We recently highlighted a wedding in which the bride and groom competed against one another in a Soul Calibur 2 set. Though they considered this to be their “real first dance,” they did actually do a traditional first dance during the ceremony as well.
It turns out that Arcade Impact|SwolitaBot and Arcade Impact|SonGohanX (the bride and groom in the clips) are avid members of the fighting game community and are part of the tournament organizer team behind The Beast in the East. We recently got into contact with them as they were eager to share more of their story.
SwolitaBot and SonGohanX first met in the fighting game community. SonGohanX had been a longtime tournament organizer in the area whereas SwolitaBot was beginning to take an interest in cosplay.
At the time, SwolitaBot was cosplaying as Sakura Kasugano (from Street Fighter) when she was asked by friends of SonGohanX to attend a local tournament. Upon meeting, the two apparently hit it off immediately, causing SwolitaBot to tag along SonGohanX and his friends at later events. Many of these friends from 14 years ago were actually in attendance at the wedding.
One of our friends got some footage of my Real First Dance with @JustinSGX
(I won the set btw) pic.twitter.com/qr9vIe9Vln
— Arcade Impact | SwolitaBot (@LolitaBot613) February 22, 2026
More footage from our “First Dance” ♥️ pic.twitter.com/Qhx9TdHHXB
— AI|SonGohanX (@JustinSGX) February 23, 2026
It’s noted by SwolitaBot that her access to video games was limited growing up, so she’s been enjoying having the freedom to explore new genres alongside not only her new husband, but friends as well.
Eventually, SwolitaBot and SonGohanX would become co-founders and tournament organizers of The Beast in the East tournament series alongside Christopher Beachum (Event Organizer) and Angel Vasquez (Assistant Event Organizer). SwolitaBot herself would realize her talent of event organization which resulted in her role as the FGC Director of The Beast in the East.
Both players seem to especially enjoy Soul Calibur 2 due to its beginner-friendly nature while remaining fairly rewarding due to its high skill ceiling. It’s remained one of their favorite fighting games to play together ever since the two started playing fighting games together.
Funnily enough, the first fighting game that SonGohanX introduced SwolitaBot to was Soul Calibur 2. She apparently liked it so much that she at one point told SonGohanX “I’m gonna make you play this game with me so much that you’ll get sick of it.”
Based on how their wedding went, this little challenge didn’t exactly go to plan. Since then, Soul Calibur 2 has become a staple part of The Beast in the East. Nobody was apparently surprised when the two revealed that Soul Calibur 2 would act as the couple’s “real first dance” during their wedding.
SwolitaBot started using Xianghua at first in Soul Calibur 2 until SonGohanX encouraged her to try Mitsurugi and “he just clicked” for her. As for SonGohanX, he’s been a lifelong Mitsurugi main since the days of Soul Edge at the arcade. This interest in Mitsurugi for the two of them is what resulted in the mirror match we saw at the ceremony.
Soul Calibur 2 has been included in the main lineup for The Beast in the East since the beginning. The latest entry in the series, Soul Calibur 6, also has a presence at the event since the tournament organizers acknowledge that the region still supports the game and there aren’t a lot of other areas in which players can compete at, so they want to support the players that still want Soul Calibur 6 competitions.
Prepare to BITE back at Beast in the East 9!
Will you have what it takes to emerge victorious?
Badges, hotel, and tournament registration is now live!
🎟️ https://t.co/MBuwPsS2cD
🏨 https://t.co/nHvikG40yy
🕹️ https://t.co/tbXRtWbOHJ#BITE9 pic.twitter.com/4z7Mf3Zwh4
— The Beast In The East (@TheBitEGaming) February 24, 2026
The Beast in the East 9 is scheduled to span from July 17 to July 19, 2026 and will take place in the Hampton Roads Convention Center at Hampton, Virginia.
The tournament organizers say that they’re doing their best to make The Beast in the East “an event that people want to come back to.” SwolitaBot told us how she is doing her best to pull inspiration from the early majors she went to when she first started traveling for tournaments to try and recreate some of the grassroots magic that she remembers.
We’ve also been told that SwolitaBot and SonGohanX wish to run tournaments for as long as they’re able to in some capacity. Of course, they’re also open to the idea of potentially “passing the torch to a younger generation of tournament organizers” someday.
Should that day ever come, SwolitaBot and SonGohanX would be able to enjoy fighting game tournaments purely as competitors, without the “organizational responsibilities” that come with acting as tournament organizers.