How "pwned" went from hacker slang to internet's favorite taunt

March 2020, but even that seems quite late for a term that must have peaked in 2005.

Reminds me of this debate on "pwn" history from the day prior: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27322701

... nobody says "pwned" anymore, it's back to being hacker slang

This is made-up nonsense, and not even current made-up nonsense.