Eternal Phoenix

Oh, neat. I know those guys from anotherforum. People really do use different names on different boards, don't they?

With any luck, after next season will be his time to shine. After all, 11-6 is nothing to be ashamed of in a 17 match season, and some (if not all) of those above him in the rankings are joining the League proper. 👍

On a presumably unrelated note, shortly after this call was made, a minor earthquake hit Sendai in the Tohoku region of Japan. Any reports of the cause of the quake being a young woman yelling EHHHHHH?! at the absolute top of her lungs are anecdotal at best and should be disregarded. No damage beyond some broken windows has been reported. Presumably because the last time she was reached, the reporter returned in "loser of a Japanese style Deathmatch" condition. Said reporter, while physically recovered, cannot be permitted within arm's reach of anything that could be used or repurposed as a bludgeoning, slashing or piercing weapon, up to and including such mundane items as cheese graters and staplers.

The League Season Ten Review & Commentary Alpha Division Predicted League Champion: Mastachas Predicted Staying In Alpha: Nuke, Mastodon, Brandy, Mel, De’siree Predicted Relegation: Gross, Simmons Actual League Champion: George Mastachas Actual Staying In Alpha: Nuclear Templeton, The Mastodon, Brandy McDonald. Mel O’Hallister, De’siree Mitchell Actual Relegation To Beta: Reverend Johnny Gross, Daniel Simmons Hell, I nailed it. They’re even in the right order. Honestly, there’s not a lot to be said here. Gross and Simmons bounced off Alpha entirely. Boing. With Blackfield coming in, De’siree’s probably doomed to relegation. Mel’s season just fell apart in the second half. 2-5. Ouch. I wouldn’t say Brandy looks vulnerable so much as fading from her glory days as huge beefy dudes get better and better at being huge beefy dudes. Seriously, look at Alpha’s sizes compared to the other three divisions. Mastodon fell just short. Maybe next year. Nuke fell even shorter. As DerekB said, he ripped off 9 straight wins to finish the season and still couldn’t win the belt. And Mastachas? He’s the champ. ‘Nuff said. Now, to the character breakdowns. Brandy McDonald W vs. De’siree Mitchell (1-0 Season, 4-1 Lifetime) L vs. Reverend Johnny Gross (0-1 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) W vs. Daniel Simmons (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. George Mastachas (0-1 Season, 2-3 Lifetime) L vs. The Mastodon (0-1 Season, 2-3 Lifetime) W vs. Mel O’Hallister (1-0 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) L vs. Nuclear Templeton (0-1 Season, 3-2 Lifetime) --- W vs. George Mastachas (1-1 Season, 3-3 Lifetime) W vs. Daniel Simmons (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) L vs. Mel O’Hallister (1-1 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) W vs. The Mastodon (1-1 Season, 3-3 Lifetime) W vs. Reverend Johnny Gross (1-1 Season, 3-1 Lifetime) L vs. Nuclear Templeton (0-2 Season, 3-3 Lifetime) L vs. De’siree Mitchell (1-1 Season, 4-2 Lifetime) Daniel Simmons L vs. George Mastachas (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Nuclear Templeton (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Brandy McDonald (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Mel O’Hallister (0-1 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) L vs. Reverend Johnny Gross (0-1 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) L vs. The Mastodon (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. De’siree Mitchell (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) --- L vs. Mel O’Hallister (0-2 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) L vs. Brandy McDonald (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. The Mastodon (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) W vs. Reverend Johnny Gross (1-1 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) L vs. Nuclear Templeton (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) W vs. De’siree Mitchell (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) L vs. George Mastachas (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) De’siree Mitchell L vs. Brandy McDonald (0-1 Season, 1-4 Lifetime) W vs. The Mastodon (1-0 Season, 2-3 Lifetime) W vs. Reverend Johnny Gross (1-0 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) L vs. Nuclear Templeton (0-1 Season, 1-4 Lifetime) W vs. Mel O’Hallister (1-0 Season, 3-0 Lifetime) L vs. George Mastachas (0-1 Season, 2-3 Lifetime) L vs. Daniel Simmons (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) --- L vs. Nuclear Templeton (0-2 Season, 1-5 Lifetime) L vs. Reverend Johnny Gross (1-1Season, 2-2 Lifetime) L vs. George Mastachas (0-2 Season, 2-4 Lifetime) W vs. Mel O’Hallister (2-0 Season, 4-0 Lifetime) L vs. The Mastodon (1-1 Season, 2-4 Lifetime) L vs. Daniel Simmons (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) W vs. Brandy McDonald (1-1 Season, 2-4 Lifetime) George Mastachas W vs. Daniel Simmons (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Mel O’Hallister (1-0 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) L vs. The Mastodon (0-1 Season, 4-1 Lifetime) W vs. Brandy McDonald (1-0 Season, 3-2 Lifetime) W vs. Nuclear Templeton (1-0 Season, 3-2 Lifetime) W vs. De’siree Mitchell (1-0 Season, 3-2 Lifetime) W vs. Reverend Johnny Gross (1-0 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) --- L vs. Brandy McDonald (1-1 Season, 3-3 Lifetime) W vs. The Mastodon (1-1 Season, 5-1 Lifetime) W vs. De’siree Mitchell (2-0 Season, 4-2 Lifetime) L vs. Nuclear Templeton (1-1 Season, 3-3 Lifetime) W vs. Mel O’Hallister (2-0 Season, 3-1 Lifetime) W vs. Reverend Johnny Gross (2-0 Season, 3-1 Lifetime) W vs. Daniel Simmons (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) The Mastodon W vs. Nuclear Templeton (1-0 Season, 2-3 Lifetime) L vs. De’siree Mitchell (0-1 Season, 3-2 Lifetime) W vs. George Mastachas (1-0 Season, 1-4 Lifetime) W vs. Reverend Johnny Gross (1-0 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) W vs. Brandy McDonald (1-0 Season, 3-2 Lifetime) W vs. Daniel Simmons (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Mel O’Hallister (0-1 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) --- W vs. Reverend Johnny Gross (2-0 Season, 3-1 Lifetime) L vs. George Mastachas (1-1 Season, 1-5 Lifetime) W vs. Daniel Simmons (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) L vs. Brandy McDonald (1-1 Season, 3-3 Lifetime) W vs. De’siree Mitchell (1-1 Season, 4-2 Lifetime) W vs. Mel O’Hallister (1-1 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) L vs. Nuclear Templeton (2-0 Season, 2-4 Lifetime) Mel O’Hallister W vs. Reverend Johnny Gross (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. George Mastachas (0-1 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) W vs. Nuclear Templeton (1-0 Season, 3-0 Lifetime) W vs. Daniel Simmons (1-0 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) L vs. De’siree Mitchell (0-1 Season, 0-3 Lifetime) L vs. Brandy McDonald (0-1 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) W vs. The Mastodon (1-0 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) --- W vs. Daniel Simmons (2-0 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) L vs. Nuclear Templeton (1-1 Season, 3-1 Lifetime) W vs. Brandy McDonald (1-1 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) L vs. De’siree Mitchell (0-2 Season, 0-4 Lifetime) L vs. George Mastachas (0-2 Season, 1-3 Lifetime) L vs. The Mastodon (1-1 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) L vs. Reverend Johnny Gross (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) Nuclear Templeton L vs. The Mastodon (0-1 Season, 3-2 Lifetime) W vs. Daniel Simmons (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Mel O’Hallister (0-1 Season, 0-3 Lifetime) W vs. De’siree Mitchell (1-0 Season, 4-1 Lifetime) L vs. George Mastachas (0-1 Season, 2-3 Lifetime) W vs. Reverend Johnny Gross (1-0 Season, 3-0 Lifetime) W vs. Brandy McDonald (1-0 Season, 2-3 Lifetime) --- W vs. De’siree Mitchell (2-0 Season, 5-1 Lifetime) W vs. Mel O’Hallister (1-1 Season, 1-3 Lifetime) W vs. Reverend Johnny Gross (2-0 Season, 4-0 Lifetime) W vs. George Mastachas (1-1 Season, 3-3 Lifetime) W vs. Daniel Simmons (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Brandy McDonald (2-0 Season, 3-3 Lifetime) W vs. The Mastodon (1-1 Season, 4-2 Lifetime) Reverend Johnny Gross L vs. Mel O’Hallister (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Brandy McDonald (1-0 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) L vs. De’siree Mitchell (0-1 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) L vs. The Mastodon (0-1 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) W vs. Daniel Simmons (1-0 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) L vs. Nuclear Templeton (0-1 Season, 0-3 Lifetime) L vs. George Mastachas (0-1 Season 1-2 Lifetime) --- L vs. The Mastodon (0-2 Season, 1-3 Lifetime) W vs. De’siree Mitchell (1-1 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) L vs. Nuclear Templeton (0-2 Season, 0-4 Lifetime) L vs. Daniel Simmons (1-1 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) L vs. Brandy McDonald (1-1 Season, 1-3 Lifetime) L vs. George Mastachas (0-2 Season 1-3 Lifetime) W vs. Mel O’Hallister (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) As I said, I disagree that Brandy McDonald is showing weakness. She’s just been surpassed for now. The only person who swept her was Nuke, so she’s got a win over everyone else in the division, including the champion Mastachas. She can still go just fine, it’s just that her days of fully contending for the belt have likely come to an end. She cannot, however, be underestimated, as her wins over everybody but Nuke show. Daniel Simmons, as stated, bounced off Alpha. He’s not even returning for Season Eleven. Considering he beat nobody who mattered, this is probably for the best. He’ll be in Gamma for Season Twelve. See in six months or so, Danny. We all know how I feel about De’siree Mitchell. She barely skated this season, and with Blackfield in for the next she’s very likely totally doomed. I think Blackfield is going to hit the wall, yes, but not hard enough for her to avoid relegation to Beta. George Mastachas is the king of the mountain. 3 losses to three different people. I said he’d be hard to stop with Pulsar gone, and by George I was right. 6-1 followed by 5-2 was just enough to hold off Nuke. He beat everybody at least once, and most twice. Can he do it again? Well, yeah. Will he? Good question. I wouldn’t bet against him. Two relatively flukey losses, and Nuke is his only real rival otherwise. He’ll mow through Ouillette, but Blackfield will be a test. I’ve said this repeatedly, but The Mastodon is in a good place. End of Season Nine, he was 7-7 and looking screwed for Season Ten. So stacking on two more wins and contending for the title pretty much all season is a dramatic turn of fortunes for him. No, he’s not the champion. But he has vastly surpassed expectations, and there’s always next year. Mel O’Hallister has to be wondering how it all went wrong. He was a contender, if a dark horse, all the way into Week 10. And then the wheels fell off with four straight losses. He’s got some retooling and some rethinking. Blackfield and Ouilette aren’t Gross and Simmons. He has to do better. And as you all know, he’s one of mah bois. So I’ll keep believing in him until the end. Everybody knows Nuclear Templeton is frustrated. He swept Brandy, which nobody else managed to do this season. He beat Mastachas, but not fast enough to avenge his earlier loss to the Greek. He even got the O’Hallister shaped monkey off of his back, finally defeating the Irishman. Only to come juuuuuuust short, and watch his title be awarded to another man. Well. There’s always next season. I know I want to see him fight Blackfield. Never count out Nuke, that’s the lesson fellas. Reverend Johnny Gross is in the record books, now. The first to be relegated out of his division, promote back into it, and promptly get relegated back out. Back to Beta, where Christian Priest, Lucas Molina, YoshiI Nakamatsu, and a gaggle of old “friends” await. Hoo boy. He’s about to choke out a lot of people. Let’s save predictions about next season until the schedule’s announced, okay? ********** Beta Division Predicted Promotions: Blackfield (divison champion), Nakamatsu Predicted Staying In Beta: Ouilette, River, Wasserman, Pulsar Predicted Relegated To Gamma: Norris, Weathers Actual Promotions To Alpha: Brian Blackfield (division champion), Jean-Paul Ouilette Actual Staying In Beta: Yoshii Nakamatsu, Billy Norris, Blood River, Angela Wasserman Actual Relegated To Gamma: Pulsar, Weathers. Really didn’t think Yoshii would lose to Ouilette there, and that was the deciding point between them. And the Norris scenario did not come to pass. Also, Pulsar is only staying because Simmons is taking the season off. And everyone in Beta for Season Eleven breathes a sigh of relief, as Pulsar is not in Simmons’s weight class. Seriously, who called Beta being more competitive than any other division this season? Ah, well. Let’s get to the character breakdowns. Angela Wasserman W vs. Big Scott Weathers (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Billy Norris (1-0 Season, 1-4 Lifetime) L vs. Blood River (0-1 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) L vs. Brian Blackfield (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Jean-Paul Ouilette (1-0 Season, 2-3 Lifetime) L vs. Yoshii Nakamatsu (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Pulsar (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) --- L vs. Big Scott Weathers (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) W vs. Pulsar (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) L vs. Yoshii Nakamatsu (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Jean-Paul Ouilette (1-1 Season, 2-4 Lifetime) L vs. Blood River (0-2 Season, 1-3 Lifetime) L vs. Billy Norris (1-1 Season, 1-5 Lifetime) L vs. Brian Blackfield (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) Big Scott Weathers L vs. Angela Wasserman (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Blood River (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Pulsar (1-0 Season, 3-2 Lifetime) L vs. Jean-Paul Ouillette (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Yoshii Nakamatsu (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Brian Blackfield (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Billy Norris (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) --- W vs. Angela Wasserman (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) W vs. Billy Norris (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Brian Blackfield (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Yoshii Nakamatsu (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Pulsar (1-1 Season, 3-3 Lifetime) W vs. Blood River (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Jean-Paul Ouillette (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) Billy Norris W vs. Yoshii Nakamatsu (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Angela Wasserman (0-1 Season, 4-1 Lifetime) L vs. Brian Blackfield (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Pulsar (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Blood River (0-1 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) W vs. Jean-Paul Ouillette (1-0 Season, 3-2 Lifetime) W vs. Big Scott Weathers (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) --- W vs. Yoshii Nakamatsu (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) L vs. Big Scott Weathers (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Jean-Paul Ouillette (1-1 Season, 3-3 Lifetime) W vs. Blood River (1-1 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) L vs. Brian Blackfield (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) W vs. Angela Wasserman (1-1 Season, 5-1 Lifetime) W vs. Pulsar (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) Blood River L vs. Brian Blackfield (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Big Scott Weathers (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Angela Wasserman (1-0 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) W vs. Yoshii Nakamatsu (1-0 Season, 3-0 Lifetime) W vs. Billy Norris (1-0 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) L vs. Pulsar (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Jean-Paul Ouillette (0-1 Season, 0-3 Season) --- W vs. Brian Blackfield (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Jean-Paul Ouillette (0-2 Season, 0-4 Season) L vs. Pulsar (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Billy Norris (1-1 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) W vs. Angela Wasserman (2-0 Season, 3-1 Lifetime) L vs. Big Scott Weathers (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Yoshii Nakamatsu (1-1 Season, 3-1 Lifetime) Brian Blackfield W vs. Blood River (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Jean-Paul Ouillete (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Billy Norris (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Angela Wasserman (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Pulsar (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Big Scott Weathers (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Yoshii Nakamatsu (1-0 Season, 3-0 Lifetime) --- L vs. Blood River (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) W vs. Yoshii Nakamatsu (2-0 Season, 4-0 Lifetime) W vs. Big Scott Weathers (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Pulsar (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Billy Norris (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Jean-Paul Ouillete (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Angela Wasserman (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) Jean-Paul Ouillette W vs. Pulsar (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Brian Blackfield (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Yoshii Nakamatsu (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Big Scott Weathers (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Angela Wasserman (0-1 Season, 3-2 Lifetime) L vs. Billy Norris (0-1 Season, 2-3 Lifetime) W vs. Blood River (1-0 Season, 3-0 Lifetime) --- L vs. Pulsar (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) W vs. Blood River (2-0 Season, 4-0 Lifetime) W vs. Billy Norris (1-1 Season, 3-3 Lifetime) W vs. Angela Wasserman (1-1 Season, 4-2 Lifetime) W vs. Yoshii Nakamatsu (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Brian Blackfield (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) W vs. Big Scott Weathers (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) Pulsar L vs. Jean-Paul Ouillete (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Yoshii Nakamatsu (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Big Scott Weathers (0-1 Season, 2-3 Lifetime) W vs. Billy Norris (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Brian Blackfield (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Blood River (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Angela Wasserman (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) --- W vs. Jean-Paul Ouillete (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Angela Wasserman (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) W vs. Blood River (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) L vs. Brian Blackfield (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) W vs. Big Scott Weathers (1-1 Season, 3-3 Lifetime) L vs. Yoshii Nakamatsu (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Billy Norris (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) Yoshii Nakamatsu L vs. Billy Norris (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Pulsar (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Jean-Paul Ouillette (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Blood River (0-1 Season, 0-3 Lifetime) W vs. Big Scott Weathers (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Angela Wasserman (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Brian Blackfield (0-1 Season, 0-3 Lifetime) --- L vs. Billy Norris (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Brian Blackfield (0-2 Season, 0-4 Lifetime) W vs. Angela Wasserman (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Big Scott Weathers (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) L vs. Jean-Paul Ouillette (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) W vs. Pulsar (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Blood River (1-1 Season, 1-3 Lifetime) Angela Wasserman almost blew it. 1-6 after 4-3. She almost got relegated. Or not, as Pulsar is actually staying. But still. The second half of the season was a disaster for her. She’s fully capable of rebounding, and the exchance of Simmons for Pulsar gives her a better chance of doing so. Unfortunately, she’s got no shot at promoting next season. Even with Simmons taking the season off, there’s still the incoming Gross, Priest, and Molina to think about. A performance like this season’s will see her relegated with ease. She needs to step it up a level, or she’ll be Gamma bound. Speaking of, Big Scott Weathers is Gamma bound. 1-6 followed by 3-4. The bargain basement jobber role. He miiiight do a little better down in Gamma, as Terrance Stevens has. But he’s not coming right back to Beta after next season. Rose, Diego, and the incoming Monty are gonna wreck him. So at best he’ll be middle of the pack. Does Delta beckon? Meh, we’ll see. Billy Norris pulled the rabbit out of his hat again. Started 3-4, ended 4-3. He’s erratic, yes, but he’s always at the back edge of contention. With Beta being so tight, there was a chance of relegation, but he got out of it. I don’t think he’s ever leaving Beta. His matches versus Gross, Priest, and Molina promise to be very interesting. I wonder if his track record of weak first half, stronger second, will continue? We’ll start finding out in January. Blood River had people believing at first. 4-3 is a fine start. But then his erratic nature, equal to Norris’s, bit him and he finished 2-5. 6-8, just like last season. The Gamma division winner shows up in flashes, but he just can’t seem to maintain that form. It’s unfortunate. At this rate he’s never gonna promote. Gross, and Priest are gonna mess him up, and he’s not going to have an easy time with Molina, either. So he’s staying in Beta, probably. If Gamma’s division winner can show up in more matches than he doesn’t, anyway. Brian Blackfield has blazed his way through three divisions, losing literally three times along the way. His nickname of “The Juggernaut” is well earned. Alpha, however, is an entirely different beast. Mastachas is gonna manhandle him. Nuke and Mastodon are ready to pummel him within an inch of his life. Brandy and Mel are not to be underestimated, either. So, I’m gonna make a bold prediction. In Season Eleven, Brian Blackfield will not only match but exceed his total Career losses, and he will not become League Champion. As I said most of the season, he’s gonna hit the wall. Jean-Paul Ouilette is screwed. Yes, promotion to Alpha is the goal. Big success. Well done, bud. But considering the last two to promote had a combined seven wins between them and washed out like total losers? And Ouilette himself had to scratch and claw to get the second promotion slot in the first place? Oh, he’s getting his ass kicked all season. He’ll be the new Simmons. A glorified practice dummy. 