Top 5 Ground Zero battles of 2013
KOTD’s Ground Zero league was a lot of fun in 2013.
The Ground Zero Grand Prix (a 32-man tournament with battles in all four of KOTD’s divisions) meant there were events going down almost monthly for a while. And with a $1,500 prize on the line, the MCs were hungry since winning and losing actually meant something.
No clear superstars emerged from the league in 2013, but a lot of guys surprised us by surpassing expectations and a few will fit in on main cards in 2014.
The battles in our Top 5 are all great for different reasons, so we present them in no particular order.
NOTEZ VS YUNG CASPER
Notez’s performance in this battle was the most entertaining in the entire GZGP (barring any fireworks from DDSS/Step Easy in the finals at Blackout 4.) He and Realiztic crowd Casper while doing a call-and-response scheme with the rest of his corner, then he dons a ski mask after saying Daylyt stole his style … all in the first round. This came about 45 minutes after an alleged altercation between Notez/Realiztic and some guy outside the venue who wasn’t treating a lady the way a gentleman should.
You hate Notez. We get it. We like him. Get over it.
For the record, this was the most-viewed GZ battle from 2013 that dropped on the GZ channel (more on that later).
JOE CUTTER VS LEX D
Lex D was one of the breakout stars from the West Coast division this year, and he shows why with this comedic performance in his KOTD debut. Lex may have lost in the second round of the GZGP, but that only meant he was booking bigger names even sooner, facing both Cadalack Ron and Reverse Live in the second half of 2013.
Cutter is classic Cutter here, with lots of quotable lines spouted with mean-spirited, weirdo glory. But as Caustic once said on the Dirtbag Dan Show: “Nine times out of ten, the funny guy wins.”
REALIZTIC VS N-POSE
This battle was the Rum Nitty vs Danny Myers of the Toronto GZ division.
It was the second undercard battle of the night, featuring one guy that no one had heard of, and another that gets no shine. And it was awesome, even prompting the only tweet of the night from Organik: “This is a GREAT battle.” We’re pretty sure it was also the only GZ battle to drop on the main KOTD channel (which makes it the most-viewed GZ battle we mentioned earlier).
If you’re expecting Pat Stay vs Hollohan, it won’t live up to expectations, but take it for what it is: an entertaining, light battle from two guys who are clearly having a lot of fun. Realiztic does the Harlem Shake, for god’s sake.
MEGADEF VS REVERSE LIVE
This battle was taken on only a few days notice, so we’ll look past Mega saying he’s got “fifty guns with tall, loud clips.” He makes up for it with the obscure Kerry Kittles reference anyways.
And we’re not sure who Reverse Live pissed off, but he really needs to be on the main channel more often. Dude is far too seasoned to be on GZ.
AYEM VS MEGADEF
The last battle to go down from Round 2 of the Ground Zero Grand Prix was well worth the wait. The showdown was delayed because of a miscommunication between Ayem and the KOTD staff and ended up as the headliner on a Prove Yourself card two weeks later. Mega seemed to have used the extra time to hone his usually loud, aggressive style (as seen against Reverse Live) into a focused beam of white hot rage. Either that or he spent the two weeks binging on Xanax.
Ayem’s veteran stripes are obvious throughout, but his boxing rebuttal at the end of the first is bananas. “He said Hagler and Hearns like I ain’t seein’ him. Bitch this is 2013, you’ll get dropped in the third round like Matthysse and Peterson.”
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Check the rest of our Best of 2013:
Top 10 biggest bodybags
Top 5 URL battles
Top 5 Don’t Flop battles
Top 5 Ground Zero battles
Top 10 KOTD battles
Top 10 battlers of 2013
Final thoughts on 2013