When tuning in to a professional wrestling show, audiences are going to see a multitude of signs among the live crowd, with fans hoping the cameras catch a glimpse of them. Signs can vary from a fan showing their love for particular wrestlers to taking a humorous jab at some of the more villainous wrestlers on the show. One audience member at this week’s AEW Dynamite, though, went a different route, instead asking for the return of the Killer Instinct series.
Killer Instinct is a fighting game series from developer Rare, which originally released in arcades in 1994 as the company’s answer to fighting hits like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. The game quickly found its way to console with releases on the SNES, Nintendo 64, and Game Boy in 1995 and 1996. Microsoft rebooted the series in 2013 with the help of developer Double Helix Games, and it was one of the titles available at launch for the Xbox One. However, there has been little news about another potential apart from some recent rumors.
Twitter user Josie @Ultimate_jp910 was one of several viewers who spotted the aforementioned sign while watching this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite emanating from Cleveland, Ohio. Josie managed to clip a screenshot of the Killer Instinct fan’s sign during CM Punk’s entrance, with the fan taking full advantage of their ringside seat located directly across from the show’s primary camera. The sign reads “#BringBackKI” with the KI matching the game’s marquee logo.
Regardless of how anyone feels about Killer Instinct, it is worth applauding this fan for finding a way to get his message across on national TV. AEW Dynamite recently made the jump to TBS from TNT, putting it in slightly more homes with what several wrestling media personalities like Dave Meltzer and Sean Ross Sapp have said is a stronger lead-in with The Big Bang Theory. It all but guarantees said audience member’s sign is going to be seen by well over a million viewers tuning in to see the action put on by one of wrestling’s hottest promotions.
It is also an environment that would celebrate this fan’s love of Killer Instinct, as many people within AEW are self-proclaimed gamers. Former AEW Champion Kenny Omega, for example, finds ways to bring his gaming fandom into his wrestling, most notably with his finisher dubbed the One-Winged Angel after Final Fantasy VII villain Sephiroth. Others, like Adam Cole and Evil Uno, can be seen regularly on Twitch indulging in their gaming habits – with the former preferring to go by the moniker of TheCHUGS while streaming Halo, Zelda, and other titles.
Killer Instinct is rumored to be in development for Xbox platforms with no release window set.
