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Packed with action, spectacle and entertainment, it’s no surprise that pro wrestling has inspired many - and we mean many - video games. As well as the WWE 2K series with almost annual releases since 2000, there are plenty of older titles from what is arguably the sport’s heyday in the 1990s.
There are a lot of amazing games to choose from, and this is far from an exhaustive list, but we have picked a few of our favourites for you. So here, in no particular order, are the most exciting and entertaining wrestling games of all time.
Since this isn’t a countdown, let’s start with a game that is widely considered to be the very best in the genre. Published back in 2000, it remains unsurpassed in the eyes of many fans. Released by AKI Corporation, now known as syn Sophia, No Mercy was to be the last wrestling game that the Japanese video game developer was to produce. They certainly ended their run of wrestling games on a high note, with an amazing build your own wrestler mode, catchy soundtrack, and top-flight roster of recognisable characters. To this day fans continue to create unofficial mods for the game, so you can even add some modern stars into this game more than two decades old.
The 2K series has also been going since 2000 under various names, and 2K23 is the latest addition to the collection. Early buzz suggests that this is a solid entry in the series, building on the successes of 2K22 and adding back some features that fans had been missing. Previous high points of 2K included the 2013 and 2016 releases, but with some changes in the development team and two years without a publication, more recently the franchise has had some troubles. With the most recent release, the series is arguably better than ever.
This game deserves a place on our list simply because it is so outlandishly fun. From the first glance, it’s easy to see that this game shares a lot of DNA with Mortal Kombat, and it should come as no surprise to know that it was produced by the same studio. Midway may have sadly gone under as a game developer, but their legacy lives on with this game. It’s less realistic than most wrestling games, but that is all part of its quirky charm.
If you’re a wrestling fan on the lookout for mobile slots, this could be the game for you. Published in 2021 this is a game from All41 Studios, which operates as part of the Microgaming group of developers. The slot vividly captures the hype and atmosphere of a WWE event and has a lot of fun features to keep players occupied, and can also be played on mobile devices. Check out these mobile slot sites for this and the follow-up game, WWE Clash of the Wilds.
Before changing the name to the 2K series, the official WWE games all held the SmackDown title. The 2006 release showed a huge improvement on previous games, adding many elements of more realistic simulation and vastly improved manual grappling. There is also some possibility to interact with the crowd, including the use of signs held by fans to use during the fighting. There is also a stamina bar, forcing all players to take small breaks after expending a lot of energy. One slightly morbid detail is the inclusion of Chris Benoit, the last game in which he ever appeared.
Not officially part of the WWE series now known as 2K, this game nonetheless was a product of THQ. This now-defunct company published all the games in that series until its demise in 2013, just a couple of years after the release of All-Stars. One of the main attractions of this game is the packed roster, featuring a combination of modern wrestling stars and some of the greats of yesteryear. Players can pit these wrestlers against each other in fantasy matches.
WWE rules the wrestling world now, but there was a time when World Championship Wrestling gave them a run for their money. When this AKI game was released in 1998, WCW was riding high and beating WWE in the ratings. WCW’s style of wrestling was more serious and athletic, lacking the cartoonishness of its rival. Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall were the original protagonists of the massively popular New World Order (nWo) storyline that ran until the ultimate demise of WCW in 2001. Although this is not the only WCW game out there, it is the one that is most true to the wrestling of the promotion that is no more. WWE had the last laugh but as long as this game exists, WCW will never be forgotten.
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