Yes it was clearly staged. He wasn't even blocking anything.

Given the lack of context on my part, I updated the OP the previous comments.

However people saying Daigo threw the match is laughable, I don't even want to humor these...

... Except this one. Dissapointing not because you think it was staged but because I tend to see your comments here and there are fairly reasonable given the context and debates you're in, and this is example is litterally painful to see:

A 10 year old girl hired by Gamestop to pretend to play Smash 4 whilst a pro Melee player KDJ, who had some time with the game, actually played for her behind the scenes using hoo hah Diddy and beat none the wiser players coming into Gamestop, keeping in mind that for all intents and purposes it was supposed to be branded as a hoax from the get go, given the fact they recorded it themselves and were planning to show it to the general public later, only to be beaten to the punch by someone recording it and sending it out earlier than Gamestop intended, sending it out of control and context.

This is what you're comparing to the exhibition match...

Outside of that I don't even humor these staged comments. But this in particular was a bad comparison and I want you to know this

It wasn't a direct comparison.  It was an example to show that companies often use these kinds of marketing tactics.

In rounds 2 and 3, Daigo drops combos at the end of the round.  In the case of the second round it would have won him.  The second  In the first round of the third set, Daigo can kill Lupe at the end with a combo, but uses a less damaging combo instead.  He fell for a ridiculous amount of wakeup Shoryukens.

Meanwhile, Lupe was using random air hurricane kicks, jump ins without any attempt to mix up or cross up, random heavy dragon punches, dragon punches after blocked mediums, and so on.  He wasn't playing badly, but he certainly wasn't anywhere near pro level.

I'm not saying someone was behind the stage playing for Lupe.  I'm saying that Mad Catz and Capcom had a strong vested interest in seeing Lupe Fiasco win (would you have made a topic about this if Daigo had won?) and Daigo made tons of uncharacteristic mistakes.  Could be that Daigo just choked, but it seems more likely that this was done for marketing purposes.

It was pretty clear to me when watching it that Daigo was throwing the match. Yeah, SFV has some new mechanics and stuff but that doesn't make Daigo a noob. It's like he wasn't even trying to block anything.

My problem with the comparison is that its not even the same league in that sense. One was intended to be in a single Gamestop as essentially a marketing prank, which didn't work out because someone put it on social media before they did. You're using this, which was bascially meant to be a promotional prank, as an implied representation of how companies can use shady gaming situations. Not saying does not happen but that is a terrible example to use for any comparison or implied comparison of the nature.

To answer your question, yes I would have made a thread had Daigo connected the last Shoryuken and won. I pretty much made the thread after watching it on twitch and then had to update with the vid because I couldn't find it yet. Did Daigo bring his A-game? ? No it was exhibition match with a non-pro player in an installment he is not accustomed to. Did Daigo come in this to lose? No. That's all I really have to say on that

^ this.

He let him win... without makeing it look to obvious.

Why? PR, like JWeinCom said.

To this day, still one of the most amazing video game feats I've ever seen!

Again, you're taking the comparison too literally.  But of course, there are also examples of major companies using similar tactics as well.  Wii Fit Girl was made by a marketing company hired by Nintendo, and of course All I Want For Christmas is a PSP is a legendary example of Sony's viral marketing.  There may not be a perfect comparison, but this sort of thing happens quite a bit, so it's always wise to be a bit skeptic.  Especially since we know this event was a marketing ploy (whether or not Lupe won it was still set up for marketing purposes) it doesn't seem like a stretch to think Daigo may have been encouraged to lose.

 Not to mention we had a little intermission for Lupe to change to a new Mad Katz fighting stick after a loss to turn things around for him, giving the announcers a lot of time to talk about fighting sticks. :)

Maybe you would have made a thread, but it definitely wouldn't have gotten the reaction it did had Daigo won, especially if Daigo won in the fashion he should have.  Daigo did not only not bring his A game, but he didn't bring his B, or C game.

At the end of round 1, Daigo hits a low medium kick.  Instead of a followup that should be automatic based on years of street fighter experience, he backs away into a blocking animation.  Next, well after Ken starts his heavy dragon punch, Daigo throws a fireball underneath him, allowing Lupe to catch him for the win. 

 Next round, Daigo hits a heavy kick and then V triggers.  I'm not 100% on the mechanics of SFV but this seems to act as a cancel.  Daigo's follow up?  He takes a step forwards and waits for Lupe not only to have enough time to recover, but also to grab.  Later on, we see Daigo using the same Heavy K to V Trigget start up, and have time to use Ryu's solar plexis punch to a shoryuken.  

If Daigo had done this the first time around, he would have taken the round.  Even without the V trigger to cancel lag, we see that heavy kick has tons of lag.  The idea that Lupe recovered and had time to grab before Daigo input any attack is bizarre.  These are just the two most obvious brain farts of the match for Daigo.

Of course I can't prove anything, but the idea that Daigo was not trying to win (for which we have motive) seems more consistent with the evidence than, "Daigo just had a really really off match".

With all that said, Daigo DOES on occasion play weird sometimes.  I remember a match in Evo or some other big tournament, where Daigo just threw out random shoryukens several times.  So, it's not impossible he just sucked, but I haven't seen him play so mechanically bad, like ever.  Even if it's a new game... how do you not follow up a low medium?  That's like... the entirety of Ryu's footsie game.  He could even follow that up in Smash Bros for crying out loud.

It was clear once he started using the wrong dragon punch to counter that he was handing the match to Lupe. I also listen to Lupe's music so I am not biased one way or the other.