iBDW's Reverse Pop-off On Hungrybox

Overview

iBDW's Reverse Pop-off On Hungrybox refers to a viral moment in the Super Smash Brothers Melee community in which competitor Cody "iBDW" Schwab lost a set against Juan "Hungrobox" Debiedma but afterward jumped and screamed in Hungrybox's face — "popped off," in gaming lingo — as if he had won. The moment was a prank on Hungrybox, who is known for his enthusiastic pop-offs when he wins big sets or tournaments. The moment caused some controversy among the Melee community, as some viewed it as unsportsmanlike, but Hungrybox took the prank in good humor, and memes of the moment soon followed.

Background

On July 3rd, 2022, iBDW and Hungrybox squared off in Winners Semifinals of the Get On My Level tournament in Toronto, Canada. After a close set that went to the final stock of the final game 5, Hungrybox was able to defeat iBDW. Immediately after losing, iBDW began jumping and screaming in Hungrybox's face as though he had won, to Hungrybox's apparent confusion. After iBDW stumbled for a moment, the two exchanged words and a hug on stage.

Hungrybox has become well known for his intense pop-offs throughout his Smash career: for example, one time he popped off so intensely it caused him to faint while on stream (shown below).

Developments

The moment initially confused viewers who weren't sure if iBDW was insulting Hungrybox with what was dubbed his "reverse pop-off." In two tweets after the set,^[1] iBDW revealed he'd premeditated the reverse pop-off and assured those who were mad about it that Hungrybox found it "hilarious" (shown below). He also noted that he put his hands on Hungrybox because he almost fainted from popping off so hard.^[4]

Hungrybox also appeared to take the moment in good humor, initially tweeting a Yes Chad meme made out of the moment^[2] and later tweeted a friendly picture of himself with iBDW after the event.^[3]

On July 5th, 2022, Cr1TiKaL posted a video about the event in which he added some more context, saying that iBDW had been planning the prank for months and the awkward stumble in which he latched onto Hungrybox was because he popped off so hard he got lightheaded. The video gained over 1.4 million views in three days (shown below, left). On July 6th, Hungrybox also addressed the moment in his stream, joking about it and explaining that iBDW nearly fainted during his pop-off (shown below, right)..

The moment inspired a bevy of memes in the Smash community. For example, user @Smashermagazine posted a video in which a man remixed the moment like a hip-hop beat, gaining over 700 retweets and 6,100 likes in four days (shown below, top). Smasher @UltimateSonix posted an Usher's Watch This meme about the event, gaining over 60 retweets and 1,000 likes in 5 days (shown below, bottom).

Search Interest

External References