10 Best Wrestling Video Games Of All Time

We’re always told by wrestling companies ‘DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME’ which is wise, but also a bit unfair. Mick Foley made his name by jumping off of his house so why can’t we all?

Luckily for us, video games exist. A portal to different worlds, video games allow us to do anything we want, whether it be stamping on turtles as an Italian plumber, or lacing up a pair of boots and getting it on in the squared circle without fear of a broken jaw.

Everyone has their favourites, whether it’s the classic LJN games of the Hulkamania and New Generation eras, the N64 classics, the SmackDown series, 2K series, even the half-arsed ECW games - there’s something for everyone.

Sometimes it gets a bit, well, weird. For every SmackDown vs. Raw you have a WWE Crush Hour. For every WWF Attitude, you have a WCW Backstage Assault, and let’s not even mention WWF Royal Rumble for the Dreamcast.

Some wrestling games, though, just get it all right. A perfect blend of replayability, varied gameplay, and great graphics, these are the games that enthralled audiences when they were first released.

So here we have it, 10 of the best wrestling video games ever made.

10. TNA IMPACT!

Starting out with a divisive entry.

TNA IMPACT! came out in 2008 when TNA was at its creative peak. It boasted a roster featuring Kurt Angle, AJ Styles, and Shark Boy amongst others, and featured arcade-like gameplay which had become rare thanks to the SmackDown vs. Raw series becoming a more in-depth simulation rather than a classic gaming experience.

Made by former Mortal Kombat head honchos Midway, TNA IMPACT! firmly had its roots in the beat-em-up genre, for better and for worse. Yeah you could plod around as Scott Steiner and throw massive ham-fisted clotheslines at everyone, but IMPACT! really came alive when playing as the X Division, especially when playing the Ultimate X game type.

IMPACT! was clunky at times, and the amount of moves wasn’t exactly stellar, but the gameplay was fun and easy and was a throwback to what wrestling games were and how they should be. It was meant as a ‘first in the series’ and was primed to expand and grow, but Midway went out of business a year after IMPACT! was released, and the chances of a sequel, unfortunately, went up in smoke.

9. WWE 2K14

Following the bankruptcy of THQ, 2K Games picked up the license for WWE video games and regular developers Yuke’s produced a banger for 2K’s first outing and the final title of the PS3/Xbox 360 generation. The gameplay remained good enough following the very good WWE 13 and featured catapult finishers off the ropes for the first time.

The game modes were what kept players coming back, though, particularly the 30 Years of WrestleMania mode that was so successful 2K Games have done it again in WWE 2K24 with 40 Years of WrestleMania. Players had 47 matches from every WrestleMania to that point to choose from, covering Hulkamania, the New Generation, the Attitude Era, Ruthless Aggression, and the ‘Universe’ era.

With such a wealth of matches, a wealth of unexpected wrestlers followed including Scott Steiner, and even Bruno Sammartino. WWE 2K14 also led to the renewed relationship between WWE and the Ultimate Warrior that saw the former WWE Champion be added to the game as a pre-order bonus.

8. WWE Day Of Reckoning 2

The GameCube, that cute purple confused little console with the tiny discs and the weird controllers. The console that had its head repeatedly flushed down the toilet by the cool kids' PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It did have Mario Kart Double Dash, though, and quietly had two of the greatest WWE games of all time in Day of Reckoning I and II.

It’s hard to quite put your finger on what it is that makes the Day of Reckoning games so good; they just work, for want of a better phrase. In terms of features, Day of Reckoning 2 utilised the stamina system and enabled players to interrupt moves, and the introduction of momentum transfer made it a competitive affair. You could also have up to nine finishers if you wanted, just in case you wanted to try and kill your opponent.

Roster-wise it came in the thick of the Ruthless Aggression era, so expect the best and worst of that era. Sure, you can have Jericho vs Eddie, but you can also have epic Hell in a Cell encounters between Heidenreich and Snitsky if you’re that way inclined.

