What Is The ‘W Speed’ Meme? The Trend Of Ironic IShowSpeed Edits, Screenshots And Reaction Images Explained

Memes^[1] about “W Speed^[2]” moments are all over TikTok^[3], Twitter / X^[4] and Instagram^[5] at the moment, which dramatize every movement that streamer IShowSpeed^[6] makes.

The trend started when internet users began screenshotting the IShowSpeed edits from one YouTube^[7] Shorts creator, notably after he made an edit in which Speed *picks up water*. The screenshot spread as a reaction image^[8] soon after, which has led to a slew of “W Speed” images online.

But where did the “W Speed^[9]” meme come from? What does “W Speed” mean and what is the “W Speed” song? Let’s explain.

Where Did The ‘W Speed’ Meme Come From?

There’s an editor on YouTube named deagzzzshorts^[10], who mostly clips IShowSpeed’s streams. Whoever they are, their edits generally adhere to two modes.

Either they make a “based^[11]” edit of Speed, using phonk^[12] music and the skull emoji^[13] (💀), showing the streamer breaking social norms like pranking his brother Jamal^[14]; or they go the “wholesome^[15]” route by highlighting moments when Speed shows “respect” like giving a fan a picture^[16] or an autograph.

The YouTuber ends many of the wholesome edits with “W Speed” written in green text overlay. “W” is a slang^[17] term from video game^[18] culture, meaning “win,” so “W Speed” means that Speed is gaining a “W” by helping people and being nice.

For instance, earlier this year, deagzzzshorts posted a Short^[19] about Speed promising to take a picture with his Waffle House waiter only if he *tastes the food* and *enjoys it*.

He ends up doing both of those things, as noted by the edit’s captions.

A few months later, on August 31st, 2025, X user @guccithealien^[20] posted a screenshot from the edit, in which Speed *tastes the food*. It was given no caption by @guccithealien, who seemingly thought that the screenshot spoke for itself comedically.

The tweet only received 80 likes, but it’s the first instance of a “W Speed” meme that we could find.

Where Did The Original ‘Speed *Picks Up Water*’ Meme Come From?

A few days after @guccithealien’s tweet, another X user named @ramonaballs retweeted it and shared their own screenshot^[21] from a deagzzzshorts video. They chose one in which Speed is holding a water bottle, which is circled and paired with the action caption *picks up water*.

The tweet received a whopping 114,000 likes in a week, proving that the over-dramatic announcement of Speed’s simple action was funny, at least to many on X that day.

The original video that the *Picks Up Water* screenshot is from was shared by deagzzzshorts^[22] on September 2nd, 2025. It used clips of IShowSpeed pranking^[23] fellow streamer Slipz by pouring water on him while he was sleeping.

The moment occurred during Speed’s currently ongoing “America Tour,” which is about him travelling to every American state, similar to his international streams, like when he visited China earlier this year^[24].

How Has The ‘W Speed’ Meme Evolved?

The streamer’s “W Speed” moments are becoming more and more ironic^[25]. It seems that the main motive behind this trend is a widespread reaction to deagzzzshorts’s edits, which read as sincere and resonate with a broad audience — many of the YouTuber’s Shorts receive multi-million view counts.

The memes making fun of the editor’s edits find it funny that each one of Speed’s actions is romanticized, akin to the slang term “glazing^[26].”

When every little thing can be a “W Speed” moment, the opportunities to subvert and satirize the distinction become endless.

That is why there have been so many screenshots of deagzzzshorts’s edits flying around X and so many edits, hijacking deagzzzshorts format for ironic subversion, have been surfacing en masse on TikTok and Instagram Reels^[27].

The success of the “W Speed” meme can also be attributed to two precursor trends that have cemented “edit screenshots” as a new form of reaction images.

First, there are the “Squid Game Edit Reaction Images^[35],” which similarly found humor in the edits made from the South Korean show Squid Game^[36]. “Oh My God Bruh^[37],” showing actress Cate Blanchett, is a popular example.

The other trend is about the NBA^[38] edits from TikToker GD Factory Clips^[39] becoming reaction GIFs^[40] and videos. The Michael Jordan ‘No, No, No’ Reaction^[41]” is the prime choice, but others are rapidly surfacing.

What Is The ‘W Speed’ Song Used In The Memes?

There’s one song that’s being used in most of the ironic “W Speed” edits on TikTok and it’s called “Blue” by Yung Kai.

The “soft boy” guitar ballad about falling in love and stargazing seems to perfectly capture the fake wholesome energy of the “W Speed” memes. It’s being used en masse on TikTok for that purpose.

On YouTube, the song’s music video^[42] has over 184 million views. It’s arguably the biggest song of the 23-year-old Canadian^[43] singer-songwriter’s budding career.

Yung Kai has even reacted to all of the “W Speed” memes using his song on the timeline. He posted a TikTok^[44] of himself lip dubbing^[45] the track with “W SPEED” written in text overlay this week.

What Are Some More ‘W Speed’ Memes?

For the full history of W Speed, be sure to check out Know Your Meme’s entry^[86] for even more information.