The best and worst video game wrestling signs ever made

For several years, wrestling fans have brought signs to shows with their terrible video game opinions written on them

There is a lot of crossover between fans of video games and fans of professional wrestling. Maybe it’s the style of storytelling, maybe it’s the backstage intrigue, or maybe we all just like seeing big dudes do cool flips, but either way, if you go to any weekly wrestling show you’re sure to find plenty of gamers in the crowd.

One of the things gamers are best known for is having controversial opinions that we can’t help but argue over. This usually happens over social media, but some wrestling fans over the past few years have taken it to a new level, having these debates on national television.

Crowd signs have been a part of sports ever since they started being televised, and wrestling fans have turned it into an art, using all sorts of creative ways to mock the wrestlers they don’t like. However, many have now turned their attention to video games, and some of the weirdest takes you’ll ever see may be printed these signs.

We even had Kenny Omega himself weigh in on the debate – check out our Kenny Omega interview here to learn more.

The great Final Fantasy 8 debate

can't believe the "wrestling fan signs about Final Fantasy 8" tennis match is still going on pic.twitter.com/cKpwcgLlVR

— forever botchamania (@Maffewgregg) April 3, 2019

Arguably the sequence of signs that kicked off the recent trend, to fans decided to debate about the merits of Final Fantasy 8.

At WWE’s Clash of Champions 2017, a fan on the entrance ramp held up a sign that simply said “Final Fantasy 8 sucks”. We all had a laugh and thought that was that, until almost two whole years later, another fan came to the March 4, 2019 edition of WWE’s Monday Night Raw holding a sign that said, “Final Fantasy VIII is underrated”.

Amazingly, just one month later on the April 2 edition of WWE’s Friday Night Smackdown, the same guy who wrote the original “FF8 sucks” sign replied – sitting in almost exactly the same seat as before – this time declaring, “Final Fantasy 8 is filth”.

You have to appreciate the dedication, at least.

What about Final Fantasy Tactics?

AEW

This sequence of signs went viral among the wrestling community on Twitter and it didn’t take long for other people to start getting involved in the debate. Another month later on May 1’s episode of Raw someone came with a sign saying “FFX-2 > FF8”, so we now have a ranking system going on.

However, one fan took the crown in this particular debate by making a bold statement. At AEW’s All Out 2019, they brought a sign that read “While they argue Final Fantasy 8, we stan Final Fantasy Tactics”.

"Play Disco Elysium, you weebs"

AEW

After all this had gone down, one fan decided they’d had enough of all these JRPG fans intruding on their wrestling shows, and picked out a far better game for them all to play.

Seen on the September 8, 2021 edition of AEW Dynamite, the sign commands them to “Play Disco Elysium, you weebs”. Disco Elysium is a critically acclaimed indie game released in 2019 and, to be fair, they picked a very good alternative to tempt over the JRPG crowd. That said, it didn’t stop the JRPG debates from raging on.

The complexities of Kingdom Hearts

sign during AEW Rampage 16th April:
KINGDOM HEARTS IS NOT THAT COMPLICATED

sign during WWE Hell In A Cell 2022:
EXPLAIN 358/2 DAYS THEN pic.twitter.com/n7BbViDSFo

— forever botchamania (@Maffewgregg) June 6, 2022

It should be no surprise that Kingdom Hearts eventually got pulled into these arguments and this one managed to span both of the major American promotions in little over a month.

On April 16, 2022 edition of AEW Rampage, a fan brought a big sign saying “Kingdom Hearts is not that complicated”, which is most certainly a lie, as made apparent by another fan’s response. Just over a month later at WWE Hell in a Cell, the next sign read “Explain 358/2 Days then”.

It’s a hard point to argue against, which is probably why we’re still waiting on a reply – although the sign for that might be a bit too big to carry into an arena.

Fighting game elitist

AEW

JRPG fans aren’t the only ones who can get irrationally heated when debating their favorite games, fighting game fans can do just that too.