4 wins, tops, and that’s being generous. Shot right back to Beta with more bruises than Cecily can kiss and make all better. Pulsar is one of the luckiest two men in The League. He was relegated. Done. On the fast train to Gamma. And then Simmons made a phone call, and Will Prydor (our glorious leader) made a command decision. Pulsar stays. No relegation. Lucky, lucky, lucky. I mean, he’s still going to job out hard. 5-9 is teh suck in a Beta with only one dominant force. With two confirmed (Gross & Priest) and one possible (Molina), he’s gonna have a bad time. Yoshi Nakamatsu almost pulled it off. One loss, and the promotion dream ended. There’s pros and cons to this. The pros are he’s not going to get his ass kicked virtually every week like Ouilette is going to. He’ll definitely win more than he does and get more points to improve his skills. On the con side, Gross and Priest are going to make his life a misery, and Molina won’t exactly be fun to deal with, either. Promotion may be out of his grasp before the season even starts. Still, this is Yoshii. He’s pulled off the unexpected before. So let’s just wait and see. Let’s save predictions about next season until the schedule’s announced, okay? ********** Gamma Division Predicted Promotions: Priest (division title winner), Molina Predicted To Stay In Gamma: Diego, Rose, Stevens, Gibson Predicted To Be Relegated To Delta: Diamond, Clay Actual Promotions To Beta: Christian Priest (division champion),Molina Actual Staying In Gamma: Indigo Rose, Diego Rodriguez, Erick Gibson, Terrance Stevens Actual Relegated To Delta: Markus Clay, Diamond Aside from some ordering changes, I was exactly correct. Huh. Imagine that. Anyway, everyone in this division will be battling for second place. Why? Because Monty Dhillon doesn’t have the Delta ruleset holding him back anymore. He’ll rampage about as hard as Priest did. I have no doubts about this. Fighting for second? Specifically, the three technicians. Rose, Diego, and Heartilly. Everyone else is a one dimensional brawler or the lucky Markus Clay. So lets get to the character breakdowns. Christian Priest W vs. Diego Rodriguez (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Erick Gibson (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Diamond (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Markus Clay (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Terrance Stevens (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Indigo Rose (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Lucas Molina (1-0 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) --- W vs. Diamond (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Markus Clay (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Diego Rodriguez (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Erick Gibson (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Terrance Stevens (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) W vs. Lucas Molina (2-0 Season, 3-1 Lifetime) W vs. Indigo Rose (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) Diamond L vs. Indigo Rose (0-1 Season, 0-3 Lifetime) W vs. Markus Clay (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Christian Priest (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Diego Rodriguez (1-0 Season, 3-2 Lifetime) L vs. Erick Gibson (0-1 Season, 2-3 Lifetime) W vs. Lucas Molina (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Terrance Stevens (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) --- L vs. Christian Priest (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Diego Rodriguez (1-1 Season, 3-3 Lifetime) L vs. Indigo Rose (0-2 Season, 0-4 Lifetime) L vs. Markus Clay (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) W vs. Erick Gibson (1-1 Season, 3-3 Lifetime) L vs. Terrance Stevens (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Lucas Molina (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) Diego Rodriguez L vs. Christian Priest (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs Terrance Stevens (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Erick Gibson (1-0 Season, 3-2 Lifetime) L vs. Diamond (0-1 Season, 2-3 Lifetime) L vs. Lucas Molina (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Markus Clay (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Indigo Rose (1-0 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) --- W vs. Erick Gibson (2-0 Season, 4-2 Lifetime) W vs. Diamond (1-1 Season, 3-3 Lifetime) L vs. Christian Priest (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Terrance Stevens (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Lucas Molina (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Indigo Rose (1-1 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) W vs. Markus Clay (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) Erick Gibson L vs. Lucas Molina (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Christian Priest (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Diego Rodriguez (0-1 Season, 2-3 Lifetime) L vs. Indigo Rose (0-1 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) W vs. Diamond (1-0 Season, 3-2 Lifetime) W vs. Terrance Stevens (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Markus Clay (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) --- L vs. Diego Rodriguez (0-2 Season, 2-4 Lifetime) L vs. Indigo Rose (0-2 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) W vs. Lucas Molina (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Christian Priest (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Diamond (1-1 Season, 3-3 Lifetime) W vs. Markus Clay (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Terrance Stevens (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) Indigo Rose W vs. Diamond (1-0 Season, 3-0 Lifetime) L vs. Lucas Molina (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Terrance Stevens (0-1 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) W vs. Erick Gibson (1-0 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) W vs. Markus Clay (1-0 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) L vs. Christian Priest (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Diego Rodriguez (0-1 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) --- W vs. Terrance Stevens (1-1 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) W vs. Erick Gibson (2-0 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) W vs. Diamond (2-0 Season, 4-0 Lifetime) W vs. Lucas Molina (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Markus Clay (1-1 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) W vs. Diego Rodriguez (1-1 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) L vs. Christian Priest (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) Lucas Molina W vs. Erick Gibson (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Indigo Rose (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Markus Clay (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Terrance Stevens (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Diego Rodriguez (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Diamond (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Christian Priest (0-1 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) --- W vs. Markus Clay (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Terrance Stevens (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Erick Gibson (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Indigo Rose (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) W vs. Diego Rodriguez (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) L vs. Christian Priest (0-2 Season, 1-3 Lifetime) W vs. Diamond (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) Markus Clay W vs. Terrence Stevens (1-0 Season, 4-1 Lifetime) L vs. Diamond (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Lucas Molina (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Christian Priest (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Indigo Rose (0-1 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) L vs. Diego Rodriguez (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Erick Gibson (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) --- L vs. Lucas Molina (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Christian Priest (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) W vs. Terrence Stevens (2-0 Season, 5-1 Lifetime) W vs. Diamond (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) W vs. Indigo Rose (1-1 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) L vs. Erick Gibson (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Diego Rodriguez (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) Terrence Stevens L vs. Markus Clay (0-1 Season, 1-4 Lifetime) L vs. Diego Rodriguez (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Indigo Rose (1-0 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) W vs. Lucas Molina (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Christian Priest (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Erick Gibson (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Diamond (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) --- L vs. Indigo Rose (1-1 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) L vs. Lucas Molina (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Markus Clay (0-2 Season, 1-5 Lifetime) W vs. Diego Rodriguez (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Christian Priest (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) W vs. Diamond (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) L vs. Erick Gibson (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) Christian Priest is poised to manhandle Beta the same way he manhandled Gamma. Seriously, one loss is bonkers, especially because it came from the guy who finished sixth, not any of the serious promotion candidates. He’s gonna hit it like Blackfield, and dominate all foes. However, the matches with Gross, Molina, and Nakamatsu will at least be interesting viewing. Diamond completely fell apart in the second half. 3-4 followed by 1-6 and relegation to Delta. Oof size large. Hell of a fall from dark horse promotion candidate at the start of the season. The trio remaining in Delta (as the Omega division has not finished as of this writing) match up to her mostly unfavorably, too. Kichi Hida is a living ball of violence, and the presumptive division winner. Nocturne is a grappler, who she’s always had lots of trouble against. And Scott Stevens is a big burly brawler who can beat her down (especially in Delta’s ruleset) before she can get out of the starting blocks. So it’s gonna be a rough ride. Due to being a PC (and her handler’s only one and thus main) she can’t be relegated to Omega, but that doesn’t mean she can’t have a poor season. Good luck to her. Diego Rodriguez once again fell just a bit short. He couldn’t beat Priest or Molina, and the loss to Rose threw him out of contention. 7-7’s not bad, but you just know he wants a couple of matches (like the submission loss to Diamond) back. Unfortunately, Priest and Molina have replacements coming in Dhillon and Heartilly. So he’s got to step it up a level if he genuinely wants to get out of Gamma. Dhillon’s probably beyond him, but Heartilly shouldn’t be. Good luck, hermano. You’re gonna need it. Erick Gibson is a hell of a perseverance story.One does not expect 0-4 wrestlers to stay in their divisions. Let alone finish fifth. Yet somehow, someway, Gibson did that shit. It is amazing. He proved he belongs in Gamma. Good for him. Monty’s gonna snap him in half, but good for him. Hopefully he doesn’t have to scratch and claw so hard to get out of an early hole this time. Indigo Rose blew her chance at promotion, and everybody knows exactly where. Week 12, the loss vs Markus Clay. She’d won four straight to get into contention while everyone else was waffling around, and then blew it. It’s gonna sting. 5-2 second half, and it simply wasn’t enough because of one of those two. Or, to be less charitable, the 4 in 3-4 that preceded it. At any rate, she’s a top contender this season, and that’ll have to be her consolation prize. Not for the division title. That belongs to Monty. Lucas Molina did not quite have the season he may have wanted, but he did manage to promote to Beta by the skin of his teeth. There are a couple matches he wants back (the losses to Stevens and Diamond), but on the whole it was a successful season. With that said, he needs to step his game up. If Beta’s anything like Gamma, he’s going to have just as hard of a time in it. Though if I’m being honest, I don’t want him to promote to Alpha right away. Those guys are killers, and he’s just not ready. Then again, after a successful season in Beta, he may well be ready. Or close to it. So let’s see how it goes, shall we? Side note: We’re doing Priest/Molina: European Rules again. Because hell yeah, baby. LFG. Markus Clay is the other of the luckiest two men in the League. He was relegated. It was over. And then Simmons took a break, meaning Clay got a last minute reprieve. So he’ll be in Gamma one more time, and he’ll largely be jobbing out one more time. There isn’t much else to be said. He went 4-10. Everyone who mattered beat him like a drum for the most part, and there’s no real reason to believe that’ll change. Terrance Stevens exceeded expectations…and that’s all that can be said about his season, really. He played spoiler early and then faded back into the crowd. 4-3 to start, and 2-5 to finish. The former was probably an overperformance, and I expect him to resuming his jobbing ways this upcoming season. With, of course, a surprise superkick victory or two to keep things spicy. Let’s save predictions about next season until the schedule’s announced, okay? ********** Delta Division Predicted Promotions: Heartilly, Hida Predicted Remaining In Delta: Dhillon, Nocturne, Onoo, Stevens Predicted Relegated To Omega: Tornado, Delight Actual Promotions To Gamma: Monty Dhillon (division champion), Lance Heartilly Actual Staying In Delta: Kichi Hida, Nocturne, Scott Stevens (via PC bye) Actual Relegated To Omega: Jun Onoo, El Tornado, Devil’s Delight The only part I was wrong about was there being four relegation slots instead of two. Though with Scott Stevens occupying one, it became three as he can’t be relegated due to being a primary PC. I mean, how this division was going to go was pretty damn clear before the season started. Nocturne and Stevens could have played spoiler but mostly they did not and the top trio simply ran over them. But promotions number only two, and so Kichi Hida is left to be Queen of Delta. True to her brand, her reign ought to be short and exceptionally violent. Now, let’s get to the character breakdowns. Devil’s Delight L vs. Lance Heartilly (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Scott Stevens (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Kichi Hida (0-1 Season, 0-3 Lifetime) L vs. Jun Onoo (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Nocturne (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. El Tornado (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Monty Dhillon (0-1 Season, 0-3 Lifetime) --- L vs. Scott Stevens (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Nocturne (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Kichi Hida (0-2 Season, 0-4 Lifetime) L vs. Monty Dhillon (0-2 Season, 0-4 Lifetime) W vs. Jun Onoo (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Lance Heartilly (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) W vs. El Tornado (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) El Tornado L vs. Monty Dhillon (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Jun Onoo (0-1 Season, 1-4 Lifetime) L vs. Lance Heartilly (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Nocturne (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Kichi Hida (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Devil’s Delight (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Scott Stevens (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) --- L vs. Jun Onoo (0-2 Season, 1-5 Lifetime) L vs. Kichi Hida (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Lance Heartilly (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) W vs. Scott Stevens (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) L vs. Nocturne (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Monty Dhillon (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Devil’s Delight (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) Jun Onoo L vs. Scott Stevens (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. El Tornado (1-0 Season, 4-1 Lifetime) L vs. Nocturne (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Devil’s Delight (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Monty Dhillon (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Lance Heartilly (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Kichi Hida (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) --- W vs. El Tornado (2-0 Season, 5-1 Lifetime) L vs. Monty Dhillon (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) W vs. Nocturne (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Kichi Hida (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Devil’s Delight (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) W vs. Scott Stevens (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Lance Heartilly (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) Kichi Hida W vs. Nocturne (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Lance Heartilly (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Devil’s Delight (1-0 Season, 3-0 Lifetime) W vs. Scott Stevens (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. El Tornado (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Monty Dhillon (0-1 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) W vs. Jun Onoo (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) --- L vs. Lance Heartilly (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) W vs. El Tornado (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Devil’s Delight (2-0 Season, 4-0 Lifetime) W vs. Jun Onoo (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Scott Stevens (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Nocturne (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) L vs. Monty Dhillon (0-2 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) Lance Heartilly W vs. Devil’s Delight (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Kichi Hida (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. El Tornado (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Monty Dhillon (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Scott Stevens (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Jun Onoo (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Nocturne (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) --- W vs. Kichi Hida (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Scott Stevens (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. El Tornado (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) L vs. Nocturne (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Monty Dhillon (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) W vs. Devil’s Delight (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Jun Onoo (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) Monty Dhillon W vs. El Tornado (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Nocturne (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Scott Stevens (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Lance Heartilly (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Jun Onoo (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Kichi Hida (1-0 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) W vs. Devil’s Delight (1-0 Season, 3-0 Lifetime) --- W vs. Nocturne (2-0 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) W vs. Jun Onoo (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) W vs. Scott Stevens (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Devil’s Delight (2-0 Season, 4-0 Lifetime) W vs. Lance Heartilly (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) W vs. El Tornado (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Kichi Hida (2-0 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) Nocturne L vs. Kichi Hida (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Monty Dhillon (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Jun Onoo (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. El Tornado (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Devil’s Delight (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Scott Stevens (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Lance Heartilly (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) --- L vs. Monty Dhillon (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) W vs. Devil’s Delight (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) L vs. Jun Onoo (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) W vs. Lance Heartilly (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. El Tornado (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Kichi Hida (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) W vs. Scott Stevens (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) Scott Stevens W vs. Jun Onoo (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Devil’s Delight (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Monty Dhillon (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Kichi Hida (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Lance Heartilly (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Nocturne (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. El Tornado (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) --- W vs. Devil’s Delight (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) L vs. Lance Heartilly (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Monty Dhillon (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. El Tornado (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Kichi Hida (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Jun Onoo (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Nocturne (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) Devil’s Delight’s two seasons in the League were object lessons in futility. 4-10 and 2-12. Yeesh. But you know, I think I’ll miss her. When she hit her form, she was a tough match for anyone. Those six career wins didn’t happen by accident. There was something there. But ultimately not enough, and now she is banished to Omega to give her approach a rethink. El Tornado, on the other hand, will not be missed much. A League career spent jobbing super hard, and Omega ought to be no different. He’s fast as hell, and has some good moves, but his negative traits simply doom him to forever sucking. Goodbye forever. Jun Onoo will be missed even less. A generic big man with nothing to offer other than size and (some) power, he is rightfully condemned to the basement. When your total match time over two matches vs Kichi Hida doesn’t reach seven minutes, you just suck. Again, goodbye forever. Probably. Speaking of Kichi Hida, the Queen of Delta lost to two people last season, both of whom were promoted. If that doesn’t make the newcomers from Omega quake in their boots, nothing will. Except, perhaps, her average win time of about seven and a half minutes. Bottom line? As it stands, Delta is hers to lose. Though, with literally half the division unrevealed as of this writing, that’s a bit less impressive than it sounds. Still, unless they’re the second coming of Lance Heartilly or Monty Dhillon, she’s probably going to roll over them. Speaking of Lance Heartilly, he may have looked untouchable at times in Delta, but so did his technical predecessor Lucas Molina, and he hit a bit of a wall in Gamma. Promoting again is a bit of a longshot for him, but he shouldn’t be relegated back to Delta. He’s just not good enough to overcome Diego and Rose, and Monty has already proved that he’s surpassed him. So Lance joins the Gamma stalwarts, at least for a season. Monty Dhillon, on the other hand, ain’t staying long. As I’ve previously stated, he’s gonna rampage all over Gamma much like Priest and Blackfield before him. The trio of technicians may make things interesting, but Gamma is his to lose. There’s nothing else to be said. He dominated Delta, he’s gonna dominate Gamma, and he’ll probably dominate Beta, too. Nocturne is Lance Heartilly’s kryptonite. Nice. She also slid in just above the relegation line. Double nice. With half the division still to be revealed, she’s probably the front runner to get the second promotion slot. Triple nice. Whether she’s ready for that after the other four are revealed is another issue. Kichi’s probably still out of her weight class, and heaven only knows how good the newcomers are going to be, or what training Diamond and Scott Stevens are up to. Still, for now she’s number two. Hard work paying off. Hopefully it will continue to do so. Scott Stevens…I think it’s safe to say that the season did not go the way he wished it would have. 4-10 is not a good record. Placing below El Tornado in the rankings has to sting. But he’s still here because of being a Primary PC. Hooray or second chances. Part of the problem last season was having three dominant forces simply bulldozing everyone else. Two of those forces have promoted away, and it remains to be seen if any of the incoming four can replace them. So he’s already in a better position, at least for now. I think he can do better this coming season. Promotion may still be out of his reach, with Nocturne and Kichi there, but I think he can do better than 4-10. Let’s save predictions about next season until the schedule’s announced, okay?

