herve is a crappy referee I tells ya! Myers leaves but is tagged in – repeatedly it would seem, I guess Ghost Machine wants to make sure the tag is seen by the official. And wouldn’t you know it – after a couple of close calls Myers jobs like he was a jobber paid to job… our Matt Myers? Perish the though Line of the match “JESUS CHRIST MY FUCKING NOSE” Not a bad tag match at all and with comedy spots thrown in without dominating the match, but selling was almost a rarity here. Still they were heads and shoulders (and Wash’N’Go) over the next match. ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ That didn’t happen as FOUR people manage to no show – 2 of which are building a team and one of the others bitched about being forgotten by the creative team only to not do a damn thing since. *** Late Note: it seems the Asian Underground DID show *thumbs up* *** ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ And here comes the next Lethal Lottery match with Bruce out first. BUT WAIT *SCREETCH!!* Insane Luchador isn’t too happy with Bruce being all dismissing and disinterested and just has to come out for a chat. I’m not going to comment on something I co-wrote. ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ Now we get the match (and yes Laberinto was well aware of the pre-match promo so he could write the match intros right) Bruce & Amy wins without killing each other What else can I say? ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ And then in yet another Bruce segment the two seemingly mismatched people find some common ground – ass kicking and beer drinking. Hey Demolition only had “Ass kicking” in common and see how they turned out ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ Jimmy the Doom: Doomtopian history lesson number the twice. I read it and laughed – without knowing what the heck that was all about, now that’s a sign of pure comedy the Doomtopian butchering of the English language is brilliant I didn’t expect the Doomtopian Inquisition ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ Spike / Zyon – the Mini Powers are on the verge of exploding!! Spike has asked for a chance to fight for the CW title, he just has to beat Laberinto – which I think is doable (Although with the federation being 95% CWs I can’t believe Laberinto would be considered a contender for the title – but for the purpose of the angle it makes sense) Zyon still clings to their friendship – the fool! ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ Hawke Hogan is up next Brother as he takes on Todd Cortez Quick pinning segment early on shades of classic Bret Hart matches and that’s NOT a bad thing. But man that pinfall attempts thing goes on for quite a while, EIGHT TIMES before there really is enough action to make anyone think the match was over And then 3 more tiles before repeating the “breaking the illegal move at 4” FIVE times – man I thought it was a copy & paste error there for a second, a copy & paste error there for a second. I’m not quite sure just how Cortez countered the wingspan here ”He goes for the Wing Span, locking the chickenwing but not quite locking his hands on the crossface attempt. As Hawke makes one last grasp at locking the hold in, Cortez shifts his weight, runs forward, and drives Hawke’s face into the top turnbuckle, completely releasing Jay Hawke’s grip on the hold and bringing the capacity crowd to its feet.” Did Cortez dive forward between the ropes so that the guy behind him hit the turnbuckle? I had to re-read it 3 times before I realize that it didn’t say. And after being worked over for 5 minutes Cortez comes out with European uppercuts? First time in a Hawke match where I’ve gone at that. First time in a long time I’ve seen the “time limit” announcement in a match. Now I may not be the biggest expert on moves – but a Victory Roll isn’t that executed off someone’s shoulders? Like Bret Vs Owen at WMX or Bret beating Bam Bam at King of the ring? Or is it just the name for any move where you roll forward and end up sitting on your opponents chest like in this match? The last few minutes just fly by, building to what looks like a time limit draw – SWERVE!! Hawke gets a win with tights and a rope to help him before the time runs out. Had me going for a moment. Good solid match from Hawke with just a few nitpicky comments. ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ JJ does a promo part 2 – “Edited in later” ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ Finally we’re at the main event! The big match, the one we all came to see The return of ???? Oh yeah!! Zyon & Spike are out first, it’s only polite to let the “???” come out last after all – and Zyon & Spike were raised right as you all well know, Fury comes out and looks… well thrilled isn’t the word Then “Paint it Black” signals the return of Mistress Sarah – who surprised me by NOT being a manager as her stats said, but honestly I think we can all live with that I have no idea who Mistress Sarah is, I know her name from the title histories and the CF matches but I personally have no idea what level she really moved at – so I don’t know if the rather short “return intro” was justified It just seemed that it should be a BIG SELLING POINT in the pre-match antics yet Spike & Zyon’s entrances and all got more coverage and details and all, that was a shame. Also cause I still don’t know why I should be excited about Mistress Sarah returning, no one told me. Alright last match – focus Bruce *slap* It’s Spiked Fury to begin the match – I’m sorry but when I kept reading “The veteran” I momentarily thought Fury had adopted a soldier gimmick LOL. Technical wrestling to get the match off to a slow start (I now realize why I picked a character who just doesn’t do this kind of stuff) NOW WE’RE TALKING! They’ve torn the plastic wrapper off and are breaking out the forearm shots! Only it leads to a headlock and Fury being TOSSED over the top rope… now I can imagine the whole segment in my head, I’ve seen it work – but the words to explain what happened just weren’t there, when I read “tossed” I get a Rumble tossed kind of sensation, not that Spike used his leverage to get Fury over the top rope and onto the apron. Like I said I can see it in my head, but I had to fill out that blank mentally not by reading it. Man it takes quite a while for these two Cruiserweights to kick it into gear doesn’t it? “Feeling out process” I guess it’s called? “ The crowd explodes as Mistress Sarah enters the ring as a competitor for the first time in five years.” FIVE YEARS? Holy crap she’s not been active since early 2001? The lure of the SWF is just too great, even after 5 years. Again I’m not quite sure what Spike did to escape the drop kick – in my mind I can fill in the blanks sure. And man does he get his ass kicked or what, that’s putting the returning star over except for a quick “out of the blue” move to allow Spike to tag out. Zyon Vs Sarah – new Vs old… man Vs woman…erm that’s it I’m out of clichés. With Sarah being so light Zyon finally has a chance to execute moves such as the Electric Chair Drop, and he’s taking the opportunity since it’s quite rare in the SWF. So Zyon overshot the slingshot Cross body or Sarah ducked? I’ve noticed several little grammatical errors etc that makes this read like a rush job, which I guess could explain those places where it wasn’t fully described what went on – so I’ll stop commenting on those “incidents” OW ZYON’S FUCKING ANKLE!! Yeah he’ll need some ice for that after the match. More work on the ankle and Zyon is officially the Ricky Morton of the team (but with better hair) – although he took too little of a beating to be a true Ricky Morton though. Spike proves to be a read douche (in character – no need to start a flame war) as he tags in the still hurting Zyon who ends up in an ankle lock, that’s got to be it he can hardly walk much less take THAT! The rope break was almost too easy, build it up more – make people wonder “is he or isn’t he” IMO Question: Hitler had loyal jews? Zyon leaps up on the top rope?? Double talk about no selling! After being worked over and having the other team interfere many times Zyon still has a hard time getting a pin off a Spike cheap shot – he struggles with it – he prays to god – he flips a coin and finally does. And it was sold like he made a deal with the devil… well by King who is an honorable upstanding citizen and as such is beyond reproach I’m sorry but that was a MESS – rushed or whatnot I don’t know but for a main event match that was pretty bad cause it was so hard to read, so flawed in the writing. ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ Ah one last promo – excellent (or Sexellent?) Landon is a sad panda, Amy makes fun of him. Landon is down over the whole Toxxic thing, whining over something that was like a year ago. Emo kid indeed Amy isn’t really fond of her brother, Landon isn’t really fond of Amy’s brother either. Let’s fuck Yep it’s a winner *thumbs up* ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ One disappointing no show and one mess of a match aside the show had some good stuff going on – good build on the CW scene, we know where it’s going but they’re making the ride there very interesting. No Wes/ELM hype or even references or anything like that which is a shame – it is the main event after all.

