Punk’s emotional EVO victory was seven years in the making but it’s just the start

Victor ‘Punk’ Woodley crashed onto the Street Fighter scene in the early days of SFV, quickly rising in the ranks to become one of the game’s most formidable players. Although he’d won a total of eight Premier events in the Capcom Pro Tour, EVO continued to elude him… until now.

Punk delivered one of the best performances of EVO 2024 against Big Bird, but he’s far from finished dominating the competition in Street Fighter 6. There was nary a dry eye in the room when he clutched out a heart-stopping victory against his friend and fellow competitor on the main stage Sunday night.

This marked a major moment in his career seven years after he lost on that very same stage against Tokido in the 2017 Grand Finals. Now, it’s Punk who has finally cemented himself as an EVO champion. The realization brought him to tears as thousands of fans chanted from the stands: “You deserve it.”

We got the chance to speak with Punk in a press conference after his explosive win over Big Bird, where he opened up about his future plans for the CPT and how he managed to stay calm despite his opponent’s overwhelming pressure and facing technical difficulties mid-match.

In fact, Punk’s headphones stopped working at the tail end of game three after Big Bird’s bracket reset — something that would have thrown most players off of their mental game. We asked Punk about how he managed to bounce back from this moment… but for him, it wasn’t a big deal at all.

“It was at the end of the round. I had almost pretty much won, but it cut out during my level three, and I just knew I had to finish the match,” he told us. “I don’t really need sound when I play, but I like to have it. So even when the sound gets cut off, it’s okay for me to just keep playing.”

“Sometimes bad things happen,” he added in another comment. “You see, today, Nemo had a controller issue. So, sometimes things just happen that are out of your control, and it could definitely affect you mentally, but I don’t want things like that to affect me anymore.”

That’s a big part of Punk’s current game plan when it comes to competitive fighting games. When asked about how he managed to keep a level head during such an intense match, the EVO champ admitted that he’s allowed himself to get comfortable with losing, something he started doing at the beginning of this current competitive season.

“The only thing I feel like I changed is being okay with losing,” he said to the press. “I feel like that’s been helping me do better these past few months.”

EVO marked the first Premier event on the 2024 CPT. Having taken home the championship, Punk is now qualified for a spot at Capcom Cup later this year — but despite already having a seat at the table, he wants more.

“Capcom Cup and trying to win EWC,” he answered when asked what’s next for his game plan. “Those are our two big, important tournaments, and I want to win a lot of money.”

This victory is just one of many that Punk has enjoyed throughout his career, but it’s no doubt the biggest on his resume. Now, other young players are making a splash in the competition like 17-year-old EndingWalker, hearkening back to Punk’s own origins as a talented youngster breaking out onto the scene. This prompted the press to ask him about his thoughts on his legacy as an EVO champion… but he’s not certain how he feels about it just yet.

“I’m not really sure, to be honest,” he admitted. “I only really care about myself. I just want to win for myself mostly. I don’t really know what I want my legacy to be. I just want people to know that I was an amazing player. That’s pretty much it.”

If they didn’t before, the world most certainly knows about it now. Punk couldn’t even leave the venue without being greeted by throngs of fans cheering him on as he exited the Las Vegas Convention Center. His victory was an emotionally charged moment that followed seven years of hard work, giving him feelings that he wasn’t sure how to articulate to curious reporters.

“It’s really hard to put it in words,” he laughed. “You know, I’m just very happy and relieved because it started so bad in the last round. I was getting very scared, and then I got a little lucky, and everything just turned around for me. I was just very relieved and just excited, happy. I don’t know. It’s so many emotions. It’s hard to describe it.”

Punk made sure to give Big Bird his flowers, saying that the two are good friends and often train together. Watching them duke it out in Grand Finals felt like watching Street Fighter V all over again in the best way.

Although they’re still in their mid-twenties, it’s clear that this duo are the new pillars of Street Fighter’s competitive scene. Their nail-biting fight to the finish will forever live on in the hallowed annals of fighting game history — a match that crowned a well-deserved winner who’s still hungry for more.