I'll say it since no one else is brave enough to:
No one gets excited over random knee grows winning tournaments with gimmicks.
You see anybody get excited over the strive finals today? Of course not! And we all know why.
Did you see anybody getting excited over the Strive or granblue Grand finals last year? Of course not!
Did you see anybody get excited about Street Fighter 6 last year or this year? No, you did not!

When the game heavily favors ape aggression cycles and no real thought, you keep seeing these things happen. And then THOSE things start winning and get a bit too cocky.