Posted by Emily Auvinen
on December 09, 2025
Yo-yos have been around for thousands of years, but modern competitive yo-yoing is on another level. Every year, players push what’s possible with faster combinations, harder tricks, and full freestyle routines that feel more like performances than individual tricks.
Occasionally, a routine breaks beyond the yo-yo community entirely, going viral online and inspiring new players to start yo-yoing or take their skills further. This list highlights the most viral full yo-yo routines of all time, the performances that reached massive audiences and helped shape modern yo-yoing.
How These Viral Yo-Yo Routines Were Chosen
This list only includes full freestyle routines uploaded to YouTube. Short clips, challenges, and partial routines on social media have played a huge role in spreading yo-yoing, but they deserve their own spotlight. A follow up post covering the most viral yo-yo moments on social media is coming next.
For now, let’s start with the routines that helped bring yo-yoing to a global audience.
The Most Viral Yo-Yo Routines of All Time
Hajime Miura
Hajime Miura is a legendary 4A yo-yo player from Japan, widely recognized for his clean, high-speed offstring style and his ability to turn technical difficulty into a memorable performance.
His most-watched routine comes from the 2017 Asia Pacific Yo-Yo Championships (4A Division Finals) and has accumulated nearly 5 million views on YouTube. You can watch the full routine here.
While this performance introduced Hajime to a massive global audience, it wasn’t the only moment that pushed his yo-yoing beyond the competition world. Several of his routines have reached large audiences online, and in 2025 a clip of his championship performance in Prague gained renewed attention on social media after being reposted on X with a short comment describing his skills as “next-level.”
Shinji Saito
Shinji Saito is a legendary 2A yo-yo player, best known for his smooth looping style and expressive control. His performances helped shape modern looping yo-yoing and inspired countless players to explore 2A.
His most-watched routine comes from the 2011 World Yo-Yo Contest (2A Division Finals), where he took 1st place. The full routine has earned over 2 million views on YouTube, making it one of the most-viewed looping performances of all time. You can watch the full routine here.
Kazuya Murata
Kazuya Murata is a 1A yo-yo player from Japan who gained international attention at a very young age for his speed, control, and composure on stage.
His most-watched routine comes from the 2013 Asia Pacific Yo-Yo Championships (1A Division Finals) and has reached nearly 2 million views on YouTube. You can watch the full routine here.
Kazuya Murata was still a young child at the time of this performance, which made the routine even more memorable. He went on to continue competing at a high level as he grew older.
Jensen Kimmitt
Jensen Kimmitt is a well-known 1A yo-yo player who helped shape modern competitive yo-yoing during the late 2000s and early 2010s, and is widely remembered for his influential stage performances.
His most-watched routine comes from the 2010 World Yo-Yo Contest (1A Division Finals) and has reached nearly 2 million views on YouTube. You can watch the full routine here.
Janos Karancz
Janos Karancz is a world champion 1A yo-yo player who rose to prominence during the early 2010s competitive era.
His most-watched routine comes from the 2013 World Yo-Yo Contest (1A Division Finals), where he placed 1st and won the World Championship. The routine has accumulated over 1 million views on YouTube. You can watch the full routine here.
Jake Elliott
Jake Elliott is a world champion 5A yo-yo player who helped redefine what was possible in counterweight competition during the mid-2010s.
His most-watched routine comes from the 2015 World Yo-Yo Contest (5A Division Finals), where he placed 1st and won the World Championship. The routine has accumulated over 1 million views on YouTube. You can watch the full routine here.
Gentry Stein
Gentry Stein is a world champion 1A yo-yo player widely recognized for blending speed and technical difficulty with musicality, choreography, and strong stage presence. His freestyles helped push competitive yo-yoing toward a more performance-driven style, where routines are designed not just to score well, but to connect with audiences.
His most-watched routine comes from the 2019 U.S. National Yo-Yo Contest (1A Division Finals), where he placed 1st. The routine has accumulated around 800,000 views on YouTube.
Beyond this performance, several of his full routines from national and world-level contests have reached large audiences online, including his 2014 World Yo-Yo Contest 1A Division Finals performance, which has accumulated around 440,000 views.
