The last quarterfinal was a showdown we've been waiting to see for a while now. They are the two surfers who joined the tour at the halfway point (the last of the mid-year rotation) in 2011 and have proved dominant since. Gabriel Medina who won the Quiksilver France and Rip Curl San Francisco last year faced John John Florence, who won the Vans Triple Crown and the Billabong Pro Rio. The two young guns, both potential world champs, finally went head-to-head. It was not a surprise that John John Florence won the heat, but no one would have picked him to obliterate Medina 16.17 to 4.17.

Fanning somehow edged out Owen Wright in the first semifinal, despite the fact that Wright had the single highest wave and a 18.10 heat total. That should tell you something about the conditions. In the second semi, Parkinson surpassed Florence. The latter was a wave-starved heat where Florence only stood up three times. His first wave was one of those impossible ones that just eats itself on the end section. He was written off when he willed himself out of a violent mess of whitewater, down the face, and onto the shoulder. But Parkinson's 9.57 in the opening minutes would prove too much without a lot of waves to choose from.

The Parkinson/Fanning Cooly kid matchup is one we've seen over and over. They've already faced off three times this year, not to mention hundreds of heats over their long careers. They both had phenomenal days with no-handed bottom turns under the lip, looping through their first two turns without grabbing the rail. And the final didn't disappoint.

Parkinson had Fanning in a pickle the entire final until the last five minutes. Parkinson was toying with the wave, pulling his no-handed moves both high and low. He capped off his first barrel with a clean roundhouse and just 4:30 into the final had two pristine trips through the Tahitian tunnel.

Fanning answered with a 9.37 to get out of comboland. Fanning then sold Parkinson on a closeout to nab the next one, dragging his arm so hard he said it was sore afterwards. He kicked out with a 9.50. The final wound up being 18.87-18.37, with Fanning taking the 2012 Billabong Pro Teahupoo and claiming the No. 1 spot on the ASP World Tour. His buddy Parkinson is No. 2.

"Teahupoo is one of the spots that I've worked hard on throughout my career to improve at," Fanning said. "I made a final out here before, but to come away with the win is great for my confidence, and I'm in a good position heading into the next half of the year. Early days though and there are a lot of guys right up there. It's still anyone's game at this point."

It was a historic day. And we have that Code Red swell last year to thank.