Edited for accuracy

Throw in Madix/King and Tables, Ladders and Chairs and we'll be happy to oblige ya'll *thumbs up* The no show for the tag match was disappointing - I guess "someone's" comments about not having an active partner was proven wrong - cause they BOTH had an inactive partner Loads of promos and some good matches, didn't have quite the same "big show" as last week but it's definitly a build to "From the Fire" (and in a good way) More detailed comments to come later on when I get the time to read it in detail. Can I just say Landon getting laid? Could be just what the kid needs *thumbs up* I guess he'll prove if sex actually does improve your performance

Eastern India time zone?

If it's a work then all his talk of "I was fired for being gay" is just pathetic would it actually be considered slander?

How can anyone anywhere think that this won't lead to Vince Vs Shawn or maybe Vince/Shane Vs Shawn at best. I mean just like they want HHH Vs Cena this is SO FREAKING OBVIOUS! it's called "No surprise booking"

Time to predict the unpreditcable Smarkdown. MAIN EVENT LETHAL LOTTERY TOURNAMENT Spike Jenkins and Zyon vs. Christian Fury and ??? * Hinges on 2 things (1) Who is the “???” guy and (2) are Spike / Zyon more focused on their angle build than the tag-team title shot waiting at the end of the Lethal Lottery tournament? I’ll say that the only experienced tag-team in the tournament wins NON-TITLE SINGLES MATCH Jay Hawke vs. Todd Cortez Hawke – Cortez has hardly registered on the radar since his shot at ELM, which is a shame cause he’s really talented. I could see a good Cortez/Hawke story being told if both people were at the top of their game. LETHAL LOTTERY TOURNAMENT POOL C Ced Ordonez & Labertino vs. Amy Stephens and Bruce Blank I ain’t predicting nuffin’ LETHAL LOTTERY TOURNAMENT POOL B Michael Cross and Akira Kaibatsu vs. The Crimson Skull and Jason von Dierch Hmmm the team that was “randomly” put together ;) or Skull & Von Dierch? It’d be a solo write for Sly to win it, quite a bit of work So I’ll go with Cross & Kaibatsu LETHAL LOTTERY TOURNAMENT CROSS-POOL MATCH Ghost Machine & Matt Myers Vs Manson & Jimmy the Doom Now Drea commented on her “lack of active partner” (it was subtle I know, you are excused if you missed it) but then again Myers isn’t exactly a writing machine Ghost Machine is though – looking to bounce back AND carry Matt Myers. GM’N’MM takes it. SINGLES MATCH Arch Griffon vs. Wildchild I’m a WC mark – style, character all of it. I’ve never really seen Arch in action so I’ll go with the Child although I could see Hawke poking his beak into it to change the outcome

No what you cite are "pre announced plans" they're not surprises - it's not a surprise that Lance Storm is coming, nor is it a surprise about Kenta/Marifuji etc. So unlike what you said - they can't live up to "preannounced surprises" like this was. You know if they had just come out and said "shit happens so and so didn't make it but we've pulled some strings and we've got something that I'm sure RoH fans will like to replace it" or something along those lines I doubt people would have been as negative about the show But the hype job that makes the WWE Hype machine seem sedate and bound in reality by comparison really set such high and unrealistic goals that nothing short of Jesus Christ Vs Judas Iscariot main event could have fulfilled.