At AEW’s Double or Nothing 2022, a sign was seen during a match – appropriately dubbed ‘Anarchy in the Arena’ – that read, “Smash Bros is not a fighting game”. I showed this one to my colleagues and the first reply I got was swearing at me, so that tells you all you need to know about that one.

Getting torn apart

Nick Comoroto via Twitter

Having controversial takes on your signs might not be the best idea if you’re sitting in the front row, in reach of the wrestlers.

One fan came to the October 16, 2022 AEW tapings with a sign that said, “FF7 > FF7 Remake”. Whether you agree that the original Final Fantasy 7 is better than the remake or not doesn’t matter, as wrestler Nick Comoroto saw it and took matters into his own hands. During his match, he snatched the sign from the fan’s hands and tore it in half.

Said fan showed off his torn sign on Twitter and Comoroto replied, saying “FF7 is the most overrated RPG ever and ruined the entire genre for years to come”. So it turns out the wrestlers have even worse takes on video games than the fans.

Remember Rocket Robot on Wheels?

AEW

What games first come to mind when you think of the Nintendo 64? Super Mario, Donkey Kong, GoldenEye, or Ocarina of Time would all be valid answers, but for this person in particular, it’s Rocket Robot on Wheels.

They expressed as such by bringing a sign to the June 3, 2022 episode of AEW Rampage that said “Rocket Robot on Wheels > Super Mario 64”. It’s a brave claim, that’s for sure, but one I doubt anyone watching would agree with.

Rocket Robot on Wheels is mostly a forgotten title these days, but it was the first game produced by Sucker Punch Studios. They would eventually go on to make the Sly Cooper and Infamous games, as well as 2022’s Ghost of Tsushima – how far they’ve come.

Becoming the Boss

WWE

Puns are great, and one clever wrestling fan managed to turn a video game reference into a delightful wrestling pun.

WWE wrestler Sasha Banks was nicknamed “The Legit Boss” for her entire run with the company, and when she returned to WWE in 2019 after a short absence, she came back with a new hair color and a new attitude, betraying her friends and turning heel almost immediately.

A few months later a fan brought a sign reading “You became the boss! You are great!” This is a reference to Streets of Rage, as you could get this ending by betraying your co-op partner and accepting Mr X’s offer to join his organization. We should all aspire to be as witty as that sign in life.

Master Chief for Smash

Dak City via Twitter

In many ways, it feels like just yesterday that we were getting hyped up every few months for the reveal of the next Smash Bros DLC character. There was all sorts of hype and rumors flying around about who each one could be, so it’s no surprise that wrestling fans made their voices heard.

A fan known as Dak City took a sign to AEW Grand Slam in 2021 that called for “Master Chief for Smash”. Shortly afterward, Fanbyte reached out to ask why he brought that sign and he said the following: “The only character left that I really wanted to be added to Smash was Master Chief. I had to have my voice heard, especially in case we got some nerd like Sora instead.”

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your perspective), we now know that Dak City didn’t get what he wanted and the “nerd” Sora was added instead. It seems one sign at a wrestling show wasn’t enough to change Nintendo’s mind.

Localize Mother 3

AEW

One simple rallying cry that has existed in wrestling signage longer than almost any other.

Mother 3 is a widely beloved JRPG from fans across the globe, as it stands as a sequel to Earthbound, also known as Mother 2. The problem is that it was never released outside of Japan, and therefore never officially localized into English. This has led to “Localize Mother 3” being a common demand from fans of the franchise, who have only had fan-made localizations in the years since.

Many signs have appeared over the years with those exact words. The first was seen on an April 2016 episode of Smackdown, just behind the commentary desk. It would next pop up at Money in the Bank 2017, before disappearing for a few more years.

By far the best appearance though was on an episode of AEW Dynamite in 2021, where a fan held up a “Localize Mother 3” sign in the front row while in full Ness cosplay, easily standing out among the crowd.

AEW

Perhaps one day we’ll get what we want, but until then, I’m sure we’ll get even more people demanding it by attending wrestling shows and writing on a big bit of card.