Joslin is probably not good enough to get out of Omega on her own. Rock, however, ought to be able to manage it eventually. Whether he's one and done, well...that's up to me and my upgrading skills, ain't it?

Yeah, but the former had a Toni Storm who was much more boring out of the ring, IMO. Though I'm the guy who thinks "I'm good at wrestling" is a boring gimmick, especially when half the roster is also using it. Gimme some sizzle with that steak. There's got to be a balance, IMO. It's too easy to get lost in the shuffle with a generic gimmick no matter how good one's in ring skills are, but veer too hard towards the entertainment side and the hardcore base starts to complain.

They don't. Look at the most popular TV characters today. Look at all the views the "ending explained" videos on Youtube get. Hell, look at Twitter. In general, people don't understand subtlety and nuance. You call it bush league, I call it mass appeal. Go read the Youtube comments on AEW's channel sometime. The masses eat this stuff up with a spoon. Whether that's for better or for worse is entirely up to you. Me personally? I'm a simple man. I appreciate a good match, promo skills, and character work. It takes a similar level of natural aptitude and hard work to get over in cartoonish 80s wrestling as it does to successfully walk The King's Road. I'm just enjoying the ride.

17 rounds of 9 matches. Right. Not 9 rounds o 17 matches. Brain, what are you doing? :sigh:

Did not phrase that correctly. 153 matches total. A third of that is 51, which I'm saying may well be a pretty neato place to stop and update us. Conveniently, it's also 17 x 3, meaning it's after 3 full rounds. But you're not as precise as I am about this sort of things (thanks OCD/autism, you're lovely) so don't mind me so much. 😅

You gonna give us Omega updates every 51 matches, boss? Slice that total into thirds and it's pretty managable.

