I think the trick is to do none of those things. I did all that once upon a time too. I also wasted tourney time and resources doing things like audio writeups, which were fun as hell but not really efficient. And it never worked out. This was my first win after too many attempts, and it's literally the first tourney where all I did was research and debate. No signatures, no fluff, no posturing or jokes in the matches themselves. And thank goodness it worked out, because I doubt I have the patience and will for too many more of these before I'm retired forever.
And for the record, I still think you would've won this tourney if you'd have gotten Mysterio. I still don't know how I would've countered that.