[M-A-G]

Originally Posted by Evil Vito Night 5! "Judas" by Fozzy blares as a very flustered Chris Jericho makes his way out to the ring. He's heard enough shit from people about his 0-2 start to the tournament, and his Jericho Appreciation Society being 0-6 total. He's not going to wait for his match, he's demanding his next opponent get out here RIGHT NOW! "Everybody Dies" hits and Jericho shits his britches. As and you shall receive as the 6'8" Lance Archer charges his way out to be Jericho's next opponent! A Block: Chris Jericho vs. "The Murderhawk Monster" Lance Archer Jericho has seen the blocks and knew who he has yet to face in the block, but arguably Archer was the man he was least hoping for to come down that aisle. Not only is he a big and tough bruiser but he's 0-2 and desperate for a win just like Jericho is. Archer dominated the early going of the match like a house of fire, but Jericho had a few tricks up his sleeve. A well-placed low block with the ref down brings the big guy down to size, Jericho connects with a Codebreaker to land his first points of the tournament. At 0-3, Archer is an incredibly difficult mathematical spot, and he might be left playing spoiler the rest of the way. Winner: Chris Jericho Time: 9:45 Rating: 79% ---

Jericho winning anything at this stage in his career will always put me in a tizzy. Archer seems like the kind of guy Vince would cream himself over...IF HE WAS STILL THE BOSS!!!

B Block: Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Jay Lethal Lethal is trying to ride some momentum from his win over the All-Atlantic Champion last time out, while Hobbs is in the same spot as Archer. He ended up meeting the same fate. Picks Lethal up for a Powerslam, Lethal slides off and sends Hobb into the ropes. Leg sweep, diving elbow, done. Both A and B blocks have to contend with big, mean dudes getting off to 0-3 starts. Winner: Jay Lethal Time: 11:41 Rating: 75% ---

I suppose the same sentiment for Archer could be applied to Hobbs. I'm sure Vince would love a guy like that to smash all of those puny cruiserweights...IF HE WERE STILL IN CHARGE!!!

A Block: Andrade El Idolo vs. Wheeler Yuta Two opposite trajectories in this man with one man undefeated in the tournament and the other winless. Poor Yuta gave this one his best showing of the tournament, nearly tapping out Andrade on multiple occasions but never quite finishing the job. El Idolo for the win to move 3-0 as Yuta becomes the third straight man tonight to fall to 0-3, as the line to compete for his ROH Pure Championship grows ever larger. Winner: Andrade El Idolo Time: 14:28 Rating: 83% ---

Tournament formats like this are great to build a dude up and have him go undefeated for a good length and have the question raised of will he lose eventually...KIND OF LIKE VINCE WHO'S FINALLY OUT!!!

A Block: Kyle O'Reilly vs. Swerve Strickland Same deal - ebbs and flows. KOR arguably looked like the most dominant man in the tournament with how swiftly he put down his first two opponents, yet tonight Swerve Strickland took him to the absolute limit. A back and forth encounter which the crowd got really into as it went deeper into the match. Swerve proved himself to be a tough bastard, muscling his way out of several KOR suplex attempts and wrangling his way to the ropes during submissions. Swerve connects with a big lariat and jumps up to the top for a Swerve Stomp for the win! Winner: Swerve Strickland Time: 17:15 Rating: 885 ---

I'm sure he's a nice guy and all but I can't get behind the name Swerve Strickland. Who came up with it, Vince McMahon? Oh, right, he can't BECAUSE HE'S GONE!!!

B Block: "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes vs. PAC The cagey Rhodes has been one of the surprise performers of this tournament so far, while PAC's still finding himself scrapping for a win. Tough not to start thinking about Rhodes as an ageless wonder with the performance he churned out here. As the speedier PAC tried to quicken the pace, Dustin was able to hold his own and meet him with his strength advantage. Fans were in for a treat as this was another one they got really into and they bought on all of the drama and near-falls. That sound Fire Pro makes when the crowd starts to get really electric during a tight match is a great noise indeed. PAC locks in a Brutalizer and Dustin refuses to yield, PAC takes a different course, goes up top and hits the Black Arrow for the win to finally get on the board. What a match! Winner: PAC Time: 14:11 Rating: 97% ---

Boo, the run is over for Dustin. I'm still not giving up on him. An old-timer like him can make a comeback. UNLIKE VINCE WHO'S GONE!!!

A Block: MJF vs. Rey Fenix Coming off of a surprise loss last time out, MJF looked to regain his composure against the speedster Fenix. MJF had no time for Fenix's lucha shit as he was able to cut Fenix down to size every time he looked to be getting the momentum. Fenix attempts a dive to the outside that MJF sidesteps, causing him to land awkwardly on his arm. MJF slides Fenix back in and immediately cranks back on the Salt of the Earth, bending Fenix's arm in a way it shouldn't. The referee calls for the bell! Winner: MJF Time: 7;19 Rating: 84% ---

It doesn't say Fenix tapped so I'm assuming the ref just decided to end things and call for the bell himself. Kind of like Vince in Montreal. Shame he can't do that anymore! Remember, VINCE SCREWED VINCE!!!

B Block: Daniel Garcia vs. CM Punk Jericho finally got the JAS on the board earlier in the evening, could this propel his stablemate to do the same? These two put on a clinic in there, with Garcia very smartly placing an emphasis over working on Punk's knees with an eye towards many of his signature moves, the least of which being the GTS. This all comes in to play at the finish as Punk does hit the GTS but Garcia is too close to the ropes, sliding himself out of the ring and leaving Punk favoring the knee in the ring. As Garcia recovers, he gets into the ring and relentlessly assults the knee further. He locks in a Sharpshooter and then goes a step further and bridges it for extra torque. With his knee in agony and a long tourney still ahead, PUNK TAPS!!! What an upset! Winner: Daniel Garcia Time: 16:39 Rating: 95% ---

Not familiar with AEW as you can imagine so is Garcia a guy who is even remotely close to being on the level with Punk? It's kind of jarring to see someone who's not a name in my eyes getting the duke over a big name. Still good to know Punk's doing wrestling. UNLIKE VINCE!!!

B Block: "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson vs. Samoa Joe On paper this match was a no-brainer to close out the night as the two have a storied history with one another, battling many times across multiple promotions including a more than 45-minute ROH Title match way back in the day. Although it's been quite a long time since they've faced off, I'm sure their in-ring chemistry would pick right back up again. Instead we got a match that was solid but nowhere near what it could have been. Them's the breaks in Fire Pro. Bryan is pretty deadly in the Fire Pro realm with so many submission and pinning combinations. Such was on display here as Bryan ducked a clothesline and turned it into a quick backslide for the win just as the match was hitting its second gear. Winner: Bryan Danielson Time: 11:27 Rating: 80%

See, here's the problem with a match like this happening in this day and age. Yes, they're darlings and talented and all that jazz but they've been going 20+ years at this point. I don't really see much of a difference between this and Hogan and Flair headlining Raw. OK, the latter might make me hang myself with barbed wire but still. Granted this is just a game but in the real world, both guys deserve so much better at this point. If for no other reason than TO SHOVE IT VINCE'S FACE!!!

OK, enough of that.

I'll see what I can do about getting around to my Slammy nominees.