In hell's hands (Invite)

[x]

Tony: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Devil's Night!!! We are coming to you live from The Palace of Auburn Hills. Devil's Night comes "home" so to speak. You do know what Devil's Night is, right Travis?

Travis: A night where Detroit's Hooligans run around and burn property all over the city. And they wonder why no one likes to come there. That withstanding, tonight...we have an action packed show. And it all culminates with the most brutal match of the calendar, The Devil's Playground. Six men will step inside of Satan's Sanctuary, and only one will walk out the XWA Global Champion.

Just as he finishes, the entrance theme of the still reigning Champ, Lionel Xander cues up.

Travis: And speak of the devil himself, our Global Champion graces us with his presence.

Xander steps out from backstage with an ear to ear grin. The title belt was draped over his shoulder as usual. As the fans boo, he makes his approach to the ring. Once inside, he wastes no time calling for a mic, as naturally...he had something to say.

Ya'know, it feels good to always be right. I mean, seriously. How many of you people get that feeling of total satisfaction when you know how something is going to turn out from the jump, and you just sit back and watch it all fall into place. That's what happened for me at Ring Rage. And it happened because I proved once again why I am the smartest damn man in this company.

A chuckle and smirk follows, and he adds;

I know all to well how The Crucibal worked. I was one of the men involved in the 1st one. And I was a lucky pinfall with seconds left away from becoming XWA World Champion then. So the last thing I was going to do this time was leave it to chance. Which is why I set into motion a plan that got be exactly what I wanted. And the results of that plan played out to the letter. We all know what happened at Ring Rage. Jimmy ended up getting Frisbee'd into the interview set by Toa, which put him out of the match. Toa got scratched from the match as result, which left me one on one against the village drunk, Jonny Punch. A man who hasn't beaten me once since we've been here in XWA. But what you all don't know is...

I planned it out to happen all along.

The crowd hisses and boos.

Tony: He planned it out? What the hell is he talking about?

At the finale of Overload before Ring Rage, Jimmy Ames beat Toa one on one. A fact I know didn't sit well with him. And I know Toa's type well enough to know he could care less about being a champion. All he cared about was payback. So I went to Toa and gave him the idea that the ultimate form of payback he can exact...is taking Jimmy out of the equation for The Crucibal. The rest was all Toa's creativity. *Heh heh heh* From that, I knew O'Malley would have no choice but to pull Toa from the match. And light the predictable GM he is, he did exactly that. So we go from a 25% chance of me winning to a 75% chance, because we all knew Punch didn't stand a ghost of a chance beating "The King Of The Cage" one on one. So thanks in part to be being the uber genius I am, I am still YOUR XWA World Champion.

Satisfied with himself, he lowers his mic. The boos from the fans intensify as he revels in the reaction.

So how do I plan on escaping tonight's match? The Devil's Playground. Pretty much the same conditions, save for the fact that it's elimination rather then who picks up the 1st or the most falls. Well...let's just say, I have a few more tricks up my sleeve. Ya' see folks, I wasn't kidding when I said I plan on putting my stamp on this company as being the smartest champion ever. I'm not just a step ahead of the curve, I'm already on the next block.

Xander prepares to leave the ring, but is halted by the entrance theme of none other then Jimmy Ames.

[ames]

The Palace comes alive as the former champ steps out from backstage. With a mic already in hand, Jimmy responds to the revelation of Xander's underhanded scheme.

Wow. I have to honestly tell you I didn't see that coming. I mean, who would have thought you actually had the gray matter to come up with a scheme like the one you pulled off at Ring Rage. I would actually say I was impressed if I didn't think you were a piece of CRAP.

It's one thing to try and keep a title "by any means necessary." It's another thing to resort to sabotaging main events just to get the odds in your favor. That's gotta be an all time low. Thankfully, I'm not the only person who sees it that way. So rather then drop the news on you myself, I think I'll let our fine General Manager do it.

Jimmy takes a step to the side, and Stan O'Malley joins him on the stage.

[seifer]

Out comes Stan, with look that could best be called "displeased" on his face. With a mic of his own in hand, Stan speaks.