This is it, folks. Our last hurrah until January, barring updates from the Omega Division or League systems. It's been a hell of a run, and I'm glad to have shared it with you all. But let's get to the point, eh? Prediction time. ALPHA DIVISION (1) George Mastachas (10-3, OVR 523)* vs. (8) Daniel Simmons (3-10, OVR 504) [Career: George Mastachas, 1 - 0] Simmons can make some noise here, but he doesn't have enough to actually beat Mastachas. (3) The Mastodon (9-4, OVR 520)* vs. (2) Nuclear Templeton (10-3, OVR 532) [Career: Nuclear Templeton, 3 - 2] Mastodon and Nuke are practically identical in terms of stats. They're differentiated by their Signatures, Finishers, and Traits. Nuke's are decisively better. (6) De'siree Mitchell (4-9, OVR 488) vs. (4) Brandy McDonald (7-6, OVR 519)* [Career: Brandy McDonald, 4 - 1] Brandy is more or less De'siree's kryptonite, as their record shows. (5) Mel O'Hallister (6-7, OVR 520)* vs. (x-7) Reverend Johnny Gross (3-10, OVR 494) [Career: Mel O'Hallister, 1 - 0] Gross has nothing left to fight for except maybe pride. Mel, on the other hand, would very much like at least to finish without a losing record. BETA DIVISION (6) Angela Wassermann (5-8, OVR 471) vs. (1) Brian Blackfield (12-1, OVR 571)* [Career: Brian Blackfield, 1 - 0] The Juggernaut doesn't care that you want to stay in Beta, Angela. Here's your L. (4) Blood River (6-7, OVR 502)* vs. (3) Yoshii Nakamatsu (7-6, OVR 508) [Career: Blood River, 3 - 0] As much as I want to believe in mah boi, he's got an awful track record against the speedy types. (z-8) Big Scott Weathers (4-9, OVR 482) vs. (2) Jean-Paul Ouilette (7-6, OVR 515)* [Career: Jean-Paul Ouilette, 1 - 0] Ouilette is ready for his Simmons'ing next season. Just kidding. He only thinks he is. It wouldn't shock me if he pulled a Tornado and finished with only a win to his name. (5) Billy Norris (6-7, OVR 506) vs. (7) Pulsar (5-8, OVR 473)* [Career: Pulsar, 1 - 0] Norris manages to save Wasserman's bacon. Or not. This one's honestly a coin flip. Norris has the advantages needed to win, but high flyers are so unpredictable in this game... GAMMA DIVISION (2) Indigo Rose (8-5, OVR 490) vs. (1) Christian Priest (12-1, OVR 578)* [Career: Christian Priest, 1 - 0] This is why you needed to beat Clay, Rose. You can't win this match. Losing it will give Molina his opening, and he probably won't waste it. (z-7) Markus Clay (4-9, OVR 469) vs. (4) Diego Rodriguez (6-7, OVR 506)* [Career: Diego Rodriguez, 1 - 0] Just a bit of a lost season for poor Diego, but at least he can finish without a losing record. (6) Erick Gibson (5-8, OVR 488)* vs. (5) Terrance Stevens (6-7, OVR 477) [Career: Erick Gibson, 1 - 0] Total coin flip. Either of these men could beat the other on any given night. (z-8) Diamond (4-9, OVR 474)* vs. (3) Lucas Molina (7-6, OVR 473) [Career: Diamond, 1 - 0] C'mon Lucas, let's get it done right this time. DELTA DIVISION (1) Monty Dhillon (11-2, OVR 528)* vs. (3) Kichi Hida (10-3, OVR 464) [Career: Kichi Hida, 2 - 1] Kichi can absolutely beat Monty...but not nearly fast enough, as he's got over 50 more health points than Onoo, and is more capable of fighting back besides. Well, bud, maybe somebody in a higher division than this will need to take a rest. Or maybe Heartilly will crap the bed and give Onoo a gift. Otherwise, the Queen of Delta will begin her reign of terror next January. After, of course, leaving Monty laying in the ring as a sort of Momento Mori kind of thing. Sigh. Kichi's gonna be so lonely. (4) Jun Onoo (6-7, OVR 476) vs. (2) Lance Heartilly (10-3, OVR 444)* [Career: Lance Heartilly, 1 - 0] I meant what I said up there. The only way Onoo wins here is if the same Heartilly who fought Monty the second time shows up. Talk about off his game...but Monty deserves his props also, for being able to take advantage and destroy him in just over 5. A most speedy demolition. (5) Nocturne (6-7, OVR 425) vs. (7) Scott Stevens (4-9, OVR 418)* [Career: Scott Stevens, 1 - 0] Like the rest of y'all, I'd like Nocturne to hang around for another season, too. Partly because of sentimentality, yes, but also because she's gonna dominate Omega, probably, and that's no fun for any PCs down there. (z-6) El Tornado (4-9, OVR 444)* vs. (z-8) Devil's Delight (1-12, OVR 420) [Career: El Tornado, 1 - 0] This is my fully sentimental pick. Delight's going away for a while. She'll have to retool kind of...everything. But her tale was good, her render was nice, and last season was a lovely underdog story. So maybe, one day, she'll be back. Until next time, get yourself a win to go, Devil's Delight.

AEW has actually been pretty consistent about allowing champions to accept challenges from anybody they want. Even if there's already a title match scheduled or an upcoming PPV, or if they'd beaten the challenger already. MJF isn't the first and surely won't be the last pro wrestling champion to accept a challenge from someone who ran their mouth and now is in need of an ass kicking. Though I'll grant that most companies only do this with secondary titles and when there isn't a match scheduled for an upcoming PPV. I think AEW does it under any circumstances so that what matches we'll get from week to week and month to month feel more unpredictable. If so, they're certainly succeeding at it.

Garcia challenged MJF on Rampage, after Garcia had had a match. MJF accepted on Twitter (no, I'm not calling it X Elon) later. Match is on for Dynamite.

ALPHA DIVISION FIRST BLOOD MATCH: (4) Brandy McDonald (7-5, OVR 517) vs. (2) Nuclear Templeton (9-3, OVR 526)* [Career: Brandy McDonald, 3 – 2. McDonald is 0 – 1 in First Blood matches.] In a normal match I'd say that Brandy had a shot, based on their history and her record this season. No, it's not great, but nobody has managed to sweep her yet, with two weeks remaining. But the match type is more favorable to Nuke and he seems to have roughtly surpassed her these days. So yanno. (3) The Mastodon (8-4, OVR 515) vs. (5) Mel O'Hallister (6-6, OVR 520)* [Career: Mel O'Hallister, 2 - 1] I'm just being a fanboy. Mel's scrappy, and he's done it before. (7) Reverend Johnny Gross (3-9, OVR 494) vs. (1) George Mastachas (9-3, OVR 519)* [Career: George Mastachas, 2 - 1] Strength advantage vs Gross's Finisher. Stamina advantage because of Cardio Freak. Everything to fight for. Powerbomb? Boom. For Gross? Doom. (8) Daniel Simmons (2-10, OVR 498)* vs. (6) De'siree Mitchell (4-8, OVR 488) [Career: Daniel Simmons, 1 - 0] I think it's established by now that I don't think much of De'siree. Dan's just versatile enough to get the sweep, I think. BETA DIVISION (y-1) Brian Blackfield (11-1, OVR 565)* vs. (2) Jean-Paul Ouilette (7-5, OVR 515) [Career: Brian Blackfield, 1 - 0] The Juggernaut cares not for anyone's dreams of promotion. He only cares for destruction. HARDCORE MATCH: (4) Yoshii Nakamatsu (6-6, OVR 504)* vs. (6) Pulsar (5-7, OVR 473) [Career: Yoshii Nakamatsu, 1 – 0] I also think it's been established by now that Yoshii is one of mah bois. And Pulsar is fast as hell, but has no other strengths. (8) Big Scott Weathers (3-9, OVR 477) vs. (3) Blood River (6-6, OVR 501)* [Career: Blood River, 1 - 0] Weathers to job his way to Gamma. River's got enough to beat him. (5) Angela Wassermann (5-7, OVR 470)* vs. (7) Billy Norris (5-7, OVR 501) [Career: Billy Norris, 4 - 1] Observe the record. That's the power of big time stamina difference. 225 vs over 400 with Cardio Freak 2. With Norris also being fast as hell and Wasserman's main ofensense consisting of strikes. GAMMA DIVISION EUROPEAN RULES MATCH: (y-1) Christian Priest (11-1, OVR 571)* vs. (2) Lucas Molina (7-5, OVR 472) [Career: Christian Priest, 2 – 1. Priest is 1-0 in European Rules matches.] Yes, I'm a homer. But also I believe a longer match type favors the grapply types and it definitely favors those with higher stamina. Lucas can do this. And if Diego wins to, he's got promotion sewn up. (4) Diego Rodriguez (6-6, OVR 506)* vs. (3) Indigo Rose (7-5, OVR 486) [Career: Diego Rodriguez, 2 - 1] Functionally too close to call. So I go with the bigger, stronger one. Matters somewhat in the grappling arts. (6) Erick Gibson (4-8, OVR 484)* vs. (7) Markus Clay (4-8, OVR 469) [Career: Erick Gibson, 1 - 0] This is the best result for Diamond, I believe, so I'm picking it. Sue me, I don't want her to drop. (5) Terrance Stevens (5-7, OVR 473)* vs. (8) Diamond (4-8, OVR 474) [Career: Terrance Stevens, 1 - 0] On that subject. I think she can actually do this. She's got a slight speed advantage over Stevens's main offensive, which is his striking, and a sports entertainer doesn't really have any defensive answers for speedy types like Diamond. Only the superkick looms, as dangerous as ever. DELTA DIVISION (1) Monty Dhillon (10-2, OVR 524)* vs. (z-6) El Tornado (4-8, OVR 444) [Career: Monty Dhillon, 1 - 0] If this takes more than ten minutes, I'm shocked. (3) Kichi Hida (9-3, OVR 461)* vs. (4) Nocturne (6-6, OVR 426) [Career: Kichi Hida, 1 - 0] Nocturne could make this interesting if Kichi isn't on her game, but ultimately she's gonna get her faced caved in like everyone else but Heartilly and Monty the once this season. (7) Scott Stevens (4-8, OVR 418)* vs. (5) Jun Onoo (5-7, OVR 471) [Career: Scott Stevens, 1 - 0] He did it once and it didn't look super hard. So sure, why not? (8) Devil's Delight (1-11, OVR 420) vs. (2) Lance Heartilly (9-3, OVR 440)* [Career: Lance Heartilly, 1 - 0] Delight is wrestling with a bit more fire lately, but this would literally be the upset of the season. Would I like to see it? Yes. Is it gonna happen? Hell no.

To give more context, this was shortly before the GI Climax. Mark was going to fight Claudio for the ROH Championship since Eddie Kingston couldn't (because he was in the G1 and thus in Japan for the duration of the tournament), but then Mark got injured. I don't remember who Claudio ended up defending against. Or if he even did.

I'm all commented out from the above. So let's just get on with it. Three spotlight matches have been noted. They have deep implications for promotion chances. ALPHA DIVISION (5) Mel O'Hallister (6-5, OVR 520) vs. (1) George Mastachas (8-3, OVR 514)* [Career: George Mastachas, 2 - 1] (8) Daniel Simmons (2-9, OVR 498) vs. (2) Nuclear Templeton (8-3, OVR 522)* [Career: Nuclear Templeton, 1 - 0] (7) Reverend Johnny Gross (3-8, OVR 495)* vs. (4) Brandy McDonald (6-5, OVR 514) [Career: Brandy McDonald, 2 - 1] (3) The Mastodon (7-4, OVR 510) vs. (6) De'siree Mitchell (4-7, OVR 487)* [Career: The Mastodon, 3 - 2] BETA DIVISION (1) Brian Blackfield (10-1, OVR 561)* vs. (6) Billy Norris (5-6, OVR 501) [Career: Brian Blackfield, 1 - 0] (2) Yoshii Nakamatsu (6-5, OVR 503)* vs. (3) Jean-Paul Ouilette (6-5, OVR 509) [Career: Yoshii Nakamatsu, 1 - 0] Spotlight Match #1 (5) Angela Wassermann (5-6, OVR 469) vs. (4) Blood River (5-6, OVR 496)* [Career: Blood River, 2 - 1] (7) Pulsar (4-7, OVR 469) vs. (8) Big Scott Weathers (3-8, OVR 477)* [Career: Big Scott Weathers, 3 - 2] GAMMA DIVISION (1) Christian Priest (10-1, OVR 565) vs. (5) Terrance Stevens (5-6, OVR 472)* [Career: Terrance Stevens, 1 - 0] (3) Lucas Molina (6-5, OVR 467)* vs. (4) Diego Rodriguez (6-5, OVR 505) [Career: Lucas Molina, 1 - 0] Spotlight Match #2 (7) Markus Clay (3-8, OVR 465) vs. (2) Indigo Rose (7-4, OVR 486)* [Career: Indigo Rose, 2 - 1] (8) Diamond (3-8, OVR 470) vs. (6) Erick Gibson (4-7, OVR 484)* [Career: Erick Gibson, 3 - 2] DELTA DIVISION (1) Lance Heartilly (9-2, OVR 441)* vs. (2) Monty Dhillon (9-2, OVR 522) [Career: Lance Heartilly, 1 - 0] Spotlight Match #3 (7) Scott Stevens (4-7, OVR 418) vs. (3) Kichi Hida (8-3, OVR 458)* [Career: Kichi Hida, 1 - 0] (4) Jun Onoo (5-6, OVR 471)* vs. (8) Devil's Delight (0-11, OVR 416) [Career: Jun Onoo, 1 - 0] (5) Nocturne (5-6, OVR 422) vs. (6) El Tornado (4-7, OVR 444)* [Career: El Tornado, 1 - 0]

