On the final episode of Mnet's 'Road To Kingdom : Ace Of Ace' aired on November 7 KST, boy group CRAVITY took the win, earning the title of the the next generation ace.
A total of 5 teams competed in the final round including The Crew One (ATBO + Just B), ONEUS, YOUNITE, 8TURN, and CRAVITY. Each team showcased a spectacular stage, but ultimately, CRAVITY was declared the winner. 2nd place went to ONEUS, 3rd place went to 8TURN, 4th place went to YOUNITE, and 5th place went to The Crew One.
However, following the announcement of the winners, some K-netizens questioned the "reliability" of the program's results.
These netizens pointed to Mnet and Starship Entertainment's history of "behind the scenes schemes", including the rigging of viewers' votes and the contestants' rankings on Mnet's 'Produce X 101', where CRAVITY members Song Hyeong Jun and Kang Min Hee made it into the winning group X1.
During the criminal investigation into the vote rigging incident, which concluded with the court finding main PD Ahn Joon Young and main CP Kim Yong Bum guilty of rigging all four seasons of the 'Produce' series, rumors also circulated that certain entertainment agencies had bribed the PDs in order to earn favors for their trainees. These rumors claimed that Starship Entertainment had bribed the PDs of 'Produce X 101' to make sure that the trainees preferred by the company made it into the winning team. There were also rumors that the trainees from Starship at the time were taught the choreography for the title song "X1-MA" in advance before official filming for the competition began.
Now, following the news of CRAVITY's win on 'Road To Kingdom : Ace of Ace', skeptical netizens left comments like,
"If they're from Starship, of course they'll win, even without trying."
"So they really did rig it from the beginning, with that whole story of giving them last place at first to alarm the fans and create buzz."
"Do they actually think that people will just accept these results when we know what they did during 'Produce X 101'..?"
"I can't decide who's the dumber one here, Mnet or Starship. It's a known fact that Starship lobbied for their trainees during 'Produce X 101', and then they had the nerve to actually put on this drama? Do they take the viewers for fools?"
"I was expecting this from the beginning so I'm not surprised."
"If they think that their past history on 'Produce X 101' is forgotten, they're seriously mistaken. They even taught the Starship trainees the choreography in advance."
"They put on this big show for nothing, since no one cares and this isn't gonna help the group gain more fans, not one bit."
"It's obvious that Mnet and Starship had a deal from the beginning."
"Okay but the real villain here is Mnet, not Starship or CRAVITY. Remember how MONSTA X couldn't go on 'M! Countdown' for a year after they turned down 'Kingdom', and Starship artists started appearing on 'M! Countdown' again only after Cosmic Girls went on 'Queendom 2'. If CRAVITY turned the offer down this time, Mnet would have banned them again from 'M! Countdown'. Basically, CRAVITY went on this show even if it had nothing to offer them. Seriously, the winning prize is 'special lineup at KCON' lol."
Meanwhile, the winner of 'Road To Kingdom : Ace Of Ace' will receive a prize of 100,000,000 KRW (~ $72,000 USD) as well as the opportunity to appear as a 'special lineup artist' for 'KCON 2025'.
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