Riot Games has partnered with WWE and NXT Superstars that will see internet personalities Michael “imaqtpie” Santana and Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp coach teams made up of wrestlers in a web series.
The series will be hosted on Xavier Woods‘ YouTube Channel, UpUpDownDown, and is titled WWE vs NXT: League of Legends.
John Furnari, North American Marketing Director at Riot Games said the following in a statement: “We always look for ways to highlight the competitive thrill our players find in League of Legends. It’s really exciting to use these two great rivalries of WWE and NXT Superstars and Tyler1/Imaqtpie to bring that to life.”
The web series will follow the streamers and personalities as they train teams made up of figures from WWE and NXT Superstars in preparation for a five-versus-five show match. The wrestlers representing WWE include Cesaro, Ruby Riott, Seth Rollins, and Tyler Breeze, whereas NXT Superstars will be represented by Johnny Gargano, Dakota Kai, Shayna Baszler, and Adam Cole.
“This partnership with Riot Games gives WWE another global platform to reach our passionate fan base, many of whom are ardent gamers,” said John Brody, WWE Executive Vice President, Global Sales & Head of International. “The League of Legends web series on UpUpDownDown will be fun and engaging content for fans to consume our action packed family-friendly entertainment through the world of eSports.”
Additional, unspecified content surrounding League of Legends will be uploaded to UpUpDownDown throughout November. The final showdown episode between the teams will be recorded at the NA LCS Arena in Los Angeles on November 16th.
Esports Insider says: There are definitely some similarities to wrestling and show matches with video games, so seeing Riot Games join forces with WWE and NXT to play on League of Legends makes some sense. With that being said, it’s still a decent-sized deal as wrestling is undeniably a force in entertainment.