Tournament Grand Slam Finals!

September 10, 2011 -- For just the second time in the history of The Great Arena, one hundred and twenty-eight fighters will unite in the common pursuit of fighting supremacy in Tournament 8: Grand Slam [Singles]!

A field of 128 was last seen during Tournament 5: War for the Kr0wn, where Cr0w emerged victorious to claim his second tournament win. A bracket of the same scale was featured in the original Tournament 1, with only 114 fighters competing with several byes on offer.

Unlike previous tournaments, Tournament 8 will run the duration of a complete fortnight, coinciding with Tournament 9: Grand Slam [Doubles] (starting September 4). T8 will also mark the first time League Rankings have been used to determine favourites in the field. The top ranked sixteen fighters have been seeded at the top of bottom of randomly drawn mini brackets, arranged in a closing order based on the standard Wimbledon system. At each end of the the complete bracket sits #1 Cr0w and #2 Ratt, able to meet no sooner than the Grand Final, after seven rounds of competition.

Tournament 8: Grand Slam [Singles] Semi Final Result:
1. Cr0w [1] d. Genku [8] in a solid victory!
It was as recent as August 14 that these two Semi Finalists stood opposite each other in the centre of The Great Arena. Supercard 11 saw Genku cash-in his contention for the Undisputed Championship, hoping to end Cr0w then five-defense win streak as reigning champion. The plan seemed perfect, with both men playing a cocky pre-match, but when it came time for SC11, it was Cr0w who ran roughshod over the contender in a +4 decimation.

In the Semi Final of Tournament 8, it was clearly a Genku who was a little wiser and little better prepared for the high stakes situation. A total decimation was not out of the question, but Genku's defenses were primed as he fought for the opportunity to break this unprecedented twenty-two match win streak! Valiant in his efforts, Genku simply did not have the strength to contend with a Cr0w who brought all his weapons to the ready! Try as he might, Cr0w could not break the defenses of Genku, but he never looked in doubt with the glint of a twenty-third victory in his eye, and the reflection of another tournament Grand Final clearly in sight. Decimation was denied him, but once again, Cr0w was victor.

2. Ratt [2] d. ElJobber [7]
Despite being seeded second, in the minds of some, Ratt was the underdog in this clash with the highly motivated seventh seed! Unfounded speculation had turned ElJobber from the fan-favourite conscience of The Great Arena, to an unfeeling, unrelenting competitor willing to do anything to win. In the build to the Semi Final, ElJobber had delivered +30 MAX impacts to JoelKatz (R3) and MINION (R2), and if he had his way, he'd do it again to Ratt!

With a win a piece at Pre-Show 8 and Supercard 10, they made for the more compelling Semi Final combination, matching up every bit as well as reputation would have it! Both men looked strong in spite of their hard fought paths to the final day, but it was Ratt who had a little extra something when it mattered most! Buoyed by the support of the crowd and by his own heartful efforts, Ratt once again proved why he is "The Iron Man," fending off fatigue and a motivated assault to turn the tables on ElJobber -- winner in an impressive, high level encounter!

The victory would set up a dream match between the #1 and #2 seeds, but before that could happen, the stars of the Duo Division would be given their chance to shine as the Semi Final of Tournament 9 unfolded...

Tournament 9: Grand Slam [Doubles] Semi Final Result:
1. Hokey & Ninja_Mime [1] d. DaMo & DeathScepter
Emerging as the powerhouse tandem counterparts to Cr0w's domination of the solo field; Hokey & Ninja_Mime stepped into the arena with an impressive 12-1 record in Duo Division combat! One of those wins included a Championship defense against DaMo & DeathScepter at Supercard 11, but that wasn't about to worry the #3 seeds!

Where the result was comprehensive at the All-Star Summer Showdown, there would be no such decisiveness in the Tournament 9 rematch! With such a rare opportunity on the line, D&D showed tremendous tenacity, hanging with the Champions at every turn! For a worrying moment it seemed as if a second loss would rob Hokey & Ninja_Mime of appearing in a second Tournament final, but experience and success drove them the extra mile! Though victorious, the prospect of a rematch of the Tournament 6 final [which they lost] cast plenty of doubt over the longevity of the Champions as they awaited the result of the second Semi Final!

2. Pink_Ranger & Ghostdragon [5] d. m0s & Nemesis316
As the only combination to defeat Hokey & Ninja_Mime (in the final of Tournament 6); fifth seeding downplayed the true stature and potential of Pink_Ranger & Ghostdragon as a pairing! Theoretical favourites over the unknown quantity of m0s & Nemesis316, PR & GD had the x-factor of Ghostdragon's long run in the Singles field to consider, with regards to their longevity. Not to mention the upstart arrival of their opponents, who were successful at eliminating the #1 contenders to the Duo Division Championships in the Second Round!

What would unfold would be one of the most compelling encounters the Duo Division has ever seen! Despite their relative inexperience as a tandem, m0s & Nemesis316 benefitted dramatically from the rising confidence m0s has earned as a two-time winner of the Daruma 7 event. More than any flash in the pan, the pair took the fight every step of the way to the T6 winners! In one of the hardest fought matches of the entire tournament, Pink_Ranger & Ghostdragon were last minute victors, enduring under incredible conditions to emerge victorious by a relatively narrow margin!

