This seems like a neat idea, but why wouldn't the players from each side just throw their matches to their respective player, especially if they have a horse (and cash) in the race? Even if you accept that as OK (since it would be balanced), it would then come down to who has the better competition.
you know, I actually thought about the 'throwing matches' issue (well before posting previously) lol. One way to get team of regional players to play their 'horse' to win is to award them $ for winning but that sounds like too much effort (and too much $ being handed out for free lol).
Another possible take on this would be to get players *not* w/in the local region(s) to form the teams/gauntlet...but there's always the issue of favoritism to skew the win count.
Then you can always just play your damn mirror...but then that's just about who can be the most random/gimmicky and doesn't really speak for how well you know your character and how well-rounded you are as a player (outside of a mirror match).
Seems like either route you go, in the end...it's all just masturbation.