Day of Reckoning 2 felt like it bridged the gap between the THQ N64 games and the next-gen. SmackDown games, despite coming after both. Like I said, it’s a hard one to put your finger on. Just get hold of a copy and you’ll understand.

7. WWF WrestleFest

If you’ve seen Stranger Things then you may be aware of a time called the 1980s, when the arcade reigned supreme. By the time the ‘90s rolled around, the arcade was still the daddy, with some of the medium’s best games released just before the home console market all but wiped arcades out.

In 1991, punters could team up with their mates and tackle WWF WrestleFest. It was loud, it was colourful, it was cartoony - it was WWF in a nutshell. A far cry away from the complex in-depth grappling systems found in modern wrestling titles, WrestleFest was a very punch-kick affair, but in 1991 no one know any better and didn’t care.

You could be Hogan, Warrior, Jake the Snake, you could team up with a mate as Demolition and try to take on the Legion of Doom, you could even battle it out in the classic blue cage.

Unfortunately with the decline of arcades and the eye-watering price of the original cabinets on the secondary market, your best bet to play WrestleFest is to get an emulator, or download the THQ remake for IOS, but it isn’t quite the same.

If you do manage to track down an original arcade cabinet, make sure you watch the message from the FBI warning about the dangers of drugs that opens the game.

6. WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It

Do you remember the first time you played SmackDown for the PS1? It was a breakthrough for the console, a WWF game that wasn’t gimmicky and daft like In Your House, and a vast improvement on the Acclaim titles War Zone and Attitude.

By the time SmackDown! Just Bring It rolled around for the PS2 the series was just starting to hit its stride. We now had full entrances, customisable move-sets for the established roster, and a full commentary track from Michael Cole and Tazz, although the less said about that the better.

Just Bring It started to move away from the arcadey feel of its predecessors, and was intent on replicating the full wrestling experience on a home console. You could even take the action backstage, and all the way to Times Square for a big street fight if you fancied it.

Coming out in 2002, it was after the Attitude Era but still had a meaty roster, and it finally had the full American Bad Ass Undertaker entrance with Rollin’ blaring out. Speaking of which, you could unlock Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst as an in-game character, and piledrive them through the Spanish announce table.

5. Fire Pro Wrestling Returns

Fire Pro Wrestling is a weird one; you’ve either never heard of it, or you are obsessed with it and will do anything to defend its honour.

The Fire Pro series has spanned 29 games, most of which were released only in Japan, but ported worldwide by eager gamers. The pick of the bunch is Fire-Pro Wrestling Returns, released for PlayStation 2 in 2005 (Japan) 2007 (USA) and 2008 (Europe).

If you’re new to Fire Pro then it’s unlike any other wrestling game on the market. It’s displayed at a weird 45-degree angle, and is all about strategy and tactics, rather than just nailing rapid-fire finisher after rapid-fire finisher. It’s a full-on wrestling game, part strategy game, part 2K style simulator, part arcade fighter.

Also it has a roster of 327 wrestlers. Chances are, if you can name a wrestler, then you’ll find them. Some of your favourites may need a costume and name change to be the finished article - like playing as Merseyside Red in PES - you know who it is, with or without the official license.

And if the 327 don’t whet your appetite, there are 500 create-a-wrestler slots.

4. WCW/NWO Revenge

Wrestling fans of a certain age hold the AKI N64 wrestling games with almost God-like reverence. Just say to them “Hey, have you played the latest WWE ga-" and they’ll come in with almost cat-like reflexes with “Is it as good as the N64 games though?” It may be annoying, but they are right.

The follow-up to WCW World Tour, Revenge was revolutionary when it came out in 1998. It blew its predecessor out of the water in every way, in terms of roster, movesets, customisation, and entrances.

