The only true way to resolve a trivial spat in the fighting game community is by squashing the disagreement in-game, with the defeated opponent getting trash talk rained upon them after.
Victor “Punk” Woodley is a relative newcomer to the world of fighting game competition, but he’s quickly risen from the ranks of trash-talking netplay warriors to become one of the strongest Street Fighter V players in the world. This new status comes with a great deal of attention, though, as stalwarts are looking for any excuse to beef with him.
After watching Northeast Championship’s Street Fighter V competition in December, Punk said he was glad that runner-up Rob “RobTV” Burney lost because he was “trying too hard to be like me.” When Burney realized Punk would be in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio for the Versus tournament series this past weekend, RobTV gave Punk the opportunity to put some money on the line: Saturday night, Street Fighter V, first-to-seven, $100.
RobTV got his ass handed to him; it was gruesome. Punk completely dominated the match, opting to use his backup Chun-Li. RobTV, for his part, started out with Guile before switching to Karin, but even with the local crowd in his corner, he only managed to win one game to Punk’s seven during their half-hour bout. It was an absolute bloodbath.
With the same laidback, cocksure attitude that’s made him such an entertaining figure in the fighting game community over the past few years, Punk told RobTV: “Know your place in this world. Know your place.”
Instead of discouragement, RobTV is apparently using this loss as a learning experience. “[Punk] earned the right to talk shit,” he said afterwards. “I love this FGC shit. He’s stronger than me for now. Remember this set. I’m going to pass him up.”
Ian Walker loves fighting games and writing about them. You can find him on Twitter at @iantothemax.