Wrestling can be strange, but sometimes the games can go even further.
Join us for instances of time travel, mental breakdowns, and Kwang.
It really, really is.
Two men once wrestled over the rights to having the letter T in their name.
Lots of strange stuff.
On paper, wrestling video games should be side-stepping anything overly strange.
Youre just getting the most simplistic version of what that reality portrays.
A handful of guys in tights are beating each other up in a ring to become champion.
You dont need any kind of ridiculous storyline.
Your guy wants to be the champion, is good enough and its worked for years.
Sometimes the guys involved hate each other.
In-game concepts that are just out there.
Bizarre uses of certain names.
Here are twenty-five instances that come to mind:
25.
A shame, but these things happen.
Clarks Wrath persona was meant to be in it, but they never finished him for whatever reason.
Through Game Shark, fans have been able to unlock an unfinished version of the character.
By the time Wrath got to appear in a video game, it was less playable stuff likeWCW Mayhem.
Like the other characters, he has his own specific ending based around him becoming the champion.
While most of the others have very straightforward epilogues, the giant hillbillys is anything but.
Listening to the cheers of the crowd, Bullnoi finally remembers who he is.
Two men in robes appear, claiming that theyve been looking all over for him.
Dude was like the proto-Bray Wyatt.
Thats nothing compared to NESsTag Team Wrestling.
You play as the Ricky Fighters, Ricky and Ultramachine.
Each wrestler not only has a unique move set, but a unique move set against each opponent.
All in all, it isnt the worst game out there.
Except you only haveonetag team to face.
is Ricky Fighters vs. Strong Bads.
You dont even get to pick the Strong Bads.
Or howWWF Super WrestleManiawas the most skeletal game I have ever seen outside of the Atari.
Thats barely even a demo, and they had the balls to release that as a finished product.
Ill never get over that.
The third game in the 16-bit LJN series wasWWF Raw, which was also ported to the Sega 32X.
This version had what I believe to be the very first hidden character in a wrestling game.
His name was Kwang.
Of all the possible wrestlers on the roster, they chose Kwang.
Its like ifWWE 2K15had a special pre-order deal where you got NXTs Mojo Rawley.
Doink the Clown could punt you out of the ring.
1-2-3 Kid could hop from turnbuckle to turnbuckle and then follow with a senton.
He woke up a mutilated mess in Tijuana with no memory of who he was.
More recently, they changed his name to Manik, portrayed by TJ Perkins.
WWE BRAWL: THE GAME THAT NEVER WAS
A trailer forWWE Brawlappeared in 2011, promising a 2012 release.
Big Show would have heavy battle armor.
John Cena could do some kind of chain-based sorcery attack.
It had a great look and really felt at peace with the goofy side of wrestlings larger-than-life personalities.
Sadly, news of the game petered out and it was quietly cancelled.
The game looked insane, but apparently we cant have nice things.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU FORGOT THE RING?!
EA introduced the possibility of wrestlers duking it out in the backstage area inWCW Mayhem.
No ropes or arena to worry about.
Just you, your opponent, and anything you could pick up and hit them with.
From then on, it was a regular fixture in most big wrestling games.
In a follow-up toMayhem, Electronic Arts decided it would be easier to just focus on the backstage fighting.
Hence, we gotWCW Backstage Assault, the final WCW game released and one of the most head-scratching.
The game had no in-ring action.
Despite having some really good recorded commentary by Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan, it was panned.
17. WHO DO WE WANT?
WWF Attitudehasnt aged well, but it did set the foundation for what wrestling games would become.
Yes, Al Snows pet mannequin head got to be a playable wrestler in this game.
Head came with hands and boots, but nothing else.
Just an invisible body that could still take damage.
THE GIANT MACHINE: PART 2
In 1990,WCW Wrestlingcame out for the NES.
Much likeSuper Mario Bros. 2andDoki Doki Panic, the company just changed all the puro heroes into WCW wrestlers.
For the most part, it worked fine.
It helped that the Road Warriors were in both games.
The problem was that the final boss ofSuper Star Pro Wrestlingwas Andre the Giant and he was huge.
WCW didnt really have anyone to put in his place.
Shrugging their shoulders, they created a new final boss: the WCW Master.
So that made it okay!
EDGE AND CHRISTIANS EXCELLENT ADVENTURE
Smackdown vs.
Raw 2011s Road toWrestleManiamode was straightforward enough.
Still, Yukes got a little creative with a certain side quest in the middle of the mode.
They wonder whatever happened to that time machine and Christian goes on a search for its pieces.
Once you put it together, youre able to go to any completed week of Road toWrestleMania.
The highlight of this is when Christian visits Vince McMahons office.