Season Ten 3/4 Mark Season Review & Predictions Alpha Division Predicted Top Group: Mastachas, O’Hallister, Mastodon Predicted Middle Group: Nuke, Brandy Predicted Bottom Group: Gross, De’siree, Simmons Actual Top Group: Mastachas (8-3), Nuke (8-3), Mastodon (7-4) Actual Middle Group: Brandy (6-5), O’Hallister (6-5) Actual Bottom Group: De’siree (4-7), Gross (3-8), Simmons (2-9) The main thing I was wrong about was the positions of Nuke and Mel. Mel couldn’t quite make the big push he needed to, and Nuke could. So Mel’s for all practical purposes out of contention, and Nuke is one Mastachas slip away from claiming it himself. Losses to Mastachas and Brandy have slid Mastodon out of realistic contention with three matches to go. Brandy has proven she still belongs in Alpha, even if she’s no longer quite championship material. De’siree is still hanging on by her fingernails. And the two promotions from Beta still look like they’ll be relegated right back to it. With that said, let’s get to the character breakdowns. Brandy McDonald W vs. De’siree Mitchell (1-0 Season, 4-1 Lifetime) L vs. Reverend Johnny Gross (0-1 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) W vs. Daniel Simmons (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. George Mastachas (0-1 Season, 2-3 Lifetime) L vs. The Mastodon (0-1 Season, 2-3 Lifetime) W vs. Mel O’Hallister (1-0 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) L vs. Nuclear Templeton (0-1 Season, 3-2 Lifetime) --- W vs. George Mastachas (1-1 Season, 3-3 Lifetime) W vs. Daniel Simmons (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) L vs. Mel O’Hallister (1-1 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) W vs. The Mastodon (1-1 Season, 3-3 Lifetime) Daniel Simmons L vs. George Mastachas (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Nuclear Templeton (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Brandy McDonald (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Mel O’Hallister (0-1 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) L vs. Reverend Johnny Gross (0-1 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) L vs. The Mastodon (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. De’siree Mitchell (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) --- L vs. Mel O’Hallister (0-2 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) L vs. Brandy McDonald (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. The Mastodon (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) W vs. Reverend Johnny Gross (1-1 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) De’siree Mitchell L vs. Brandy McDonald (0-1 Season, 1-4 Lifetime) W vs. The Mastodon (1-0 Season, 2-3 Lifetime) W vs. Reverend Johnny Gross (1-0 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) L vs. Nuclear Templeton (0-1 Season, 1-4 Lifetime) W vs. Mel O’Hallister (1-0 Season, 3-0 Lifetime) L vs. George Mastachas (0-1 Season, 2-3 Lifetime) L vs. Daniel Simmons (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) --- L vs. Nuclear Templeton (0-2 Season, 1-5 Lifetime) L vs. Reverend Johnny Gross (1-1Season, 2-2 Lifetime) L vs. George Mastachas (0-2 Season, 2-4 Lifetime) W vs. Mel O’Hallister (2-0 Season, 4-0 Lifetime) George Mastachas W vs. Daniel Simmons (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Mel O’Hallister (1-0 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) L vs. The Mastodon (0-1 Season, 4-1 Lifetime) W vs. Brandy McDonald (1-0 Season, 3-2 Lifetime) W vs. Nuclear Templeton (1-0 Season, 3-2 Lifetime) W vs. De’siree Mitchell (1-0 Season, 3-2 Lifetime) W vs. Reverend Johnny Gross (1-0 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) --- L vs. Brandy McDonald (1-1 Season, 3-3 Lifetime) W vs. The Mastodon (1-1 Season, 5-1 Lifetime) W vs. De’siree Mitchell (2-0 Season, 4-2 Lifetime) L vs. Nuclear Templeton (1-1 Season, 3-3 Lifetime) The Mastodon W vs. Nuclear Templeton (1-0 Season, 2-3 Lifetime) L vs. De’siree Mitchell (0-1 Season, 3-2 Lifetime) W vs. George Mastachas (1-0 Season, 1-4 Lifetime) W vs. Reverend Johnny Gross (1-0 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) W vs. Brandy McDonald (1-0 Season, 3-2 Lifetime) W vs. Daniel Simmons (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Mel O’Hallister (0-1 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) --- W vs. Reverend Johnny Gross (2-0 Season, 3-1 Lifetime) L vs. George Mastachas (1-1 Season, 1-5 Lifetime) W vs. Daniel Simmons (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) L vs. Brandy McDonald (1-1 Season, 3-3 Lifetime) Mel O’Hallister W vs. Reverend Johnny Gross (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. George Mastachas (0-1 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) W vs. Nuclear Templeton (1-0 Season, 3-0 Lifetime) W vs. Daniel Simmons (1-0 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) L vs. De’siree Mitchell (0-1 Season, 0-3 Lifetime) L vs. Brandy McDonald (0-1 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) W vs. The Mastodon (1-0 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) --- W vs. Daniel Simmons (2-0 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) L vs. Nuclear Templeton (1-1 Season, 3-1 Lifetime) W vs. Brandy McDonald (1-1 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) L vs. De’siree Mitchell (0-2 Season, 0-4 Lifetime) Nuclear Templeton L vs. The Mastodon (0-1 Season, 3-2 Lifetime) W vs. Daniel Simmons (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Mel O’Hallister (0-1 Season, 0-3 Lifetime) W vs. De’siree Mitchell (1-0 Season, 4-1 Lifetime) L vs. George Mastachas (0-1 Season, 2-3 Lifetime) W vs. Reverend Johnny Gross (1-0 Season, 3-0 Lifetime) W vs. Brandy McDonald (1-0 Season, 2-3 Lifetime) --- W vs. De’siree Mitchell (2-0 Season, 5-1 Lifetime) W vs. Mel O’Hallister (1-1 Season, 1-3 Lifetime) W vs. Reverend Johnny Gross (2-0 Season, 4-0 Lifetime) W vs. George Mastachas (1-1 Season, 3-3 Lifetime) Reverend Johnny Gross L vs. Mel O’Hallister (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Brandy McDonald (1-0 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) L vs. De’siree Mitchell (0-1 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) L vs. The Mastodon (0-1 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) W vs. Daniel Simmons (1-0 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) L vs. Nuclear Templeton (0-1 Season, 0-3 Lifetime) L vs. George Mastachas (0-1 Season 1-2 Lifetime) --- L vs. The Mastodon (0-2 Season, 1-3 Lifetime) W vs. De’siree Mitchell (1-1 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) L vs. Nuclear Templeton (0-2 Season, 0-4 Lifetime) L vs. Daniel Simmons (1-1 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) Brandy McDonald, while still on the outside looking in, has slipped into what looks like a very interesting position in Alpha. Gatekeeper and litmus test. Nobody has yet beaten her twice, with three matches to go. She may no longer be a championship contender, but anyone who wants the belt has to go through her. Of her three remaining matches (Gross, Nuke, and De’siree), the match with Nuke looms large. Despite being out of things, she has one last chance to affect the title picture. That’s the Season 8 champ for you. There isn’t much left to be said about Daniel Simmons. He wasn’t ready. He’s going back to Beta, probably dragging Gross with him thanks to that win. It will be very interesting to see how he deals with Christian Priest next season. But for now, he’s got nothing to wrestle for but pride. De’siree Mitchell is hanging around in Alpha for one more season. It’s virtually guaranteed at this point. She has a win and a tiebreaker over Gross with three matches to go. Next season, with Blackfield in the mix, is probably her last in Alpha, though. She just doesn’t quite have what it takes. There’s nothing else to be said. George Mastachas…the loss to Nuke hurts. But he’s still got the tiebreaker, and the easier schedule in Mel, Gross, and Simmons. The championship is still his to lose. Win out, and it’s his. Take a loss, and things get interesting. Once again, there’s nothing left to be said. The Mastodon has nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, he’s not even quite out of the championship hunt. He’s got a match with Nuke coming up, and Mastachas could always slip. Being 7-4 was entirely unexpected at the start of the season, and even if he doesn’t win the title this season has been a massive success for him. Next season ought to be very interesting. Mel O’Hallister has to be a little frustrated. If he could have maintained his dominance over Nuke, broke De’siree’s over him, or both, he’d be sitting fairly pretty right now. With matches against Mastachas and Mastodon coming up (and Gross to wrap the season) coming up, he’d have had a real shot at the gold. Instead his title dreams are functionally done. Still. He’s proven he belongs in Alpha. Last season as not a fluke. And he can still play a role in the title hunt with his match against Mastachas. Next season, though, he has to worry about a Juggernaut. Oh, boy. Nuclear Templeton is on the verge of something very unlikely. A repeat as League champion. He’s half a step back. So very, very close. He’s rattled off four straight wins to get here. Six, if we’re including before the season break. But he’s got a harder schedule than Mastachas. Simmons isn’t so bad, but that’s followed by his eternal rival Brandy and Mastodon to wrap things up. So, not only does Nuke have to handle his own challenging business, he has to pray for one slip from a man who’s looked as dominant as Nuke himself. Good luck, bud. You’re gonna need it. Reverend Johnny Gross’s nightmare scenario has functionally come to pass. De’siree has a win and a tiebreaker over him with three matches to go. It is deeply unlikely that he will surpass her. So that means he’ll be relegated to Beta for the second time. This time, however, will be different. Yes, Simmons will be joining him. However, so will Christian Priest. After their war of words preceding Tag Team Turmoil and subsequent failure to meet in the tournament, I can’t be the only one salivating for these two to collide one on one. So, Johnny, it’s not all bad. Now is it? So, continued predictions! They’re just a little bit different this time! Predicted League Champion: Mastachas Predicted Staying In Alpha: Nuke, Mastodon, Brandy, Mel, De’siree Predicted Relegation: Gross, Simmons Yep, that ought to do it. See y’all for the post season post mortem. ********** Beta Division Predicted Top Group: Blackfield, Nakamatsu, Blood River Predicted Middle Group: Ouilette, Wasserman, Norris Predicted Bottom Group: Weathers, Pulsar Actual Top Group: Blackfield (10-1), Nakamatsu (6-5), Ouilette (6-5) Actual Middle Group: Blood River (5-6), Wasserman (5-6), Norris (5-6), Actual Bottom Group: Pulsar (4-7), Weathers (3-8) Interestingly, my predictions were almost spot on. Only Ouilette and Blood River swapped positions. The surprise, however, is just how tight Beta is. It’s been arguably the most competitive division all season long. Blackfield is running away with the division crown, but the second promotion spot is wide open. Even Pulsar, a likely relegation target, has a shot at it with three matches remaining. That is wild stuff. 9-5 was on the outside looking in last season, but this season it’s the best possible result for the second slot. Again, wild. With all that said, the two in the lead for that second slot (Ouilette and Nakamatsu) square off this week, and catching the winner will be close to impossible. With that said, let’s get to the character breakdowns. Angela Wasserman W vs. Big Scott Weathers (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Billy Norris (1-0 Season, 1-4 Lifetime) L vs. Blood River (0-1 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) L vs. Brian Blackfield (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Jean-Paul Ouilette (1-0 Season, 2-3 Lifetime) L vs. Yoshii Nakamatsu (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Pulsar (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) --- L vs. Big Scott Weathers (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) W vs. Pulsar (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) L vs. Yoshii Nakamatsu (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Jean-Paul Ouilette (1-1 Season, 2-4 Lifetime) Big Scott Weathers L vs. Angela Wasserman (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Blood River (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Pulsar (1-0 Season, 3-2 Lifetime) L vs. Jean-Paul Ouillette (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Yoshii Nakamatsu (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Brian Blackfield (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Billy Norris (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) --- W vs. Angela Wasserman (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) W vs. Billy Norris (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Brian Blackfield (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Yoshii Nakamatsu (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) Billy Norris W vs. Yoshii Nakamatsu (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Angela Wasserman (0-1 Season, 4-1 Lifetime) L vs. Brian Blackfield (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Pulsar (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Blood River (0-1 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) W vs. Jean-Paul Ouillette (1-0 Season, 3-2 Lifetime) W vs. Big Scott Weathers (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) --- W vs. Yoshii Nakamatsu (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) L vs. Big Scott Weathers (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Jean-Paul Ouillette (1-1 Season, 3-3 Lifetime) W vs. Blood River (1-1 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) Blood River L vs. Brian Blackfield (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Big Scott Weathers (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Angela Wasserman (1-0 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) W vs. Yoshii Nakamatsu (1-0 Season, 3-0 Lifetime) W vs. Billy Norris (1-0 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) L vs. Pulsar (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Jean-Paul Ouillette (0-1 Season, 0-3 Season) --- W vs. Brian Blackfield (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Jean-Paul Ouillette (0-2 Season, 0-4 Season) L vs. Pulsar (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Billy Norris (1-1 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) Brian Blackfield W vs. Blood River (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Jean-Paul Ouillete (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Billy Norris (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Angela Wasserman (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Pulsar (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Big Scott Weathers (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Yoshii Nakamatsu (1-0 Season, 3-0 Lifetime) --- L vs. Blood River (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) W vs. Yoshii Nakamatsu (2-0 Season, 4-0 Lifetime) W vs. Big Scott Weathers (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Pulsar (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) Jean-Paul Ouillette W vs. Pulsar (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Brian Blackfield (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Yoshii Nakamatsu (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Big Scott Weathers (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Angela Wasserman (0-1 Season, 3-2 Lifetime) L vs. Billy Norris (0-1 Season, 2-3 Lifetime) W vs. Blood River (1-0 Season, 3-0 Lifetime) --- L vs. Pulsar (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) W vs. Blood River (2-0 Season, 4-0 Lifetime) W vs. Billy Norris (1-1 Season, 3-3 Lifetime) W vs. Angela Wasserman (1-1 Season, 4-2 Lifetime) Pulsar L vs. Jean-Paul Ouillete (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Yoshii Nakamatsu (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Big Scott Weathers (0-1 Season, 2-3 Lifetime) W vs. Billy Norris (1-0 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Brian Blackfield (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Blood River (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Angela Wasserman (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) --- W vs. Jean-Paul Ouillete (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Angela Wasserman (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) W vs. Blood River (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) L vs. Brian Blackfield (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) Yoshii Nakamatsu L vs. Billy Norris (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Pulsar (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Jean-Paul Ouillette (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Blood River (0-1 Season, 0-3 Lifetime) W vs. Big Scott Weathers (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Angela Wasserman (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Brian Blackfield (0-1 Season, 0-3 Lifetime) --- L vs. Billy Norris (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Brian Blackfield (0-2 Season, 0-4 Lifetime) W vs. Angela Wasserman (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Big Scott Weathers (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) Angela Wasserman will be in Beta again next season. With three matches left against River, Norris, and Blackfield, she’d have to lose at least two and Pulsar/Weathers win at least two of theirs for her to be in danger. Press X to Doubt. Her path to promotion depends almost entirely on the result of Ouilette vs. Nakamatsu. If Yoshii wins, because he’s swept her she’d have to basically win out and hope he lost one of the other two. Considering her last opponent is Blackfield, this is deeply unlikely. Hoping for Yoshii to lose his last two is even more unlikely. A Ouilette win, on the other hand, would go to tiebreakers which I don’t track. She’d have to win against River+Norris and either hope tiebreakers went her way or Ouilette managed to lose to Weathers in Week 14. So…possible, but probably not, no. The odds are not in her favor. Big Scott Weathers actually has a shot to avoid relegation by winning all three of his next matches against Pulsar, River, and Ouilette. He could also take two and hope for a tiebreaker to fall his way. He’s beaten Pulsar this season, so it’s not as impossible as it seems. Just merely improbable, as he’s lost to River and Ouilette already. Chalk him up for Gamma next season, in all likelihood. Billy Norris is more or less in the same position as Wasserman, only without the trouble of being swept by Nakamatsu. He comes down to tiebreakers no matter who wins that match this week. Meanwhile, he’s got Blackfield this week, Wasserman the next, and wraps with Pulsar. Based on prior encounters this season, that’s a 0-3 schedule. Even if he gets those wins back from Wasserman and Pulsar, like Wasserman he’d be relying on tiebreakers with whoever the leader is for the second promotion slot. Though unlike Wasserman, he is at risk for falling into the first relegation slot. He has “lost to Pulsar” on his resume instead of “swept Pulsar”, so a loss to him to end the season could conceivable see Billy relegated instead of the high flyer. Norris has to take care of his business somewhere to avoid relegation. Blood River is in both better and worse shape than Wasserman and Norris. Worse is that he’s already been swept by Pulsar and thus can’t avoid to lose more than the high flyer wins or he’ll get relegated. Better off in that he’s already fought Blackfied and handed him his one loss this season. Otherwise he’s actually the reverse of Wasserman, having been swept by Ouilette but not Nakamatsu (as that match is upcoming). His final three matches are Wasserman, Weathers, and Nakamatsu. With a Nakamatsu win, River can control his own fate heading into the final week of the season. With an Ouilette win he’s hoping for some help from Weathers. Brian Blackfield has already won the division title. There is quite literally nothing to discuss here. He could forfeit all three of his remaining matches and it would change nothing for him. So let’s move on. Jean-Paul Ouilette is facing feast or famine this week. Defeating Blackfield next week is not happening, so a loss this week to Nakamatsu completely dooms his promotion chances. 7-7, with a victory over Weathers in Week 14, will simply not be enough, especially with Nakamatsu having swept him. With that said, he can theoretically be relegated, but it’s unlikely. Losses to Nakamatsu and Blackfield and 2 wins each from Pulsar and Weathers would have Ouilette fighting for his Beta career in that match vs. Weathers in Week 14. I find this result deeply unlikely, however. So he ought to be fine if he can’t promote. Pulsar, believe it or not, still has a chance at the second promotion slot. However, the dominos would have to fall just right, and he’d have to win against Weathers (lost to him last time), Nakamatsu (lost to him last time), and Norris (beat him last time). The dominos would be as follows: Nakamatsu. Win vs. Ouilette, loss vs Pulsar, loss vs River. Ouilette: loss vs Nakamatsu, loss vs Blackfield, and vs Weathers is more complicated. A win and Pulsar depends on tiebreakers. A loss and he doesn’t. wasserman needs to lose all three matches, since she swept him. Blood River just needs to lose once while Pulsar wins all three, as Pulsar swept him. And it doesn’t matter what Norris does, as long as Pulsar beats him in Week 14. Is this going to happen? Haha, no. But it’s the path necessary. The path for Pulsar to avoid relegation, thankfully, is much simpler. Two options. Beat Weathers or Nakamatsu, and then beat Norris. Or beat one of them and hope Wasserman beats Norris, and then lose to Norris faster than he beat him. A tiebreaker relegation avoidance. There’s other paths if Norris catches fire, but this one’s easiest for Pulsar to pull off. Yoshii Nakamatsu also needs to win this week if he wants to be promoted. He’s lost to Blackfield already, but he’s got Blood River (who he’s already lost to this season) waiting at the end o the season. With River only one loss behind him at the moment, a loss in that match would put River over him on tiebreakers. Billy Norris has already swept him, so he’s got to stay ahead of that guy, too. Wasserman isn’t an issue, as he’s already swept her and she’s that one match behind. His relegation scenarios require genuine heroics from Pulsar (he’s swept Weathers, so that’s over) while he loses all three matches. Deeply unlikely, especially as he’ll control some of that by facing Pulsar next week. So. Ouilette. Pulsar. River. It’s doable. So, continued predictions! They’re just a little bit different this time! Predicted Promotions: Blackfield (divison champion), Nakamatsu Predicted Staying In Beta: Ouilette, River, Wasserman, Pulsar Predicted Relegated To Gamma: Norris, Weathers Hear me out on the relegations. I already threw out how Pulsar can avoid relegation, and it’s piss easy. All that has to happen is that Pulsar beats Weathers this week and/or Wasserman beats Norris next week. Then suddenly the Weak 14 match between Norris and Pulsar is about who gets relegated. Norris has to win that faster than he lost to Pulsar back in Week 1. If Pulsar can’t buy a win this week and next and Norris can, well it’s all over for Pulsar. But that’s what I think will happen. Final week, Norris can’t hack it, Pulsar stays by the skin of his teeth. ********** Gamma Division Predicted Top Group: Priest, Molina, Rodriguez Predicted Middle Group: Stevens, Diamond, Rose, Gibson Predicted Bottom Group: Clay Actual Top Group: Priest (10-1), Rose (7-4), Molina (6-5), Rodriguez (6-5) Actual Middle Group: Stevens (5-6), Actual Bottom Group: Gibson (4-7), Clay (3-8), Diamond (3-8) Welp, Stevens has fallen back. Gibson is still in danger. Priest is still dominating, and Indigo Rose is making a push with four straight wins. She’s in the current second promotion slot, but still has Diego and Priest to deal with in the home stretch. Molina and Diego are having some trouble, and face off this week to determine