Tuesday, October 03, 2006

[GTT6] The Field has been announced

Alrighty, over the weekend, the complete GTT6 field was announced, and yesterday, the pairings were announced. Here's the entire listing, and yes, they are named after Winnie the Pooh characters. No more questions about that :p

Also, there are a few late entry spots left. If you want in, and you've got $10 laying around that you don't mind spending on an e-wrestling tournament, just go to the PTC boards and contact Argyle.

Anyway, there are a lot of people in this thing who could surprise the PTC community and a good amount of people who have a puncher's chance of winning. However, I have a shortlist of ten people whom I think can win this thing without much argument. In a related note, those of you whom I am about to put on my shortlist, I am so sorry for jinxing you in advance.

The shortlist, shall we?

Shadow - She was the most recent former Global Champion. Detractors will look at her gimmick or the fact that she won the title from Über Judge in a no-show. People who will tell you that she's easy pickings for an upset for those reasons are just haters. While my own predilections against her gimmick are well-known, what I can't deny are her writing talent and the objectivity of the judges. From what I've seen, there are no haters in the judging pool, and matched up against anyone, she can hold her own and win. That goes for everyone, from the scrubs that she should beat to the Rollinses and Almasies of the world. However, she's in a tough bracket. Seymour Almasy, Vivica J. Valentine, Hoyt Williams and Tessa Windsor are all formidable foes and some of them are GCW co-fedders. Familiarity may not breed contempt in this case, but these are the folks who know her best. Not to mention Almasy just beat her for that Global Championship. However, if she gets past here, I'd put good money on her to win it all.

Dr. Curiosity - I know I outlined him earlier, but it's so fun that I want to do it again :). Someone who's never lost a match in PTC competition is certainly dangerous, and the Curiosity character is among the best written cheesy characters of all-time. He's lumped in the same bracket as a lot of other oddball comedic-toned characters, including the Illustious-Face Eater and the man who ended his record fWo Cruiserweight Championship reign, High Flyer. Plus, everyone knows who he is now, and once again, no one's ever repeated as GTT Champion. Two big things that work against him. What he does have working for him though is being a veteran of the generous RP-limit environment of XUW and regular competition there. It's not like he has plenty of ring rust to shake off, like our next short-list member...

"The Renegade" Rich Rollins - Once again, I will not mince words. While 48-0 is damn impressive, Rollins has three huge things working against him. One, like I said for Dr. C, no one's ever repeated. Two, the fact that he didn't lose a single judge last time puts immense pressure on him, moreso than anyone else in the tournament. Three, he hasn't seen active competition since, I'd imagine, GTT5, unless he had some action in GCW after that that I didn't follow. However, he has one giant thing working for him. He was the first guy in three GTTs to win with some kind of hype behind him. From what I understand, no one saw Deville's or Curiosity's GTT runs in the previous two years coming. Rollins had a substantial amount of hype behind him last year, and he didn't falter. A sign of being able to handle the pressure? Yes. That works for him tremendously. However... other guys on this shortlist have been through wars more recently. They're more tuned into RPing for a giant battle than Rollins. This reminds me of the first year Jordan came back from his first retirement and played with the #45 in the playoffs. He was able to lift his Bulls to the second round, but his rust precluded him from taking them to the NBA Finals and a possible interruption of the Rockets' repeat. I see the same kind of thing from the Renegade.

Still though, you can't deny his talent. But speaking of rust, or lack thereof... and lemme tell you, facing off against one of Ryan's plethora of characters (Clinton Sage here), isn't a good way to shake off rust.

Tchu - The anithesis of Rollins the respect that he's been bombarded with top-level matches in PRIME over the past few months. Liseux, Sirrajin, Olsig, Nova... the parade keeps coming, and Tchu keeps mowing them down. Is there anyone hotter in the PTC circuit right now? The danger with the Inhuman Being is that after facing such a murderer's row, maybe he's a bit worn down. RPing in the PTC style takes a lot out of you. However, the truly great storytellers have ideas come to them. Tchu's an elite in PRIME, and I think he's got a great shot of taking that elite banner for himself across the entire i-fed as well. However, he's got a murderous first round matchup, and he's perhaps the most likely on the shortlist to get bounced without winning a match. Violence Jack is not one to take lightly. If Tchu gets by that unscathed though... well then all bets against him could very well be off.

The Illustrious Face-Eater - He ran roughshod over AWC. He's making PRIME his bitch as we speak. He just won IG24. If anyone can challenge Tchu for the best in PTC, it's Facey. The thing about him though, and I covered this, is that his writing has a tendency to be self-serving and eccentric. Most people love his style, but my fear is that he comes across a judge who's a little straitlaced or doesn't get the writing. Facey could flame out early or take this whole thing. However, I trust that there won't be any communication barriers, and Facey is going to ride a good long way.

Nova - He's one of the most widely entertaining and liked characters across the circuit. He's also one of the most accessible. I mean, anyone who uses MS Paint like it's going out of style is going to be a crowd pleaser. His comedy might get him in trouble, but comedy has won this before. Much like Deville and Curiosity before him, he's got the profile to win this thing. He's known, but not known enough to make people say "damn" like some of the other bigwigs in this tournament. He's never won a World Championship either. He's ripe to be elevated. What better place to do it than here?

Garbage Bag Johnny - Much like Facey, GBJ has run roughshod over AWC, probably in a more dominant fashion than Facey ever could have hoped to. One could argue that his slate in AWC is comparable to Tchu's in PRIME. He also carries the mantle of AWC most highly. He could be a victim of his own hype though, under the immense weight of being AWC's most highly touted competitor in the tournament. Plus, he's in the same bracket as Jason Snow, Brandon Youngblood and Saij. However, GBJ seems to be cool as a cucumber, and that goes a long way.

Karina Wolfenden - A former Global Champion and 5th place finisher in the ToC, K-Wolf is no stranger to success outside of the friendly confines of PRIME. However, Mat recently retired her from PRIME and was saying that he was gone from active competition. GTT6 pulls him out, and one has to wonder what kind of drive K-Wolf will have for the tournament? The talent isn't a question. It's just a matter of having inspiration to put up your best stuff. Still, if she does find it, then watch out.

Seymour Almasy - He's the sentimental favorite to win this thing. It's his last event in PTC, he's coming in as the Global Champion and he's found his swagger. Still, you can't be 100% sure that Almasy's going to win this thing. For one, if he meets up with Shadow in his bracket, there's a good chance he goes him. Only 1-6 in seven meetings with her, although the 1 came recently and for the Global Championship. It's hard to bet against Almasy, but it's hard to bet on him too.

Yori Yakamo, Jr. - Yes, you read this right. YYJ is my SUPERSLEEPERSPECIAL to win this thing. He's been a smash in both MBE and NFW, and who's to say he can't do it at PTC either? His writing style is a bit out there. He also relies on pure, 100% lewd and absurd comedy. Whether this is a plus or a minus depends on the judge, but I feel that if you don't laugh at a YYJ RP, you have no soul. I'm telling you, he could end up taking this entire tournament. And you laughed at me.

Now, how do I really feel is going to come out of each bracket? Well, tune in tomorrow :)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just to clarify, the $10.00 late entry fee is a donation to charity, not into my pocket!

Great read :)

R.

Anonymous said...

Any list with out Hoyt Williams is garbage as he did destroy Almasy in an ET defence. The man is god for christ sake.

Anonymous said...

See that's God punishing people who post comments.