Professional wrestling and video games have had a very long history with one another. Dating all the way back to the release of the NES game Pro Wrestling in 1986, many video games have been developed across the world with every major company having their own game at one point or another. While many 90s kids would always get into arguments on whether WCW or WWF was better on the playground, the arguments has evolved out of the schoolyard and onto the internet by grown adults. Gamers have also done the same with video games, but now it seems that it has evolved past which console was better to just the games themselves.
One thing that has taken over the world of wrestling is not just the rise of All Elite Wrestling or New Japan Pro Wrestling’s popularity here in the States. It is now to go to an event and make signs to voice what game is better than the other, or in the case of our featured image, asked the hard hitting questions.
While the originator of this craze is unknown, many point to its overnight trending status to the legendary video series Botchamania. Led by a man who goes as Maffew online, Botchamania is a long-running series of videos that showcases botches from all forms of wrestling including small independent promotions to the big guns like WWE and AEW. It’s brought wrestling fans several memorable lines and memes over the years including Insane Dusty Commentary, I am the Table, Send For The Man, and Cornette Face. Not only are the botches a staple, but the series has featured several songs from video game soundtracks ever since Maffew took over Botchamania over a decade ago. It also helped that witty and misspelled signs would be featured in the videos as well. As the series grew it started to become normal for fans to bring signs to live events in hopes that their sign would be featured more so on Botchamania than from the TV appearance itself. I once remember a fan asking Maffew on Facebook what kind of sign he should take to an upcoming Smackdown taping and Maffew simply replied “Needs more GameMaster.”
We’ve compiled a gallery of some of our favorite signs that have made it into the arenas and onto television so you all can discuss the signs in a professional manner like the internet is best known for. That or you can just fight over it on social media like everybody else. Enjoy Windjammers!