Xander, needless to say, you pulled a fast one on all of us. But something I guess you haven't been schooled on is that when you gamble, eventually the house wins. And tonight, it's ante up time. You're little scheme with Toa cost Jimmy here his contracted rematch for the Global Title. And as I said at Ring Rage, I don't plan on that happening. So initially, I thought to myself the natural course of action is to give Jimmy one of the spots in The Devil's Playground match. But then it dawned on me that in the confusion of all the roster moves made in the last month, I haven't been able to pick a field of 4 other wrestlers to round things out. And suffice to say, most of the guys I would pick have there own agendas tonight. So with that said, this year's Devil's Playground is going to be different from years past.

Tony: Sounds to me like Stan's got an idea. And we all know how epic his ideas can get.

Travis: Yea right. *rolls eyes*

Tonight, there will be 6 men in the chamber. And tonight, the Global Title will be defended. But that's where the similarities to the previous years end. Because tonight, we're doing a 3 on 3 Elimination match. On one side, it'll be you Xander, your boy Toa, and a 3rd man of your choosing. On the other side, Jimmy Ames, Jonny Punch, and a partner of Jimmy's choosing. If your team wins Xander, you retain the Global Title. If Jimmy's team wins, he regains it. And this time, there will be no ponzy schemes to save you from losing.

The fans show there support of the idea with a thunderous cheer.

Tony: A 3 on 3 elimination match inside of The Devil's Playground! And the Global Title is on the line!

Travis: Don't seem so happy, Gomez. Need I remind you he made this kind of match last year against Upper Echelon. And we all know how that one ended.

[x]

Xander chuckles to himself a bit before bringing his mic up to respond.

Seriously, is that it? That's your grand scheme of evening the odds? Stan my man, you must reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally take me for some kind of chump. It's insulting. I mean at least try to stack the deck a lil'. I get to choose my partner? Do you have any idea who it is I coupld possibly pull out of my hat? You may as well have just given me the night off, because this is going to be about the most uneventful Devil's Playground match ever. You say I ruined the Overload main event of Ring Rage? Well, you just gift wrapped me the main event of Devil's Night. Way to go, "boss".

Grinning ear to ear, Xander waits to hear what either man had to say next.

[ames]

It would be Jimmy who would respond to Xander's less then subtle words of endearment.

Whoa whoa whooooooooooooooa there, haus. Before you go making your victory speech, I think you should know that I've already chosen who my 3rd man in is going to be. Someone you're quite familiar with in fact. It was pretty much a no brainer when Stan here told me what was going down for tonight's main event. Who is it you ask?

Jimmy lowers his mic and smiles as another entrance theme cues up.

[eb]

The theme in question was "Unbroken Circle" by 40 Oz. Failure, the entrance theme to Jimmy's childhood friend and long time partner...Ethan Bain. He steps out from backstage and stands behind Jimmy with his arms folded, a satisfied smirk on his face.

[x]

You could practically see the cockiness fall out of Xander and smash onto the canvas. His confidence turned into concern the moment Bain, who had defended the XWA World Title against Xander in 2009...stepped onto the stage. He brings up his mic and responds.

*Heh* Well played, Ames. But if you think bringing that mastadon into the match gives you any kind of edge, you're nuts. You forget I've got Toa in my corner. And I've got just the man in mind to round out my three. This doesn't change a damn thing!

[ames]

As Bain rests his arm on Jimmy's shoulder, Jimmy speaks his final reply.

Sure it does. It just changed your whole strategy, as well as your mood. And that's allllllllllllllllllllllllllllll I wanted to see. But I'm gonna do you a solid. I'm gonna take a page out of my buddy Ethan here's book and...uhm...what is it you always say, bro?

Jimmy holds the mic up to Bain.

[eb]

Bain leans over and says his most recognizable line...

Shut up and FIGHT.

The scene ends as Bain's music cues up once again. He and Jimmy do their customary fist bump before they and Stan O'Malley make their way backstage.

Tony: Jimmy didn't pull a rabbit out of his hat, he pulled out a Texas Bull. WOW!!! Ethan Bain. Xander's going to have to come up with something BIG to counter this one.

Travis: You should already know never to underestimate the craftiness if Lionel Xander. He'll be more then ready, and he'll find someone to level the playing field, if not completely take it over.

Tony: Whatever the case, it's going to be one of the most memorable Devil's Playground matches to date!