This year's AlphaBattle Championships will be held in the underwater city of New Orleans. The city held the 1990 AlphaBattle Championships, in which Joe Montana defeated Sebastian Bach to claim his fourth AlphaBattle Championship.
After a supreme court hearing, both Tim Bradley and J. Key have been banned from the sport for life.
Having two athletes be banned in the same year is unprecedented, and people are calling for harsher regulations for rookies. The only other five people to be banned from AlphaBattle in the sport's long history are Jakey, Shoe-Wearing Bill, David Boogie, Tom Brady, and Alabama's sweetheart, Hans.
After last year's amazing victory over a banana in the final round, Barack Obama has retired from the sport as a two-time champion.
2017's AlphaBattle Championships marks the first time that the field of competitors will be raised to 20, over the previous standard of 16. The last time the field's size was increased was in 1945, after the defeat of the Nazis in World War II.
The field will be divided into five groups of four initially.
The AlphaBattle Council has selected the following 20 competitors for this year's Championships. Rookies are marked with an asterisk.
Gold Block:
Sheriff Antony
Thom Yorke
Dom Grady*
Dave Grohl
Sigma Block:
Ainsley Harriott
Jack White
Steve Harwell*
Meat Loaf
Sage Block:
Luigi
Coldsteel the Hedgehog
Chad Kroeger
Rick Astley
Shoe Block:
Donald Trump
Not-Jakey*
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
John Stamos
Gangster Block:
Fisher
A banana
Hip-Hop Horse
Marcus
The bracket was specifically set up to get grudge matches out of the way early, so that the mechanics and technique of the sport can be focussed on.
Notable grudge matches include:
Ainsley Harriott vs. Jack White
Sheriff Antony vs. Thom Yorke
Marcus vs. Hip-Hop Horse