Tournament 78: Grand Prix Warm-Up - Quarters

All eyes were on the Quarter Finals for an intriguing blend of the highly anticipated, and the totally unexpected! Much of the 2017 Grand Prix Warm-Up had gone according to plan, but results from the Fourth Round had created some of the most unusual combinations of the event!

Hall of Fame ICWW alum Oozaru made his unexpected return at Supercard 89: Breaking Point to finally fight for the tortured soul of his famed Pacific Connection partner Banging. He only entered Tournament 78 to steel himself for the fight ahead and make a dent in The Invasion's conquest, but Scott-Howell took out Oozaru's ultimate target DaemonX in Round 3! The big man settled for an elementary win, besting Scott-Howell to earn his way into the Semi Finals.

This time last year "The Hitman" DECEPTION and AlbertBeefcake met in the final battle of this very tournament! On that day, DECEPTION was the reigning Undisputed Champion and he backed it up with his first Grand Slam tournament victory ahead of a UGP title defense against Kron! It was as if destiny ordained a tournament rematch in preparation for DECEPTION's rematch with Kron at the coming UGP. Rather than merely drift through re-runs, The Hitman improved upon history by unleashing an amazing +14 impact in the Quarter Final! The victory completely bamboozled AlbertBeefcake, setting DECEPTION up for his third consecutive Grand Prix Warm-Up Semi Final!

On Monday Nights; Mimik and Mime are part of one of the most dominant collectives to ever walk into The Great Arena! In the Quarter Final of Tournament 78, they were unexpected rivals. It isn't the first time members of The United have faced each other. A championship rivalry between Mimik and Hokey famously broke out late last year. Despite the history between Hokey & Mime, there didn't appear to be any animosity when Mime raised his game to eliminate his Hall of Fame teammate.

GohanSon and MKMaster were clearly strangers in a strange land in the Quarter Finals. No one could have predicted their rise, yet GohanSon achieved the incredible feat of elimination Damo in the Fourth Round! MKMaster avoided overwhelming mismatches, benefitting from Jerrod's upset win over #2 seed CaTigeReptile in Round 3, to take out the upstart. He did it again in the Quarters, totally outclassing GohanSon with a convincing +3 impact win. It was a compelling result - the kind that made you wonder if MKMaster could've taken CTR and Damo out himself. He'll have the chance to prove his skill when he achieves the incredible feat of walking into his first tournament Semi Final!

Tournaemnt 78: Grand Prix Warm-Up - Quarter Finals:
1. Oozaru d. Scott-Howell [+2]
2. "The Hitman" DECEPTION d. AlbertBeefcake [+14]
3. United: Mime d. United: Mimik [+1]
4. MKMaster d. GohanSon [+3]

Tournament 77 Impact Players:
- Mime +MAX (R1, R3), Damo +24 (R3), LordSkarlet +22 (R2), MKMaster +18 (R2), DECEPTION +16 (R4), CaTigeReptile +11 (R2), Poasty +9 (R2), AlbertBeefcake +8 (R4), Genku +7 (R1), Loopster +7 (R2), DaemonX +7 (R2), Shinnokxz +5 (R1), Mimik +5 (R4), Oozaru +4 (R1), DeathScepter +4 (R2), Chromatose +4 (R3), TonyTheTiger +4 (R3)

Tournament 77 Shock Eliminations:
- avenger45 (R1), Nephrite (R1), Murdoink (R1), SubScorpTile (R1), Shen_DuHBK (R1), Baraka_MK (R1), Poasty (R3), CaTigeReptile (R3), Genku (R4), LordSkarlet (R4), Damo (R4)

Tournament 77 Casualties:
- KittyKat (R1), UlcaTron (R2), EasterBunny (R3)