There's no proof this judge was ever actually going to follow through. He could have just as easily decided to cite "Arkeny" and make excuses for the Kenyan coward without every holding a hearing. He was probably just trying to save himself the effort of having to make up excuses not to follow actual legal precedent.
Can you listen to your self? How many knot are you going to tie yourself into to avoid admitting that Hatfield and the other lawyers make an error in rejecting the default judgement?