A viral clip from a professional wrestling event in Japan is impressing both fans and non-fans alike. In the clip, Ninja Mack, a masked American wrestler, is seen doing 11 backflips, starting from inside the ring going over the top rope, to the floor, and up the entrance ramp to kick this fleeing opponent.
The response to this impressive feat of athleticism caught cheers and attention not just from pro wrestling fans, but the general public. Folks on Reddit, X, and other social media have expressed outright awe over the multiple successive backflips Ninja Mack performed as an equally remarkable and hilarious spectacle. The video of Mack’s “Super Ninja Special” as he calls it has reportedly garnered over 70 million views as of this writing.
@espn How many backflips did you count? 🤔 (via njpwworld/X) #wrestling #backflip #creative
While fans have witnessed other acrobatic feats from Ninja Mack before, non-fans on Reddit couldn’t help but be impressed at Mack’s athleticism:
“Not at all a wrestling fan but that was probably the greatest move I've seen. Can anyone name a better move than that?”
“For a guy that size to be able to do that may just be as impressive as any Olympic gymnastics routine I've seen.”
“Choreographed or not, you have to be in amazing shape to do that.”
“That is absolutely incredible athleticism, in a freaking mask too! That was amazing.”
“Bro turned into a Power Ranger.”
Ninja Mack, whose real name Brenden McAleavey, has the appearance of a bulky masked shinobi, but is actually a gymnast based out of Long Island, New York. Prior to getting into the world of professional wrestling, McAleavey got his start in theatrical athleticism going on tour as a performer with Cirque du Soleil. He has performed in several wrestling promotions throughout the world, such as GameChanger Wrestling in the United States, Lucha Libre Worldwide AAA in Mexico, and Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan. The viral clip is from a recent bout during the 2025 New Japan Pro Wrestling Best of the Super Juniors Tournament, an annual round robin tournament featuring some of the best junior heavyweight wrestlers throughout the world.
Ninja Mack’s viral clip is among others that got respect from non-fans and attention from mainstream audiences, including those who end up defending professional wrestling even if it’s not their thing. The Redditors and other commenters noted and recognized that while it’s not a competitive sport, professional wrestling is story-driven entertainment. They also rebuffed the “wrestling’s fake” critique and defended it, recognizing that good professional wrestling requires a certain level of bodily risk and athleticism to pull off.
“Wrestling is not ‘real fighting’ but it's definitely real athleticism in pursuit of a live performance. Big respect for all of them, they work hard.”
“This is why I don't talk shit about it, those guys can do some seriously impressive and difficult stuff, especially for some of their sizes.”
“Imagine criticizing action movies as fake because they have stunts.”
“Let's not compare action movies to wrestling. Wrestlers don't have elaborate safety rigs, teams of coordinators, and they only have one live take. Wrestling is far harder than what most stunt actors have to do.”
“‘Scripted, not fake’ is my go to description of pro wrestling.”
While they might not buy a ticket to the next live event, non-fans and the mainstream are accepting and acknowledging professional wrestling in day-to-day culture, with even the pro wrestling term “kayfabe” even being added to Merriam-Webster Dictionary in 2023. It’s good to see that over time non-fans and fans of pro wrestling can coexist without flipping out on one another.
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TikTok shocked by 15-year-old unhinged viral clip of kids performing Scarface in school play
Think about the most outrageous film that could be adapted to the stage. Now, imagine the cast of that theatrical production is entirely children, ranging in age from 7 to 10. Now, film it and let the world react.
That’s what director Marc Klasfeld had in mind when he held auditions with professional child actors for a shocking video, meant to look like an elementary school production of the cult film-favorite Scarface. In a now 15-year-old interview with Entertainment Weekly, when asked why he thought this was a good idea, Klasfeld admits, "I thought this would be a nice fit into the kind of YouTube arena of viral videos. And I was right."
The result? Kids yelling “mother-fudger,” piles of popcorn meant to look like cocaine, and outrageous, lengthy scenes of children pointing Super Soakers at one another.
Marc, mostly known as an accomplished commercial and music video director, later adds, "I enjoy making provocative art. I like stirring debate and causing conversation. You're going to get two sides of the coin no matter what you do. People are going to love and hate everything. People loved and hated Avatar. People loved and hated the Jennifer Aniston movie. And people love and hate this. I guess that's a part of having something that's successful out there. There’s got to be certain people that hate it for people to love it."
Once they got their perfect cast, it didn’t take long to put together. He shares, "It was a one-take, so it was pretty much just choosing the right take. About a month altogether."
People sure did react, as it acquired millions of views and comments from all over the Internet. Some were horrified, some were outraged, and many thought it was the funniest thing they'd ever seen. But Marc emphasizes that the kids in the video were not scandalized. "They’ve heard the f-word. They’ve seen more violence in their everyday lives for as long as they can remember. So for this, they’ve seen worse things than this all the time. So this wasn’t that big of a deal for them."
Enter TikTok. The clip (which just popped up again recently on Facebook) was reposted a few years back, and, once again, the comments continue to run the gamut from indignation to full praise. One TikTok user exclaimed, "Bro, I can’t even remember my grocery list, how the fudge did these kids memorize this whole scene lol?"
Others expressed confusion: "I'm not sure whether to be angry or amazed." Some chose anger: "Just imagine, you know these kids watched the movie to get the characters right. And the parents cheering? Yeah, yeah."
Many commenters believed it was a real school play and commended the production for "keepin' it real": "That school keeps it real. Nowadays, kids know so much about guns and drugs, might as well teach them that bad choices don’t end well."
Yet another enjoyed it but was concerned that the parents of the children would not. "Love the tray full of popcorn. But my God, I would hate to see the hell these parents probably raised."
For the most part, the reviews were glowing. Many complimented the acting, and one claimed they definitely would have "preferred this play over their own school production of Macbeth."
And perhaps the biggest compliment? "Al Pacino will be proud."