The match marks another triumph for "Mr. Daruma" m0s, whose star seems to be on the rise well beyond the success he enjoyed in two victories in the immensely difficult Arena sideshow! Newly dedicated to combat, he has become a self-made contender, captaining a debut partner all the way to the Semi Final! m0s is sure to launch out of this to bigger and better things, but for Pink_Ranger & Ghostdragon, the 'bigger' would occur after the Tournament 8 Grand Final, in a massive rematch of the Tournament 6 finish!

Tournament 8: Grand Slam [Singles] Grand Final Result:
1. Cr0w [1] d. Ratt [2]
Pre-tournament seeding may have predicted their destined meeting, but any notion that numbers would denote the outcome of the Tournament 8 Grand Final would be sorely mistaken. There was an air of anticipation in The Great Arena as "The Iron Man" Ratt returned to face the overwhelming odds that he has so often relished throughout his career. Cr0w was the man who took the Undisputed Championship from Ratt, defeating him after the conclusion of Tournament 5: War for the Kr0wn, where tournament glory was doubled with a title match. It was a fitting end to Tournament 8, the spiritual follow-up to T5, which was the first one hundred and twenty-eight fighter field.

With two epic matches behind them, it seemed it was going to be an old fashioned slobberknocker that would decide the singles final. It seemed as if Cr0w's overwhelming victory over Genku had spent much of his energy, while Ratt too showed concerning signs of fatigue after his more obvious, hard fought match with ElJobber. Spent and fighting on will alone, there would clearly be nothing fancy about the tactics employed by the two finalists in this Grand Slam Grand Final. There was a sense that any fresh fighter could take advantage of them both, but that only made this all the more compelling, reminding The Great Arena just how much a tournament victory means!

For the first time in a very long while, Cr0w legitimately looked as if he could lose the match! While it would not return the Undisputed Championship to Ratt, it was a tantalizing added incentive to the already impressive accolade of a Tournament victory. Fight hard, though he would, Ratt simply did not have enough left to go the distance. Cr0w may have been the one to fight through the agony and fatigue, but no honest observer could claim that Ratt was a loser in this match. In ways that haven't been seen in such a long time, Cr0w was taken to a zone of absolute desperation, and you've got to think that given the opportunity, Ratt would be every chance to reclaim the Undisputed Championship! Will he get the chance? Only time will tell!

Tournament 9: Grand Slam [Doubles] Grand Final Result:
1. Hokey & Ninja_Mime [1] d. Pink_Ranger & Ghostdragon [5] in a +2 tandem decimation!
They met in the Grand Final of Tournament 6, where it was Pink_Ranger & Ghostdragon who surprised everyone in The Great Arena to become not only the first team to defeat the dominant combination of Hokey & Ninja_Mime, but also the first-ever Duo Division Champions! It was a fact rectified just a week later, when Hokey & Ninja_Mime claimed the titles at Pre-Show 9: Destination Duo, but there could be no sense of a clear winner, either way, in the finale of Tournament 9! At least, not until the match began.

Like the solo competitors before them, neither of the Duo Divisional finalists were at their peak, but it was far and away less damaging for Hokey & Ninja_Mime than their apparently depleted opponents! Still fighting at a top level, the reigning Champions fought with a class all of their own, vastly different to the T6 final that surprised them with an upset! It was hard to say what robbed them of their mojo, but in the end, Pink_Ranger & Ghostdragon simply didn't have enough left to combat the awesome concoction of Hokey & Ninja_Mime!

Though it seems like another triumph for the already dominant reigning Duo Division Champions, the Tournament 9 victory comes as a long overdue win! Hokey has long been a darling of the Tournament scene, but never in his long career has he ever been the last man standing in an elimination field. So often regarded fondly as the lucky charm for an eventual winner, Hokey now stands triumphant, side-by-side with friend and fellow stalwart of The Great Arena, Ninja_Mime! Though the titles mean so much, the chance to stand victorious over a field of their peers in a tournament goes just that little bit further, you'd have to think!

A massive two weeks of Grand Slam action finally draws to an end, but the competition is far from over! Pre-Show 12: Grand Slam Aftermath concludes a fourteenth day of non-stop combat, bringing back all of the legends of The Great Arena for a standard card of blockbuster fighting!

Tensions between the fighters of The Union of The Human League and the Four Barons of Lord Mislukking continue to escalate! Baron of War, Ares Menschlich, has been revealed as responsible for influencing events that threatened to tear the human leagues apart, but he claims he merely exposed the undercurrent of contempt that was already there! Tournament 8 and Tournament 9 certainly drove the masses to fierce competition, but at Supercard 12: Night of the Barons, four the best will put aside their pursuit of personal glory to combat each of the Barons! It'll be a Night of the Barons preview at Pre-Show 12 when the man who was reborn to expose the truth -- Kron -- takes on the Baroness of Pestilence, Praga Conquette, before he resumes his feud with War!

It all begins again September 11 -- be here or live in fear!