probably who’s pushing on towards promotion and who has no realistic shot. Clay is still bad, and Diamond’s season has become a tragedy. Gamma’s still pretty competitive, but the wheat is separating from the chaff at last. With that said, let’s get to the character breakdowns. Christian Priest W vs. Diego Rodriguez (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Erick Gibson (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Diamond (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Markus Clay (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Terrance Stevens (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Indigo Rose (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Lucas Molina (1-0 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) --- W vs. Diamond (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Markus Clay (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Diego Rodriguez (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Erick Gibson (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) Diamond L vs. Indigo Rose (0-1 Season, 0-3 Lifetime) W vs. Markus Clay (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Christian Priest (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Diego Rodriguez (1-0 Season, 3-2 Lifetime) L vs. Erick Gibson (1-0 Season, 2-3 Lifetime) W vs. Lucas Molina (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Terrance Stevens (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) --- L vs. Christian Priest (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Diego Rodriguez (1-1 Season, 3-3 Lifetime) L vs. Indigo Rose (0-2 Season, 0-4 Lifetime) L vs. Markus Clay (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) Diego Rodriguez L vs. Christian Priest (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs Terrance Stevens (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Erick Gibson (1-0 Season, 3-2 Lifetime) L vs. Diamond (0-1 Season, 2-3 Lifetime) L vs. Lucas Molina (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Markus Clay (1-0 Season, 0-0 Lifetime) W vs. Indigo Rose (1-0 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) --- W vs. Erick Gibson (2-0 Season, 4-2 Lifetime) W vs. Diamond (1-1 Season, 3-3 Lifetime) L vs. Christian Priest (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Terrance Stevens (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) Erick Gibson L vs. Lucas Molina (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Christian Priest (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Diego Rodriguez (0-1 Season, 2-3 Lifetime) L vs. Indigo Rose (0-1 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) W vs. Diamond (1-0 Season, 3-2 Lifetime) W vs. Terrance Stevens (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Markus Clay (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) --- L vs. Diego Rodriguez (0-2 Season, 2-4 Lifetime) L vs. Indigo Rose (0-2 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) W vs. Lucas Molina (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Christian Priest (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) Indigo Rose W vs. Diamond (1-0 Season, 3-0 Lifetime) L vs. Lucas Molina (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Terrance Stevens (0-1 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) W vs. Erick Gibson (0-1 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) W vs. Markus Clay (0-1 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) L vs. Christian Priest (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Diego Rodriguez (0-1 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) --- W vs. Terrance Stevens (1-1 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) W vs. Erick Gibson (2-0 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) W vs. Diamond (2-0 Season, 4-0 Lifetime) W vs. Lucas Molina (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) Lucas Molina W vs. Erick Gibson (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Indigo Rose (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Markus Clay (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Terrance Stevens (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Diego Rodriguez (1-0 Season, 1-0 Season) L vs. Diamond (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Christian Priest (0-1 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) --- W vs. Markus Clay (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Terrance Stevens (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Erick Gibson (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Indigo Rose (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) Markus Clay W vs. Terrence Stevens (1-0 Season, 4-1 Lifetime) L vs. Diamond (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Lucas Molina (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Christian Priest (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Indigo Rose (0-1 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) L vs. Diego Rodriguez (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Erick Gibson (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) --- L vs. Lucas Molina (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Christian Priest (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) W vs. Terrence Stevens (2-0 Season, 5-1 Lifetime) W vs. Diamond (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) Terrence Stevens L vs. Markus Clay (0-1 Season, 1-4 Lifetime) L vs. Diego Rodriguez (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Indigo Rose (1-0 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) W vs. Lucas Molina (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Christian Priest (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Erick Gibson (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Diamond (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) --- L vs. Indigo Rose (1-1 Season, 2-2 Lifetime) L vs. Lucas Molina (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Markus Clay (0-2 Season, 1-5 Lifetime) W vs. Diego Rodriguez (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) For Christian Priest there’s nothing left to say. At 10-1 with three to go, he’s going to Beta next season, and the division title is probably his, too. He’s had a fantastic season, and that’s all there is to be said here. Diamond, however, is in deep trouble. She’s lost four straight. Five if we’re counting before the season break. Her season has come entirely off the rails, and she now sits in last place in the division. She started as a dark horse to win promotion. It’s not good, folks. She does not have a path to promote. It’s over. Indigo Rose, at 7-4, swept her. She can’t catch up no matter what she does. So it becomes a matter of avoiding relegation. This isn’t impossible, but she’ll both need to handle her own business and get some help. Defeating Gibson this week and securing the sweep will go a long way towards doing so. Defeating Stevens and Molina, of course, would firmly secure her in Gamma for next season. Barring that, she just has to stay at least tied Gibson and ahead of Clay to avoid tiebreakers which I don’t track. This could prove challenging, considering Gibson vs. Clay happens next week. A Gibson win and Diamond loss to Stevens that week puts her right back in trouble and hoping she can beat Molina again while Stevens can defeat Gibson. She’s in a lot of trouble, as stated, but she can still get out of it. It’s a measure of how close Gamma still is that Diego Rodriguez still technically has a path to relegation. He’d have to lose all three of his matches and either Clay (who is his last) would have to win his other two, and/or Diamond would have to win all three of hers. This isn’t as impossible as it sounds. He’s up against Molina this week, who beat him last time. Indigo Rose is next week, and she’s always a tough one for Diego. Clay beatin both Gibson and Rose back to back is deeply unlikely, but Diamond going over Gibson and Stevens isn’t quite so much. So it’s technically possible that Diego could walk into Week 14 needing a win to avoid being driven into relegation via tiebreakers. I don’t track them, so I don’t know who of the two has the advantage there. Promotion, however, is an easier calculation. Just win, baby. Losses to Molina this week or Rose next week would put him realistically out of the hunt. Down a match or two with a match or two remaining. So he’s in control of his own destiny this week and with a win will remain so. We will see what happens. Erick Gibson is also in trouble. Not as much trouble as Diamond, but a lot of it. He’s got Rose, Clay, and Stevens to round out his season. The more of them he loses, the more likely he gets relegated. He can knock Clay back, yes, but he has no further control over what happens to Diamond. He technically has a shot at the second promotion slot, but a loss to Rose this week slams that door shut most firmly. With a win (and faster than his inital loss to her), he’ll have to hope for a Molina win vs Diego. Next week he’ll have to beat Clay and hope Rose beats Diego and Molina loses to Priest. Finally, he’ll have to beat Stevens and hope Rose loses to Priest and Diego loses to Clay. I don’t need to tell you how deeply unlikely this scenario is, but it’s there. Indigo Rose is, perhaps unexpectedly, in the driver’s seat for securing the second promotion slot after a win over Molina. She’s got Gibson, Diego, and Priest to wrap things up, though, so she can’t relax. She does not have a path to relegation, her last win and last losses of Clay and Diamond having secured that. Her path to promotion is dependent on who wins Molina/Rodriguez this week. Molina has the tiebreaker over her, so she’d have to pull out one more win than he did over the remaining three weeks to secure promotion. They both have Priest to deal with, but Molina’s match type is arguably more favorable to him and Rose has Diego that week anyway, who is always a tough opponent for her. What really widens the gap is when Rose faces Priest in Week 14, Molina has…Diamond. So it’s safe to say Rose would rather have Diego win this week, so she can control her own destiny in their match the following week. Then again, maybe not. A loss would doom her. Either way, Rose needs to win this week against Gibson and next week against Diego to have any hope of staying ahead of the Molina/Diego match winner. This season hasn’t quite gone how Lucas Molina wanted it to. His weaknesses against aggressive strikers and some speedy flyers has been exposed. He basically has the same unlikely path to relegation that Diego does, only instead of wrestling Clay in the last week, he’s already swept him and thus doesn’t have to worry. So, the only trouble is if Diamond wins this week and the next, and Lucas can’t buy a win in either week. The latter of which is technically possible, as he has Diego this week and Priest next week. His best path to promotion begins with a win this week against Diego. It’s possible for him to catch up if he takes a loss, but that would require both beating Priest and Diamond and then getting help from Rose (with Diego) and Priest (with Rose). Easier to win now and knock Diego back so he doesn’t have to lean on Rose winning. Then he’d have to beat Priest and Diamond to secure promotion free and clear, or beat one of them and get help from Priest with Rose to secure the tiebreaker victory. Markus Clay, like Diamond, can no longer promote. That’s over. But like her, he and still avoid relegation by basically winning all three of his remaining matches. He can, technically, drop this week against Rose or Week 14 against Diego if he beats Gibson fast enough in Week 13, and Gibson loses two or all three of his remaining matches. He has the sweep over Stevens, too, so two Clay wins and two Stevens losses would also do the job. We will see what happens, especially because Gibson and Stevens face each other in Week 14. If Clay has a win or two going into that week, well…it’d be interesting, that’s for sure. Terrance Stevens had a hot start, played spoiler, and has now fallen back a bit. He’s right in the middle, with paths to promote and relegate. On the slate for him is Priest, Diamond, and Gibson. Promotion wise, he’ll need a lot of help just to get to tiebreakers. First of all, if he wants to even potentially avoid tiebreakers he can’t lose another match. If he can beat Priest again, this is the easiest way. He basically need Molina and Diego to not win more than twice in three weeks and Rose only once at most. If he does lose a match, then he needs even more help. Chop a win off each of the leading trio’s totals. Two losses, and it’s over. He can’t promote. Deeply unlikely, yes? Avoiding relegation is, well, easier. Win twice, no matter the opponent (though beating Diamond in Week 13 will help more than the other two probably will), or win once and Diamond and/or Clay lose once and/or Gibson loses twice. So Stevens is also relatively safe. He, barring some CHAOS, ought to be Gamma next season. So, continued predictions! They’re just a little bit different this time! Predicted Promotions: Priest (division title winner), Molina Predicted To Stay In Gamma: Diego, Rose, Stevens, Gibson Predicted To Be Relegated To Delta: Diamond, Clay I think Diamond shows a little more life, but that it’s not enough to save her at this point. See you all for the post season postmortem. ********** Delta Division Predicted Top Group: Heartilly, Dhillon, Hida Predicted Middle Group: Stevens, Nocturne, Onoo, Tornado Predicted Bottom Group: Delight Actual Top Group: Heartilly (9-2), Dhillon (9-2), Hida (8-3) Actual Middle Group: Nocturne (5-6), Onoo (5-6) Actual Bottom Group: Tornado (4-7), Stevens (4-7), Delight (0-11) Has much changed? Eh…Hida chases Dhillon, Dhillon chases Heartilly. Everyone else is basically irrelevant. Nocturne’s unlikely path to promotion is blocked by Dhillon sweeping her. Onoo’s is blocked by Hida sweeping him. Everyone else isn’t even that close. Stevens, being a PC, can’t be relegated. So Nocturne down to Delight is technically in danger. Well, Delight’s not so much in danger as already doomed. The top three and bottom one/two have been certain since the start. It’s where everyone else shakes out that’s been the question all season. With that said, let’s get to the character breakdowns. Devil’s Delight L vs. Lance Heartilly (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Scott Stevens (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Kichi Hida (0-1 Season, 0-3 Lifetime) L vs. Jun Onoo (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Nocturne (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. El Tornado (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Monty Dhillon (0-1 Season, 0-3 Lifetime) --- L vs. Scott Stevens (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Nocturne (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Kichi Hida (0-2 Season, 0-4 Lifetime) L vs. Monty Dhillon (0-2 Season, 0-4 Lifetime) El Tornado L vs. Monty Dhillon (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Jun Onoo (0-1 Season, 1-4 Lifetime) L vs. Lance Heartilly (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Nocturne (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Kichi Hida (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Devil’s Delight (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Scott Stevens (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) --- L vs. Jun Onoo (0-2 Season, 1-5 Lifetime) L vs. Kichi Hida (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Lance Heartilly (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) W vs. Scott Stevens (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) Jun Onoo L vs. Scott Stevens (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. El Tornado (1-0 Season, 4-1 Lifetime) L vs. Nocturne (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Devil’s Delight (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Monty Dhillon (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Lance Heartilly (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Kichi Hida (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) --- W vs. El Tornado (2-0 Season, 5-1 Lifetime) L vs. Monty Dhillon (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) W vs. Nocturne (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) L vs. Kichi Hida (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) Kichi Hida W vs. Nocturne (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Lance Heartilly (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Devil’s Delight (1-0 Season, 3-0 Lifetime) W vs. Scott Stevens (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. El Tornado (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Monty Dhillon (0-1 Season, 2-1 Lifetime) W vs. Jun Onoo (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) --- L vs. Lance Heartilly (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) W vs. El Tornado (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Devil’s Delight (2-0 Season, 4-0 Lifetime) W vs. Jun Onoo (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) Lance Heartilly W vs. Devil’s Delight (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Kichi Hida (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. El Tornado (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Monty Dhillon (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Scott Stevens (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Jun Onoo (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Nocturne (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) --- W vs. Kichi Hida (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Scott Stevens (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. El Tornado (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) L vs. Nocturne (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) Monty Dhillon W vs. El Tornado (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Nocturne (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Scott Stevens (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Lance Heartilly (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Jun Onoo (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Kichi Hida (1-0 Season, 1-2 Lifetime) W vs. Devil’s Delight (1-0 Season, 3-0 Lifetime) --- W vs. Nocturne (2-0 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) W vs. Jun Onoo (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) W vs. Scott Stevens (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) W vs. Devil’s Delight (2-0 Season, 4-0 Lifetime) Nocturne L vs. Kichi Hida (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Monty Dhillon (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Jun Onoo (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. El Tornado (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Devil’s Delight (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Scott Stevens (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Lance Heartilly (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) --- L vs. Monty Dhillon (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) W vs. Devil’s Delight (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) L vs. Jun Onoo (1-1 Season, 1-1 Lifetime) W vs. Lance Heartilly (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) Scott Stevens W vs. Jun Onoo (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) W vs. Devil’s Delight (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. Monty Dhillon (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Kichi Hida (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) L vs. Lance Heartilly (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) W vs. Nocturne (1-0 Season, 1-0 Lifetime) L vs. El Tornado (0-1 Season, 0-1 Lifetime) --- W vs. Devil’s Delight (2-0 Season, 2-0 Lifetime) L vs. Lance Heartilly (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. Monty Dhillon (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) L vs. El Tornado (0-2 Season, 0-2 Lifetime) Devil’s Delight has no path to promotion. Hell, she has no path to avoid relegation. She’s done. Three weeks, and she’s banished to Omega. There’s nothing else to be said. El Tornado will probably be going with her. His remaining schedule is Nocturne (who only lost to him due to an unfavorable match type in my view), Monty Dhillon (who will destroy him), and Devil’s Delight (found the Week 14 opening match, heh). That’s 5-9 at best, and banished to Omega. He could best Nocturne and get to 6-8, but it wouldn’t help a lot. Stevens isn’t getting relegated because he’s a PC, and Onoo has to face Delight again and get his 6th win. Onoo’s swept Tornado this season, so the tiny flyer can’t escape the four wide relegation frame. It is what it is. Since Hida’s 8-3, he absolutely does not have a path to promotion. Jun Onoo may not go down to Omega. Not because he can get out of the four wide GMPC frame (because he can’t), but because he’ll finish out of the bottom two most likely. He’ll take a win this week over Delight, and then find out where he stands in the division against Stevens before losing to Heartilly. 7-7/6-8 ought to be enough to remain above Tornado. Delight’s not even a consideration anymore. Kichi Hida, however, isn’t nearly so finished. As a PC, she can’t be relegated to Omega, but that’s irrelevant because she doesn’t have a path to the bottom four, let alone the bottom two. Her path to promotion has a simple requirement this week, besides defeating Scott Stevens. Heartilly must defeat Dhillon. Dhillon wins, Hida has no path to promotion (due to being swept by Heartilly) without 1) Dhillon somehow losing to Tornado, or 2) Heartilly somehow losing to Devil’s Delight or Jun Onoo, both of which are deeply unlikely. So, Heartilly over Dhillon. She beats both Stevens and Nocturne. Then, in Week 14, she controls her own destiny vs Dhillon. Win and promote. Lose and, well, don’t. Lance Heartilly has all but secured his promotion. The division title is another matter. A win this week and it’s his. A loss and he has to hope Hida can defeat Monty in Week 14. That’s it. He’s not losing to Delight or Onoo, for heaven’s sake. Monty Dhillon is fighting for two things this week. The division title, and effectively boxing Hida out of any chance of promotion. Win, and both are virtually his to claim. Lose, and the Week 14 showdown with Hida becomes much more important. With a win this week, the match with Hida is just to avoid tiebreakers determining the division champion. With a loss, that match is for the second promotion slot. Assuming, of course, that Hida doesn’t lose to Stevens or Nocturne along the way. So there’s a lot on the line this week, yeah? Welp, Nocturne did it again. She hung a second loss on Heartilly. His second loss all season. She’s still 5-6, has no path to promotion, and is in the GMPC frame for relegation to Omega. But you know, it’s something. She’s got Tornado this week, which is winnable. Kichi Hida next week, which is much less so, and finally Round 2 with Stevens. She lost that the first time, but who knows? So, like Onoo, she’ll be around 7-7/6-8, which will keep her out of the lowest part of the relegation frame. Hopefully she can hang around and give it another go next season. Scott Stevens has not had the season he wanted. He’s probably grateful PCs can’t be relegated out of Delta at this point, otherwise he’d be in a lot of trouble. At any rate, this week he’s got Kichi Hida (ouch, sorry bud), followed by Jun Onoo (beat him the last time) and Nocturne (beat her the last time). So he’ll probably shake out around 6-8/5-9. That’s not so bad for a first run in Delta as a brawler/power type, honestly. Next season ought to see improvements. Look at Hida. She finished 6-8 last season. Turnarounds can be had. So, continued predictions! They’re just a little bit different this time! Predicted Promotions: Heartilly, Hida Predicted Remaining In Delta: Dhillon, Nocturne, Onoo, Stevens Predicted Relegated To Omega: Tornado, Delight The promotion thing is purely me being a homer. I mean, Monty’s not gonna beat Heartilly, is he? So it’ll come down to that match in Week 14. And I wanna win it. Sorry, Monty. If it’s you who promotes I’m still a fan, just not over my own PCs. I’ll see you all for the post season post mortem.

