TheMortal Kombatseries made waves in popular culture as early as its 1992 debut for being incredibly violent and flashy, with 2015’sMortal Kombat Xcranking that reputation up with stand-out X-Ray attacks that showed bones breaking and organs rupturing.Mortal Kombat 11’s Fatal Blowsare an evolution of that with the same bloody payoff, and a fan of the series saw a perfect opportunity to mesh them with Wednesday night’s All Elite Wrestling (AEW) match.
Few things in this world are flashier than professional wrestling, and the moment highlighted by Reddit user Youngstown_Mafia is just that: Matt Jackson of The Young Bucks is busy dealing with one opponent as another prepares to jump him from behind using the arena’s ropes. Jackson is able to retaliate with a mid-air high kick to the jaw, at which point Youngstown_Mafia’s clip cuts to aMortal KombatX-Ray animation.
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Since it was posted to the r/MortalKombat subreddit earlier today, the video has received over 1.5 thousand upvotes.Mortal Kombatand AEW are a good mix because their performative, hyper-violent exchanges line up surprisingly well, but also because AEW wrestlers likeKenny Omega are outspoken fans of games likeUndertale.
The seamless quality of the edit that Youngstown_Mafia applied to Jackson’s kick makes it easy to imagine what an AEW video game given the ‘M’ rating of NetherRealm Studios’Mortal Kombat 11could look like. It’s entirely possible given the first game set in that professional wrestling world was teased back in July 2019, and furtherconfirmed by Omega on Twitterlast month.
However, it’s not likely the game will be quite so gory considering the wider mainstream appeal of a televised property. The league’s current home networkTNT renewedAEW: Dynamitethrough 2023because of its high viewership, and an adaptation with violent X-Ray jaw breaking animations may not sit well with the brand.
That said, AEW will undoubtedly continue to reference video games and other forms of popular media for the foreseeable future, so it’s only fair that fans like Youngstown_Mafia be given the freedom to create their own crossovers. If wrestlerBrandon Cutler can wear aDungeons & Dragonsoutfitinto the ring, why not let Jackson apply for a DLC spot inMortal Kombat 11?
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