Nintendo did not directly address the accusations towards Bunney, while Panda denied all of them. In the days following SWT's statement, both Panda and Nintendo would deny all allegations of wrongdoing, claiming that the Smash World Tour's cancellation was SWT's own decision. Similarly, some players decided to withdraw from the Last Chance Qualifiers for the Panda Cup. A number of top players consequently decided to boycott the Panda Cup Finale, the event acting as the culmination of the Panda Cup circuit. The allegations resulted in strong backlash against Panda from players and fans.
These accusations were corroborated by officials from both BTS and Golden Guardians.
SWT also accused Bunney of attempting to seize broadcasting rights from Beyond The Summit for several tournaments partnered with Panda, and operating in an unscrupulous manner. In their official statement, they accused Nintendo of forcing them to do so, while also accusing Panda's CEO and co-founder Alan "SamuraiPanda" Bunney of attempting to sabotage the SWT throughout 2022 by trying to discourage major tournament organizers from joining the SWT, claiming that the circuit would be shut down. On November 29, 2022, the Smash World Tour organization announced the abrupt cancellation of both the 2022 Smash World Championships and a potential 2023 Smash World Tour. In 2022, they worked with Nintendo to organize the Panda Cup circuit. Panda also makes the Panda Global Rankings, a list that ranks the Top 50 Wii U players in the world, and the PGRU, which lists the top 50 Ultimate player in the world. They later expanded into Melee by picking up Sheik player Plup. Panda entered Smash as a team by picking up, ESAM, MVD, and SS on June 24, 2015.
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