Oh hi Mark. Haven't seen you on this board since our Mafia days.

I'll guess that the clubhouse leader is Wasserman/Ouilette and that the runner up is either Hida/Onoo (c'mon, let me see her adrenaline rush at least once this season) or Tornado/Stevens.

ALPHA DIVISION (1) George Mastachas (8-2, OVR 512)* vs. (3) Nuclear Templeton (7-3, OVR 514) [Career: George Mastachas, 3 - 2] This is, without a doubt, Nuke's title defense. He loses here, he can't catch Mastachas going forward without a hell of a lot of luck. On paper, I think Nuke is just slightly better. But grappling is superior to striking, and there George has a decisive edge. This is the one this week, however, where it going the other way wouldn't surprise me in the least. If Mastachas isn't 100% on his game, Nuke will beat him. It's the type of match where the margin of victory is razor thin. (5) Brandy McDonald (5-5, OVR 512) vs. (2) The Mastodon (7-3, OVR 511)* [Career: The Mastodon, 3 - 2] Brandy pulling out the win here wouldn't be a huge surprise, as WreSpi3 gonna WreSpi3. But it would be one. Mastodon has a few decisive advantages in size, strength, and striking ability. (6) De'siree Mitchell (3-7, OVR 484)* vs. (4) Mel O'Hallister (6-4, OVR 521) [Career: De'siree Mitchell, 3 - 0] I like Mel. I believe he can overcome almost ay odds. But De'siree is his kryptonite. That's just. How it is. (8) Daniel Simmons (1-9, OVR 495) vs. (7) Reverend Johnny Gross (3-7, OVR 496)* [Career: Reverend Johnny Gross, 2 - 1] Gross is entirely too motivated to not get relegated again to lose to Simmons. BETA DIVISION (1) Brian Blackfield (9-1, OVR 556)* vs. (6) Pulsar (4-6, OVR 469) [Career: Brian Blackfield, 1 - 0] Observe the Juggernaut Juggernauting. Here's your promotion, big fella. Alpha's where you hit the wall, though. (4) Blood River (5-5, OVR 496)* vs. (7) Billy Norris (4-6, OVR 497) [Career: Blood River, 2 - 1] Flipped a coin. These two are erratic AF. (5) Angela Wassermann (5-5, OVR 469)* vs. (3) Jean-Paul Ouilette (5-5, OVR 504) [Career: Jean-Paul Ouilette, 3 - 2] Ouilette, unbelievably, has a shot a promotion despite his bad start. And until earlier this season, he's had Wasserman's number. (2) Yoshii Nakamatsu (5-5, OVR 499)* vs. (8) Big Scott Weathers (3-7, OVR 477) [Career: Yoshii Nakamatsu, 1 - 0] Jobbers gonna job. GAMMA DIVISION (5) Erick Gibson (4-6, OVR 483) vs. (1) Christian Priest (9-1, OVR 560)* [Career: Christian Priest, 1 - 0] One more asskicking from Priest. (3) Diego Rodriguez (6-4, OVR 505)* vs. (6) Terrance Stevens (4-6, OVR 468) [Career: Diego Rodriguez, 1 - 0] Stevens just keeps sliding down. (4) Indigo Rose (6-4, OVR 482) vs. (2) Lucas Molina (6-4, OVR 467)* [Career: Lucas Molina, 1 - 0] Molina's stronger and has superior stamina. Rose is the better grappler, but in this case that's almost irrelevant. (7) Diamond (3-7, OVR 470)* vs. (8) Markus Clay (2-8, OVR 461) [Career: Diamond, 1 - 0] Diamond can still beat bargain basement jobbers. DELTA DIVISION (3) Kichi Hida (7-3, OVR 455)* vs. (4) Jun Onoo (5-5, OVR 471) [Career: Kichi Hida, 1 - 0] Kichi brings the violence. This should be over in under ten minutes if Onoo starts on the attack. Six if Kichi does. Seriously she wrecked him last time. (2) Monty Dhillon (8-2, OVR 517)* vs. (8) Devil's Delight (0-10, OVR 415) [Career: Monty Dhillon, 3 - 0] Jobbers gonna job. Seriously, poor Delight. Everything's gone wrong for her this season. (6) Nocturne (4-6, OVR 416)* vs. (1) Lance Heartilly (9-1, OVR 440) [Career: Nocturne, 1 - 0] She did it once, she can do it again. I admit it's unlikely, but this is one of those where I want to believe. (7) El Tornado (3-7, OVR 442)* vs. (5) Scott Stevens (4-6, OVR 419) [Career: El Tornado, 1 - 0] Stevens's initial loss was a shock at first, but it made a kind of sense. Tornado is bad, right? But he's fast as hell. So Stevens would have trouble keeping his hands on him or striking him. Most of Tornado's offense is high flying, which a big strong guy like Stevens doesn't have a counter for. If Stevens can't build an unstoppable advantage in the first five minutes, he can get in a lot of trouble afterward. I'll back Stevens against Onoo, Nocturne, and Delight. I believe he's got a puncher's chance against Heartilly and Monty. But the speed of Hida and especially Tornado can ruin his day. Now that I've said all this, Stevens is probably gonna hit the piledriver in 6-7 minutes and win. 😅

