WWE is preparing for its next pay-per-view with King and Queen of the Ring around the corner. Ahead of the pay-per-view towards the end of May 2024, WWE has started a promotional campaign that is now in full swing. The wrestling company recently released a poster for the event, featuring some of its top superstars.
However, when the poster made its way online, fans could not help but notice the similarities between it and Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther poster. As a result, fans quickly took to social media to accuse WWE of directly ripping off the Marvel film’s poster. Despite fan accusations, this isn’t the first time WWE has taken direct inspiration from movies. Here is what fans had to say about the King and Queen of the Ring poster online.
Fans Accuse WWE of Copying Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther Poster
WWE recently released a poster for the King and Queen of the Ring pay-per-view, which is slated to take place later this month in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The poster features the current Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes, alongside the likes of Logan Paul, Sami Zayn, Becky Lynch, Jade Cargill, and Bianca Belair.
However, after fans saw the poster, they could not help but notice the similarities between it and the poster for Black Panther. The 2018 film starring the late Chadwick Boseman was a critical and commercial success. Fans noted how the positioning of WWE superstars and the layout of the poster were reminiscent of Black Panther.
Here is what fans had to say about the new King and Queen of the Ring poster on X.
WWE used A.i to make the cover lol
— Rich Executive 🌟 (@WWaveboy) May 6, 2024
Paying homage
— Yisroel Goldberg (@YisroelGoldber1) May 6, 2024
We need a new graphics designer man
— ︎ (@prayedsinners_) May 6, 2024
I thought it looked familiar lol
— Monkey D Batz (@ss_batz) May 7, 2024
Thank God someone else saw this and thought Black Panther not just me
— JonPipebomb (@Jon4590) May 6, 2024
As the tweets suggest, some fans were in utter disbelief over the similarities between Black Panther and King and Queen of the Ring‘s posters. Therefore, many fans accused WWE of directly copying from the poster of the Marvel movie. However, some fans took things on a lighter note, seeing the WWE poster as an homage to the iconic film.
WWE Has Also Drawn Inspiration From Movies in the Past
The King and Queen of the Ring isn’t the first time WWE has taken direct inspiration from movies, especially from Hollywood blockbusters. In the past, several wrestlers have debuted in-ring gear, which is based on Marvel characters, including the famous Thanos-themed gear Seth Rollins wore at the 2018 SummerSlam.
WWE loved ripping off movies for their attitude era PPVs names also.
Armageddon
Judgement day
Unforgiven
No way out
InsurrextionSomeone was a huge movie fan back then. 😂
— GRISWOLD (@123griswold321) May 6, 2024
Similarly, WWE has also borrowed storylines and character gimmicks from movies. During the Attitude Era, when the company was known as WWF, several of his high-profile pay-per-views were rip-offs of some of the biggest Hollywood blockbusters. For instance, the first Armageddon pay-per-view was held in 1999, a year after the release of the Bruce Willis-led film of the same name.
Meanwhile, other pay-per-views such as Judgement Day, Unforgiven, and No Way Out, all borrowed their names from hit films. The poster for the 2008 edition of Unforgiven, featured Bautista in a pose reminiscent of The Shawshank Redemption poster. Therefore, there are countless instances of WWE drawing inspiration from movies in the past and the King and Queen of the Ring is just continuing the trend.
King and Queen of the Ring pay-per-view is slated to take place on May 25, 2024, and will livestream on Peacock.
