Wrestling broadcasts are all-too-quick to remind usnot to try this at home, and yeah, that’s fair. Professional wrestlers put an enormous strain on their bodies. Regardless of the fact that wrestling is staged, the pain is all too real. Thankfully alongside WWE’s iron-fisted warning is an olive branch:play one of these video games instead.
RELATED:Best Fighting Games Ever Made, Ranked
There have been countless wrestling games over the years, most of them only slight iterations on the previous year’s formula. That’s why we’ve decided to present a wide variety of different types of wrestling games. We’ve also taken an eye to some of the most seminal, influential titles in the genre. Without further ado, here are our favorite wrestling games, ranked!
10WWE 2k14
Some fans say wrestling games have fallen from grace in recent years. What were once fast-paced, vibrant fighting games are now slow, overly technical, and glitchy. We happen to agree. Considering the developers only take a single year to churn out every single game, it’s a wonder they don’t turn out even worse.
If it sounds like we’re being overly harsh, well, maybe we are. Modern wrestling games are still pretty fun, but we’d prefer to see 2K take more time to perfect the formula. 2K14 remains one of the best, most beloved wrestling games they’ve published, even after all these years later. Its gameplay is fast-paced and responsive, with mind-bogglingly open-ended customization that puts later entries in the seriesto shame.
9MDickie’s Wrestling Empire
This oddball entry might be one of the most downrightfun wrestling games ever made. Wrestling Empire’s open-ended sandbox story mode is exactly what we want out of a wrestling game. It feels inspired by the off-the-wall fun story modes of classic wrestling games, like Shut Your Mouth and Here Comes The Pain.
Of course, the story mode would be worthless without gameplay to back it up. Thankfully, Wrestling Empire delivers. Despite its rustic N64-era graphics and (at times) stilted animations, there’s a ton of fun to be had here. The gameplay is simple, fun, and frequently surrounded by randomly-generated hilarity.
8Saturday Night Slam Masters
Saturday Night Slam Masters was a go-to for anyone in search of an arcade-style wrestling game on the SNES. That’s no surprise considering it was developed by Capcom. Saturday Night Slam Masters is a simple-to-learn title that plays a bit like old-school Street Fighter, eschewing the simulation angle in favour of being a straight-up good fighting game. It was also the first game for Mike Haggar, who later went on to join the Final Fight series.
RELATED:Weirdest Guest Characters In Wrestling Games
Where Saturday Night Slam Masters really shone was as a multiplayer game. As long as someone had a multitap and an extra controller or two, hopping in the ring with a friend was some of the most fun you could have on the SNES.
7Smackdown Vs. Raw 2007
Smackdown Vs. Raw 2007 is a beloved classic wrestling game that introduced tons of features we’re now completely used to. For its time, it had amazing graphics, and it arguably still looks decent to this day. It also has a deep roster of wrestlers, a fun, open-ended story mode, and one feature that fans still miss dearly: GM mode.
GM mode lets players build storylines, assign champions, and even play against each other with rivaling shows. It’s worth noting that WWE 2K22 finally reintroduced this beloved game mode, but it’s significantly pared down. We would love to be able to, for example, book more than three matches in one night or introduce a custom championship belt.
6Def Jam: Fight For New York
Def Jam is an amazing, classic series of wrestling-adjacent fighting games, and Fight For New York might be the best entry in the series. It’s a well-realized game with a fun story featuring a cavalcade of 2000s rappers and other celebrities. It joins the elite club ofgames with Danny Trejo in them, alongside Fallout: New Vegas.
For those who don’t know, Def Jam uses the AKI engine. It’s a fluid, fast-paced fighting game engine that’s loved by fans of old-school wrestling games. AKI Corporation, now syn Sophia Inc., the developers of the engine, are known for a long line of amazing wrestling games, including Virtual Pro Wrestling and WWF No Mercy. Wrestlers like AJ Styles and Kenny Omega have even spoken publicly about liking AKI engine games.
5Fire Pro Wrestling World
Fire Pro is a long-running cult classic series of wrestling games. For those who are easily overwhelmed by complex mechanics and endlessly deep customization features, it may be a bit overwhelming. For everyone else, in any iteration, Fire Pro Wrestling is adream game.
Developed by the Japanese company Spike Chunsoft, who weirdly also developed Danganronpa and the Zero Escape series, Fire Pro Wrestling is mainly focused on New Japan Pro Wrestling. The game has no affiliation with WWE, so American viewers might not see many wrestlers they’re familiar with. Thankfully, dedicated players have used the character creator to create some of our favorite wrestlers, and they’re super easy to download and play with.
4WWE Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth
Released in 2002, Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth revolutionized single-player storytelling in wrestling games. Its expanded “season mode” lets players select a wrestler from its deep roster, then play through a single year of their career. All the while, they’ll become engrossed in ridiculous storylines that change depending on who they are and what choices they make. At times, it feels almost like a wrestling RPG(and trust us, that’s a good thing).
Not only is the story mode exceptionally good, but the gameplay is also spectacular. Characters move quickly, with fluid, satisfying animations. Hits have a satisfying weight to them, and there are tons of different environments to play around in.
3WWE Day Of Reckoning 2
On the Gamecube, Yuke’s developed a pair of games that sincerely rivalled their also excellent Smackdown Vs. Raw series. Day of Reckoning and Day of Reckoning 2 are both classic titles that still hold up to this day.
RELATED:AEW Fight Forever Should Follow WWE Day Of Reckoning’s Blueprint
Despite their more linear story modes, the single-player campaigns in these games are surprisingly great. The writing is solid, with some storylines that we wouldn’t mind actually seeing on Raw, like the mystery of the missing title belt. Day Of Reckoning 2 slightly edges out its predecessor thanks to its slightly improved graphics and gameplay, but it might be worth playing both of them since both have great stories.
2WWF No Mercy
Many wrestling fans, when asked what the greatest wrestling game of all time is, will tell you this is it. Like Def Jam, WWF No Mercy uses the beloved AKI fighting engine, and it’s the final licensed WWF/WWE game to do so. No Mercy remains revered despite its aging N64-era graphics on the sheer merit of its excellent gameplay. Also of note is its excellent soundtrack.
Fast-paced, fluid action is the name of the game here, and it manages to feel far more satisfying than the slow simulation-focused games we have today. It’s no wonder the upcoming game AEW Fight Forever draws clear inspiration from No Mercy and AKI Corporation in general.
1WWE Smackdown: Here Comes The Pain
Here Comes The Pain represents the renaissance of THQ wrestling games. It took amazing features from Shut Your Mouth and perfected them, adding several features that have remained as core parts of the WWE games to this day.
The real draw of the game, as with Shut Your Mouth, is its amazing single-player campaign. If the amazing graphics and story mode of HCTP could be combined with the gameplay of No Mercy, it would easily be the greatest wrestling game of all time. Both games deserve the top spot, but we had to pick one over the other.
