Ever since the 80s, wrestling and video games have gone together hand-in-hand in some capacity, the obvious being the various tie-in games dedicated to the sport. From humble beginnings with WWF WrestleMania for the NES to classics like WWF No Mercy on the N64, wrestling games have always been a mainstay in video games. Unfortunately, the genre has seen better days, further impeded by the disaster that was WWE 2K20, however one company aims to bring wrestling games back into their glory.
AEW, or All Elite Wrestling, has been on the rise in the wrestling world over the past several years. Initially, a vision created by wrestlers, for wrestlers, AEW became something of a dynasty in its own right, having a television deal and signing wrestlers from various organizations. While wrestling and gaming may go hand in hand, especially for AEW, last night's events during the Revolution pay-per-view may have been unintentional.
Last night's PPV, AEW Revolution, offered a myriad of surprises, including the signing of the legendary wrestler, Christian Cage (hot off the heels of the recent signing of Paul Wight, formerly known as Big Show). One of the most intriguing matches was the ladder match, in which a surprise contender, long-time wrestler Ethan Page, was revealed as the final entrant. The winner of the match would be Scorpio Sky, granting him the opportunity for a future TNT title match.
For most fans, however, the brass ring prize looked very similar to another ring that a certain blue hedgehog is most famous for collecting. It wasn't long for fans to take to Twitter and piece the similarities between AEW's brass ring and the ring from Sonic the Hedgehog, with some accounts using the opportunity to poke fun at the coincidence.
The influence that video games have on AEW is quite large, with several staff members being huge fans of video games, most notably executive vice president and fellow wrestler for AEW, Kenny Omega. At one point, Kenny Omega had provided his voice to dub the trailer for Street Fighter 5's Cody DLC as well as naming his signature move based on the V-Trigger technique in the same game. In a previous episode of AEW Dynamite, he dressed up as Sans from Undertale during his pre-match introduction.
It is unknown whether the ring was a purposeful homage to Sonic the Hedgehog or not, but considering AEW's track record, it's a safe assumption that it was a subtle reference. Currently, AEW is developing its own wrestling game, with the intent of capturing the spirit of classic wrestling games alongside No Mercy director Hideyuki Iwashita.