Highlights
- Leo, a Netflix exclusive animated film, features the surprise appearance of the classic WWE game, Smackdown vs. Raw, which made fans nostalgic.
- The game, developed by Yuke's, was praised for its arcade-like action and simulation of wrestling.
- In Leo, viewers can watch a streamer play the game as Ric Flair against Kurt Angle, replicating the experience of fans watching Twitch streamers play.
A newly released animated film on the Netflix streaming service, Leo, features the surprise appearance of a classic WWE licensed game, Smackdown vs. Raw. Leo is a Netflix exclusive movie that stars Adam Sandler, who plays the film's titular character, Leo the Lizard. It is a coming-of-age musical comedy that features the last year of an elementary school class, which is witnessed through the eyes of the class pet. While Leo is the central character of the film, the students are also a big part of the cast, who all have their own interests, like watching streamers play classic WWE video games.
The Smackdown vs. Raw wrestling games are a series of officially licensed WWE video games that started in 2004. It was developed by Yuke's, even when the games were eventually re-branded to WWE 2K. Yuke's would continue working on the series up until the release of WWE 2K20, with development duties being taken over by Visual Concepts. Nowadays, many fans have nostalgia for the Smackdown vs. Raw series, praised for the arcade-like action and simulation of the entertainment sport. The second game in the series, Smackdown vs. Raw 2006, was briefly shown in Leo.
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This was discovered by Reddit user gogrizz, who posted a photo of a still frame from the film on the r/WWEGames subreddit. According to the poster, this moment shows up very quickly in Leo, halfway through the film at the 53-minute mark. While they initially guessed it was the 2007 iteration, other savvy WWE fans were able to pinpoint that it was Smackdown vs. Raw 2006 specifically. User Rockin-Reedmeister noted that they could tell it was the 2006 game due to the outfit that wrestler Kurt Angle was wearing in the footage. In SvR 2007, he wore a black singlet, while in SvR 2006, he wore his classic stars-and-stripes-themed singlet.
The appearance of this classic WWE video game made some fans nostalgic, with some users reminiscing about how they would watch Twitch streamers play these games. This is replicated in the film itself, with the viewer watching a streamer play this game as Ric Flair against Kurt Angle. This is evident by the facecam of the streamer in the bottom-right corner, while the right column has a Twitch chat room, complete with people leaving their comments.
This isn't the only video game reference in Leo, as Bill Burr's character is named after the fan-favorite Kanto Starter Pokemon, Squirtle. The reception of Leo is mostly on the positive side, with many praising its voice work and animation, with criticisms leveled at its inconsistent tone. Regardless, it seems like Leo is a film that tickles the nostalgia of some fans with these classic references and premise.