Whether a veteran of World Tour or a complete newbie, it was easy to just pick up a pad and play. No matter whether you played as WCW mainstays such as Hollywood Hogan, Goldberg, or everyone’s favourites Han Zo Mon and Dake Ken, the game was a slick fun affair.

Despite what came after it - more on them later - many fans still hold Revenge as the pinnacle of the series, probably because you can start any match as La Parka with a chair in hand and just virtually batter your little brother until he cries.

3. Virtual Pro Wrestling 2

We could have put WWF WrestleMania 2000 here. Hell, we could have made this entire list out of AKI N64 wrestling games, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices. Virtual Pro Wrestling 2 is, for all intents and purposes, WrestleMania 2000 but with the cream of the Japanese crop instead of the Attitude Era’s finest. Even the opening video is the same, with Mitsuharu Misawa plodding along looking moody instead of Stone Cold Steve Austin.

VPW2 has the edge for us, though, because it managed to do more than Mania 2000. For a start there is that roster; the best of All Japan, New Japan, FMW and Michinoku Pro, legends like Terry Funk and Vader, MMA stars like Bas Rutten, and crossover stars like absolute lunatic and Pancrase legend Minoru Suzuki.

Talking of which, VPW2 has an MMA mode, allowing you to trade pins and top rope manoeuvres for an in-depth striking and submission system. Ever wanted to see Giant Baba vs Atsushi Onita in a submission match? Of course you have. VPW2 lets you make it a reality.

Don’t believe how good this game is? Just ask Samoa Joe or AJ Styles, both of whom claim it to be the greatest wrestling game of all time. AJ even collects copies of it like they’re going out of fashion.

2. WWE SmackDown! Here Comes The Pain

The second WWE game following the inaugural brand split, Here Comes the Pain was the turning point for the SmackDown series.

Building upon four games worth of fan-pleasing video game action, HCTP was the definitive turning point from button basher to immersive gaming experience. The grappling system was tweaked and built upon from games past, but was still accessible enough for newbies, a fine balance between casual grappling experience and intense furious warfare.

The roster featured the big hitters of the era such as Brock Lesnar, Goldberg, Dr of Thuganomics John Cena, and legends like George Steele for some reason. It even marked the only WWE video game appearance of Sean O’Haire and his under-rated Devil’s Advocate gimmick.

Here Comes the Pain was a game full of plenty. If you could think it, chances are you could do it. After HCTP, WWE games started to strip it back and focus on the sport rather than the spectacle, with THQ rebuilding the series from the ground up. There’s nothing wrong with that, but some of us would rather play Mario Kart over Gran Turismo, if you catch my drift.

This was the last pure SmackDown title before the Smackdown vs. Raw era, and although these games were excellent in their own right, they just didn’t feel as special as the SmackDown games. Dust off your PS2 now, and thank us later.

1. WWF No Mercy

Of course it is.

No Mercy is still the benchmark wrestling video game, almost 20 years after it came out. It built on everything that the N64 WCW titles, the Virtual Pro Wrestling series and WrestleMania 2000 had perfected before it, creating the ultimate pick up and play grappler.

Released at the tail end of both the Nintendo 64 and the Attitude Era, No Mercy was a game changer when it came out. It had an amazing roster - something which let down WrestleMania 2000 - an expansive backstage area, ladder matches, tables, weapons that didn’t disappear - it was wrestling video game Nirvana.

Even now the graphics still look half decent, which can’t be said for other N64 games (we’re sorry Goldeneye). This is part of the lingering appeal of the AKI games; the graphics are good enough that you know who each wrestler is supposed to be, but not so crystal and sharp that they look awful as soon as the next game comes out. Your create a wrestlers blend in seamlessly next to the established roster, rather than looking like a stick drawing next to the Mona Lisa like with the modern WWE games, meaning that each copy felt personal to whoever owned it.

As good as No Mercy is though, that story-mode handicap match against the APA still gives us nightmares.