Mushroom Round 1 --- Lost to (4) Ness, 44644 [44.86%] - 54881 [55.14%]
Extrapolated Strength --- 53rd Place [16.88%]

CJ was given the perfect setup to score a win in his first contest appearance. He was fresh off of the biggest Grand Theft Auto title to date in San Andreas, and his first opponent was a cult character who sees most of his fanbase come from games that have nothing to do with where he originates from (I speak of Ness's popularity coming from the SSB/M games rather than EarthBound). And even in the event of CJ being weaker than Vercetti of Vice City fame, there was still plenty of room between Vercetti and Ness in the stats for CJ to squeeze into.

But once the match began, CJ turned into another Jak. For the second year in a row, Ness managed to embarass a newcomer in a "Cult vs Mainstream" match in which most people felt that Ness would lose. And even though many a CJ/San Andreas fan blamed racism and/or GTA hate on Ness winning, the fact remains that CJ went out and completely embarrassed himself in a match that was his for the taking.

CJ will likely return next year due to the popularity of GTA games (Vercetti has been in every Summer Contest since Vice City's release), but whether or not he'll ever do damage is doubtful.

-Ulti