ALPHA DIVISION (4) Brandy McDonald (5-4, OVR 511)* vs. (5) Mel O'Hallister (5-4, OVR 515) [Career: Brandy McDonald, 2 - 1] Mel's realistically out of the running with the loss to Nuke, but I don't think he's about to give up so easily. TABLES MATCH: (3) Nuclear Templeton (6-3, OVR 512)* vs. (7) Reverend Johnny Gross (3-6, OVR 496) [Career: Nuclear Templeton, 3 – 0. Table Match Career Records: Nuclear 2 – 0, Gross 0 – 1.] Sorry, Johnny. Not your match type. (6) De'siree Mitchell (3-6, OVR 483) vs. (1) George Mastachas (7-2, OVR 507)* [Career: George Mastachas, 3 - 2] (8) Daniel Simmons (1-8, OVR 496) vs. (2) The Mastodon (6-3, OVR 507)* [Career: The Mastodon, 1 - 0] Simmons had him last time if not for shenanigans. Had him twice. I think he can do it here. BETA DIVISION SUBMISSION MATCH: (7) Big Scott Weathers (3-6, OVR 477) vs. (1) Brian Blackfield (8-1, OVR 552)* [Career: Brian Blackfield, 1 – 0. Submission Match Career Records: Blackfield 0 – 1, Weathers 0 – 1.] I will never bet against The Juggernaut until he gets to Alpha. Then he's gonna hit the wall. (6) Jean-Paul Ouilette (4-5, OVR 498) vs. (4) Billy Norris (4-5, OVR 496)* [Career: Billy Norris, 3 - 2] Norris has a decided speed and stamina advantage over Ouilette. (5) Yoshii Nakamatsu (4-5, OVR 494)* vs. (3) Angela Wassermann (5-4, OVR 468) [Career: Yoshii Nakamatsu, 1 - 0] Kind of Yoshii's last gasp here. A loss puts him realistically out of the running for promotion. Plus he's got a big stamina advantage and he beat her last time. (8) Pulsar (3-6, OVR 465)* vs. (2) Blood River (5-4, OVR 496) [Career: Pulsar, 1 - 0] Pulsar is doing his Achilles Heel thing agains this season. They're both flyers, primarily, and Pulsar is significantly faster. It's why I picked him last time. GAMMA DIVISION (1) Christian Priest (8-1, OVR 556)* vs. (3) Diego Rodriguez (6-3, OVR 505) [Career: Christian Priest, 1 - 0] My upset pick of the week. If anyone can overcome the monster that is Christian Priest, it's a technician. Go, Diego, go! (2) Lucas Molina (6-3, OVR 468)* vs. (6) Erick Gibson (3-6, OVR 480) [Career: Lucas Molina, 1 - 0] Molina's stamina advantage is enormous, and technicians make mincemeat out of one dimensional brawlers. (7) Diamond (3-6, OVR 469) vs. (4) Indigo Rose (5-4, OVR 476)* [Career: Indigo Rose, 3 - 0] Diamond is in a lot of trouble here, as she's never beaten Rose. Relegation will loom after this match. (5) Terrance Stevens (4-5, OVR 467) vs. (8) Markus Clay (1-8, OVR 456)* [Career: Markus Clay, 4 - 1] Don't mind me, just going with the guy who's dominated this match up including earlier this season. DELTA DIVISION (4) Scott Stevens (4-5, OVR 419) vs. (2) Monty Dhillon (7-2, OVR 513)* [Career: Monty Dhillon, 1 - 0] No shade on Stevens, he's improving almost by the week, but he's not ready for Monty. (1) Lance Heartilly (8-1, OVR 436)* vs. (7) El Tornado (3-6, OVR 442) [Career: Lance Heartilly, 1 - 0] The list of people left who might be able to beat Heartilly has two names on it, and neither of them are El Tornado. Nocturne and Monty Dhillon, if you were wondering. (5) Nocturne (4-5, OVR 416)* vs. (6) Jun Onoo (4-5, OVR 467) [Career: Nocturne, 1 - 0] She beat him once, she can do it again. She's even upgraded her stats since then. TABLES MATCH: (8) Devil's Delight (0-9, OVR 414) vs. (3) Kichi Hida (6-3, OVR 449)* [Career: Kichi Hida, 3 – 0. Tables Match Career Records: Delight N/A, Hida 0 – 1.] Terrible match type for Delight, who will continue to remain winless.

Edge (or Adam Copeland, now) can be a good face. He did some pretty good work in the upper midcard on Smackdown prior to the heel turn and Matt Hardy feud, including an incredible latter match with Eddie Guerrero and his tag title run with Rey Mysterio. You know, back when he has the Marilyn Manson song for his entrances. But him being a magnificent heel is the reason he's a first ballot Hall of Famer. Ultimate Opportunist, Rated R Superstar, and the patriarch of La Familia are just epic runs. A manipulative, cheating, cowardly heel who not only will fight like a cornered animal if he has to but also actually does have the skill to beat many opponents almost clean. Edge redefined what it meant to be a cool heel.

ALPHA DIVISION (1) The Mastodon (6-2, OVR 505)* vs. (2) George Mastachas (6-2, OVR 499) [Career: George Mastachas, 4 - 1] Mastodon has beaten Mastachas once, with a match type I believe was unfavorable to the Greek's finisher. This is a normal match. Sorry, bud, but George is probably the champ this year. (4) Nuclear Templeton (5-3, OVR 506) vs. (3) Mel O'Hallister (5-3, OVR 514)* [Career: Mel O'Hallister, 3 - 0] Nuke has never beaten Mel. I have no reason to think that is going to change this season. SUBMISSION MATCH: (8) Daniel Simmons (1-7, OVR 496) vs. (5) Brandy McDonald (4-4, OVR 508)* [Career: Brandy McDonald, 1 – 0. McDonald is also 1 – 0 in Submission Matches.] This one is interesting. It wouldn't surprise me to see Simmons pull out a win here. My money's on Brandy, though. Danny's having a horrific season ans she just showd she's not quite ready to be written off yet. EUROPEAN RULES MATCH: (7) Reverend Johnny Gross (2-6, OVR 488) vs. (6) De'siree Mitchell (3-5, OVR 482)* [Career: De'siree Mitchell, 2 – 1. Gross is 1 – 1 career in European Rules Matches.] I think this is the loss that haunts De'siree down the stretch. Multiple falls in a slower paced match type favors a grappler type like Gross, I think. BETA DIVISION (4) Yoshii Nakamatsu (4-4, OVR 495) vs. (1) Brian Blackfield (7-1, OVR 549)* [Career: Brian Blackfield, 3 - 0] Grab a submission finisher, Yoshii, then we'll talk about you beating Blackfield at any point in either of your careers. (6) Jean-Paul Ouilette (3-5, OVR 494)* vs. (2) Blood River (5-3, OVR 496) [Career: Jean-Paul Ouilette, 3 - 0] Once again Ouilette and Blood River meet with Ouilette's season on the line. He'll step up again to stay out of the relegation zone against a man he's never lost to. (3) Billy Norris (4-4, OVR 495)* vs. (8) Big Scott Weathers (2-6, OVR 472) [Career: Billy Norris, 1 - 0] (7) Pulsar (3-5, OVR 465) vs. (5) Angela Wassermann (4-4, OVR 464)* [Career: Angela Wassermann, 1 - 0] Jobbers gonna job. 'Nuff said. GAMMA DIVISION (1) Christian Priest (7-1, OVR 552)* vs. (8) Markus Clay (1-7, OVR 456) [Career: Christian Priest, 1 - 0] SUBMISSION MATCH: (7) Diamond (3-5, OVR 469)* vs. (3) Diego Rodriguez (5-3, OVR 500) [Career: Diamond, 3 – 2. Both wrestlers are 1 – 1 in Submission Matches.] The surprise about Diamond beating Diego last time around was that it was by submission. That doesn't happen twice, and Diamond is in real trouble of relegation after this match. Though speaking personally, it wouldn't bother me in the last to be wrong. (5) Indigo Rose (4-4, OVR 471)* vs. (6) Erick Gibson (3-5, OVR 480) [Career: Erick Gibson, 2 - 1] Rose may have finally surpassed Gibson in this division. This will be a good way to find out. (2) Lucas Molina (5-3, OVR 462) vs. (4) Terrance Stevens (4-4, OVR 466)* [Career: Terrance Stevens, 1 - 0] A twofold rematch from the first half and Tag Team Turmoil. I'm pinning my hopes on Stevens being unable to be a spoiler twice, but that superkick is a dangerous weapon. DELTA DIVISION LAST ONE STANDING MATCH: (5) Jun Onoo (4-4, OVR 466)* vs. (2) Monty Dhillon (6-2, OVR 508) [Career: Jun Onoo, 1 – 0. Onoo is 0 – 1 in Last One Standing Matches.] Monty's loss was to a non-finisher, which falls int the category of super lucky for Onoo. Doesn't happen twice. (3) Kichi Hida (5-3, OVR 444)* vs. (6) El Tornado (3-5, OVR 441) [Career: Kichi Hida, 1 - 0] If Kichi doesn't simply run him over again I'll be shocked. That first match was an straight up ass whipping. CAGE MATCH: (4) Scott Stevens (4-4, OVR 419) vs. (1) Lance Heartilly (7-1, OVR 433)* [Career: Lance Heartilly, 1 – 0. Heartilly is 1 – 0 in Cage Matches.] Stevens isn't yet ready for the likes of Heartillly. Maybe next season, but not now. (8) Devil's Delight (0-8, OVR 415) vs. (7) Nocturne (3-5, OVR 414)* [Career: Nocturne, 1 - 0] Poor Delight may go 0-14.

ALPHA DIVISION (1) George Mastachas (6-1, OVR 499)* vs. (5) Brandy McDonald (3-4, OVR 503) [Career: George Mastachas, 3 - 2] FIRST BLOOD MATCH: (3) Mel O'Hallister (4-3, OVR 509)* vs. (8) Daniel Simmons (1-6, OVR 495) [Career: Daniel Simmons, 2 - 1] (2) The Mastodon (5-2, OVR 501)* vs. (7) Reverend Johnny Gross (2-5, OVR 488) [Career: The Mastodon, 2 - 1] (4) Nuclear Templeton (4-3, OVR 502)* vs. (6) De'siree Mitchell (3-4, OVR 482) [Career: Nuclear Templeton, 4 - 1] BETA DIVISION (2) Blood River (4-3, OVR 492) vs. (1) Brian Blackfield (7-0, OVR 549)* [Career: Brian Blackfield, 1 - 0] (5) Billy Norris (3-4, OVR 492)* vs. (3) Yoshii Nakamatsu (4-3, OVR 495) [Career: Billy Norris, 1 - 0] SUBMISSION MATCH: (6) Jean-Paul Ouilette (3-4, OVR 494)* vs. (7) Pulsar (2-5, OVR 460) [Career: Jean-Paul Ouilette, 1 - 0] EUROPEAN RULES MATCH: (4) Angela Wassermann (4-3, OVR 462)* vs. (8) Big Scott Weathers (1-6, OVR 465) [Career: Angela Wassermann, 1 - 0] GAMMA DIVISION (1) Christian Priest (6-1, OVR 550)* vs. (7) Diamond (3-4, OVR 469) [Career: Christian Priest, 1 - 0] (4) Diego Rodriguez (4-3, OVR 495)* vs. (6) Erick Gibson (3-4, OVR 480) [Career: Diego Rodriguez, 3 - 2] (2) Terrance Stevens (4-3, OVR 465)* vs. (5) Indigo Rose (3-4, OVR 466) [Career: Terrance Stevens, 2 - 1] SUBMISSION MATCH: (8) Markus Clay (1-6, OVR 456) vs. (3) Lucas Molina (4-3, OVR 458)* [Career: Lucas Molina, 1 - 0] DELTA DIVISION (6) Nocturne (3-4, OVR 414) vs. (2) Monty Dhillon (5-2, OVR 504)* [Career: Monty Dhillon, 1 - 0] (1) Lance Heartilly (6-1, OVR 429)* vs. (3) Kichi Hida (5-2, OVR 445) [Career: Lance Heartilly, 1 - 0] (4) El Tornado (3-4, OVR 441) vs. (7) Jun Onoo (3-4, OVR 462)* [Career: Jun Onoo, 4 - 1] (5) Scott Stevens (3-4, OVR 413)* vs. (8) Devil's Delight (0-7, OVR 414) [Career: Scott Stevens, 1 - 0]

Post the airing of Tag Team Turmoil, it came out that both Lucas Molina and Mel O'Hallister recommitted (for now) to being each other's partners again next year. The Irish Canadian Connection will return to Tag Team Turmoil. However, this cannot be said of Kichi Hida and Yoshii Nakamatsu. According to a translation of their post match conversation, it seems the Ringmaster of the Carnival of Violence was thoroughly disappointed in Nakamatsu's "violence". Nakamatsu didn't take the insult to his grappling acumen lightly. While it didn't come to blows, the two apparently needed to be separated backstage, with Hida reportedly laughing at Nakamatsu and mocking his anger at her words. Unless these two reconcile before mid Season 11, it's safe to say that Made In Japan is done as a team.