That performance marked the first time Gentry Stein won the World Yo-Yo Contest, a title he would go on to win again in 2019. The 2014 routine also reached a broader audience after being featured by outlets such as Barstool Sports, MTV, and other international media platforms.
Evan Nagao
Evan Nagao is a world champion 1A yo-yo player best known for originality, trick invention, and unconventional freestyle structure. He began yo-yoing at a very young age and appeared on The Tonight Show at just four years old, long before entering top-level competition.
He went on to win multiple World Yo-Yo Contest and U.S. National Yo-Yo Contest titles, becoming one of the defining competitors of the late 2000s through the 2010s.
His most-watched routine comes from the 2018 U.S. National Yo-Yo Contest (1A Division Finals), where he placed 1st. The routine has accumulated over 600,000 views on YouTube. You can watch the full routine here.
Another full routine that reached a large audience online came from the 2022 U.S. National Yo-Yo Contest (1A Division Finals), where he earned 1st place and accumulated around 375,000 views on YouTube. Check out that routine here.
Hiroyuki Suzuki
Hiroyuki Suzuki is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in competitive yo-yo history, with multiple world titles and a lasting impact on how modern 1A freestyle is performed.
His most-watched routine comes from the 2012 World Yo-Yo Contest (1A Division Finals), where he placed 1st and won the World Championship. The routine has accumulated over 600,000 views on YouTube. You can watch the full routine here.
Ben Conde
Ben Conde is a well-known 1A yo-yo player recognized for his smooth, controlled style during the early modern era of competitive yo-yoing.
His most-watched routine comes from the 2011 World Yo-Yo Contest (1A Division Finals) and has reached over 600,000 views on YouTube. You can watch the full routine here.
Marcus Koh
Marcus Koh emerged during the early 2010s as one of the standout competitors in 1A, earning a reputation for polished and reliable competitive performances.
His most-watched routine comes from the 2011 World Yo-Yo Contest (1A Division Finals), where he placed 1st and won the World Championship. The routine has reached approximately 528,000 views on YouTube. You can watch the full routine here.
Mir Kim
Mir Kim represents the modern era of competitive 1A yo-yoing, known for clean execution, strong composure on stage, and consistency at the highest level.
His most-watched routine comes from the 2023 World Yo-Yo Contest (1A Division Finals) in Osaka, where he won his first World Championship title. The routine has accumulated around 549,000 views on YouTube.
Many players felt this performance helped level up and shape the modern 1A era. In the yo-yo community, he is widely considered one of the greatest yo-yo players of all time, and his 2023 finals performance is often cited as one of the best 1A finals routines ever. You can watch the full routine here.
Shu Takada
Shu Takada is widely regarded as one of the greatest yo-yo performers of all time, known for elite 2A looping control combined with acrobatic movement, aerial tricks, and highly choreographed performances. Beyond competition, he has appeared on television shows and performed on major stages around the world, helping bring yo-yoing to a global audience.
His most-watched routine comes from the 2017 World Yo-Yo Contest (2A Division Finals), where he placed 1st and won the World Championship. The routine has accumulated approximately 314,000 views on YouTube. You can watch the full routine here.
The Future of Yo-Yoing
These routines didn’t just go viral because they were impressive — they helped change how people see yo-yoing. As competition levels continue to rise and performances spread faster than ever online, the next generation of viral routines is already taking shape.
Not every iconic moment comes from a full competition routine. Many of the most shared yo-yo moments today are single tricks, challenges, or short clips that reached millions on social media. Soon, we’ll be taking a closer look at some of the most viral yo-yo moments on social media so stay tuned.
From Beginner to World Champion
Inspired by the routines on this list? Yo-Yo Champion is built on decades of competitive experience. Founder and world champion Gentry Stein has been yo-yoing for over 20 years and has won World Yo-Yo Contest titles with his signature models used on the world stage.
With his knowledge of training, competing and performing at the highest level, he has been able to create some of the best yoyos in the world. Each YoYoChampion model is created to support real progression, from learning your first tricks to refining world-class freestyle routines.
Just getting started?
→ Explore beginner yo-yos here.
Training at a competitive level?
→ Explore professional yo-yos here.
Whether you’re picking up a yo-yo for the first time or pushing toward the world stage, Yo-Yo Champion is designed with the experience it takes to get there.