We stripped it down for parts.
Video game magic, my friend.
Thats all well and good, except Big Show wasnt inNo Mercy.
The match was essentially like an Inferno Match, only more extreme.
Extreme enough to haveactual murder.
Rather than the apron being on fire, the ring was surrounded by burning coals.
By weakening your opponent, youd be able to knock them over the ropes and to their fiery doom.
Not only would they scream in pain and terror, but they would simply vanish into the fire.
No stop, drop, and rolling into safety or anything.
I cant imagine Paul Heyman would have the same job security these days.
Steph was never truly in danger.
Seems a little over-thought, and its a moot point anyway.
Too bad there were no cameras there.
The fans mustve been so confused and annoyed.
TOO MUCH THUNDER
The gameWCW Thunderfeatured a massive roster of nearly 100 playable characters.
If you looked closely at the final roster, you mightve actually found some wrestlers in there, too!
Sounds kind of reasonable, right?
But then they tossed in a bunch of extra characters for the sake of weirdness.
Its kind of surprising how many of these gimmicks would be found inCHIKARA Pro Wrestlingseveral years later.
Still waiting on that horse-based wrestler.
Also, the game had plenty of special arenas, including one in space.
FALLING DOWN: WWE EDITION
WrestleMania XIXfor GameCube had a rather peculiar side-game called Revenge Mode.
Wow, Vince is a dick.
You are immediately recruited by Stephanie McMahon to undermine her father.
As Stephanies agent of destruction, your job is to preventWrestleManiafrom happening by destroying everything.
This all leads to a main event atWrestleMania, where you beat up Vince himself.
Its wank material, but theres enough effort in its bonkers story to defend it as an almost-charming inclusion.
Clemets, a corrupt cop.
One of the wrestlers is Miss Spencer, a teacher out to bring in her truant student-turned-punk-rock-wrestler Candy Cane.
She too has a heel persona, and its a little too excessive.
Her eye patch is the least insane part of all this.
THE UNDERTAKERS ZOMBIE POSSE
Smackdown vs.
Raw 2009includes a Road toWrestleManiastoryline where you play as the Undertaker.
Yes, Undertaker is able to transform Santino and Finlay into his undead soldiers.
CRUSH HOUR: A PARODY BEFORE ITS TIME
Crush Hourhas a very silly premise.
ItsTwisted Metalwith wrestlers as the drivers and Jim Ross doing commentary.
The world needs more car combat games, so Ill give them points for trying.
Always surviving automobile explosions.
Bret Hart becomes an accomplished actor.
Yokozuna kills United States morale so badly that the entire country collapses.
Shawn Michaels…well, Shawn Michaels is basically raped by a bunch of women.
The Beast from the East Bam Bam Bigelow commits mass murder.
If only Vince McMahon signed Glacier, none of this would have happened.
SIMPSONS DID IT?!
In 2001, wrestling was in its peak andThe Simpsonswas still incredibly popular, despite beginning its downturn.
Someone at Big Ape Productions figured, hell, why not just mix the two together?
Only it isnt really wrestling.
Everyone mostly just has a bunch of strikes, as well as their own special attacks.
Raw 2007decided to actually do something with it.
In the games story, Candice is aligned with Edge and challenges your wrestler to a singles match.
To make it fair, she uses her magic wand to transform you into a woman.
You still talk like a dude despite your new look.
That part does little to prevent Viscera from trying to put the moves on you.
She returns you to normal and Visceras heart is broken.
Guys like Million Dollar Davis, Mighty Boy Smith, Abdul the Danger, and so on.
The SNES gameSuper Fire Pro Wrestling Specialfeatures its own story mode and its a doozy.
He sits on a throne, feeling empty.
Three days later, we see the outside of the house where our hero lives.
It lingers for a moment until we hear a gunshot, then it goes black.
Thats…thats some ending.
POPEYE IN SPACE
In the early 90s, a plague was released upon the lesser home systems.
While the game was built differently on every system, theyre all terrible.
THE DRUID ROYAL RUMBLE
Smackdown vs.
Raw 2011featured a storyline where youre the one that ends the UndertakersWrestleManiastreak.
In the actual WWE, trying to do so has led to some crazy moments.
There was the time the Undertaker delivered a casket to Diesel that had Diesels corpse inside.
Or the time he possessed Josh Matthews during an interview with Randy Orton.
Like, he doesnt even fight back or anything.
You just have 90 seconds to kick his ass.
Then afterwards, Undertaker shows up and sends him back to Hell.
As you wander backstage, the only people you see are druids, just hanging around.
You go to the ring and you have a 15-man Royal Rumble match.
Nothing but druids chanting.
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