He’s one of the most viral Smash content creators in 2021 and a spectacular Scooby Doo impersonator: Panda’s own WaDi has had an explosive rise in his YouTube channel in just a little under 3 months since its creation. Let’s take a deep dive into his success as a YouTuber since joining Panda and share some insights from WaDi himself!
WaDi created his YouTube channel on February 21st, 2021. His first video as one of our Pandas premiered on April 2nd, with an eye-catching title stating “How I Became the BEST SMASH ULTIMATE PLAYER,” which featured WaDi narrating how he had achieved the title of the #1 Online Smash Ultimate player in his comedic and informative style.
The video received a tremendous amount of views for a channel at its size at the time, foretelling WaDi’s continuous growth in numbers since posting his first video with Panda.
Since then, WaDi has posted at least 21 videos to his YouTube channel, amassing nearly 30,000 subscribers and 768,000 views across all his videos! Many of his videos feature WaDi creating Smash focused content: Including challenges, stream highlights, storytimes, and collaborations with other top Smash players.
A big milestone for WaDi -- and a clear recognition of his upwards trajectory -- was when he was recently featured as YouTube Gaming’s Gaming Creator of the Week! His channel was shared on YouTube Gaming’s official twitter page on May 5th.
This week's #GamingCreatorOnTheRise is @WaDiRob. Whether you main Mewtwo or Rob, his hilarious videos will give you the secrets for mastering their movesets in Smash Bros. Ultimate.
— YouTube Gaming (@YouTubeGaming) May 5, 2021
➡️ https://t.co/DuC0FpnXT8 pic.twitter.com/NKYMltNvop
WaDi attributes many of his skills he applies to his content creation to his life experiences outside of gaming. He said, “My experience in the military has made me a more confident person, making me able to keep calm and collected during important sets. It even helped me when I was starting out streaming, as I was quickly able to just be myself on camera.”
WaDi also reflected on his achievements in Smash before embarking on his journey as a content creator! Stating his proudest moment in Smash was “becoming #12 in the world in Smash 4 and all the wins/placings” he got in that time.
When asked on how he was able to succeed in growing his YouTube channel, WaDi had this to say:
“I wouldn’t be where I am on YouTube without all the help I’ve been receiving with Panda. I think it’s very important to have a solid editor to make your content even more entertaining, along with my managers(one of which does my awesome thumbnails) to help keep me scheduled and come up with ideas for content”
We are absolutely thrilled to see WaDi’s growing success on YouTube and can’t wait to see where he goes from here!
-Kathryn “Ruffian” MacPherson