Top 10 Wrestling Video Games

I didn’t choose the name JackDownVSRaw for no reason, wrestling isn’t my only passion in life, the other thing that got me relentlessly bullied in middle school was my passion for video games. I became a fan of wrestling when I was right years old and for the next few years of my life, I spent a ludicrous amount of time playing wrestling games, I’m incredibly thankful activity logs didn’t exist in consoles yet. As I’ve continued into my adult years and developed a taste for video games from every console generation, I have played just about every wrestling game from every generation, here are the top 10 wrestling video games ever made.

#10 WrestleMania the Arcade Game: WrestleMania the Arcade Game for the SNES is basically what happens when you take the world of professional wrestling and put it in a Mortal Kombat game, while the game can get incredibly difficult and the roster is limited when compared to the games that would come after it, the game play and charm of the 16-bit graphical style make it a must have for any wrestling fan with an SNES.

#9 WCW vs NWO Revenge: The Nintendo 64 wrestling games are an absolute favorite among fans, and spoiler alert, this is not the last you will see of them on this list. Revenge features the best of the best time for WCW with as good of game play as imaginable for a 90s wrestling game. You have a roster loaded with talent and unlike WCW creative, you can put them in matches that make sense.

#8 WWF WrestleMania Challenge: The NES is my favorite console to collect for and as such, I have spent a lot of time playing the various wrestling games on the console. While the majority of them aren't exactly good, WrestleMania Challenge is far and away the best of all the 8-bit brawlers. The camera angle gives you a much better view of the game than you got from other NES games and with a roster full of Golden Age legends, WrestleMania challenge is a great game for any wrestling fan.

#7 WWE 13: The PS3 and Xbox 360 wrestling games overall were very good, while SmackDown VS Raw 2011 certainly could claim this spot, WWE 13 nearly beats it out. WWE 13 features a plethora of the best Attitude Era story lines to play through, making the game come with an incredible amount of hype from the Attitude Era fan. Even if you’re like me and not the biggest Attitude Era fan, the simulation-style game play that the earlier PS3 and 360 games did so well is done to perfection here.

#6 TNA Impact: I am still upset that this game never got a sequel. As a kid I was just happy that I could finally play as Samoa Joe and AJ Styles in a wrestling game, after recently playing the game, the game play is unique in such a charming way, every move feels devastating and when stringing together combos it feels like no other game. In addition to the game play and roster of TNA talent and well know names such as Kurt Angle and Booker T, TNA Impact features a very memorable story line that introduced the world to the wrestler Suicide before he actually ever entered the ring in real life.

#5 WWF No Mercy: Look look look, before you start boiling with anger while you search all my social media accounts to let me know how stupid I am, here me out. I still love No Mercy, it deserves all the love it gets, however I just never personally thought the N64 games were as good overall as some people believe. No Mercy perfected the formula of the N64 wrestling game and features an incredible amount of content for a game on this console, so many people cherish this game and is their automatic number one of their personal lists, and I can see their point, No Mercy is great, however I never got the feel of the gameplay as well as the entries on this list above it, so on my list, I can’t have it higher, a great wrestling classic regardless of my own personal enjoyment however, diggity-dog indeed.

#4 Fire Pro Wrestling World: The fans of the Fire Pro Wrestling series are as hardcore as 90s ECW fans, and it’s easy to see why. The Fire Pro Wrestling series favors precise game play and timing over flare and advanced graphics. Tho the retro inspired graphical style has a nice charm to it, the focus is all on game play, to be blunt, if you play this like any other wrestling game, you will lose, a lot, this game is a perfect example of practice making perfect, and when you practice this game and get good at it, it is a rewarding feeling unlike any other wrestling game can provide.

#3 WWE All Stars: WWE All Stars is to wrestling games as professional wrestling is to sports. It’s an over-the-top absolutely ridiculously extravagant show that you have to see, or in this case play, to believe. All the wrestlers look larger than life with three times the muscle, I’m not going to make the lazy steroids joke here. The game play is similar to TNA Impact in that stringing together combos is a game within him the game, and with a fun story mode with multiple story lines to play through, and at the end of the day, seeing wrestlers fly 20 feet in the air after a basic slam is quite the spectacle. Also I feel the need to mention that when Andre the Giant walks to the ring the camera shakes like he’s Godzilla, and that is an incredible touch

#2 SmackDown Here Comes the Pain: The wrestling games on the PS2 are by far the best wrestling games we’ve ever seen, and that’s why they will occupy the top two spots on this list. For some, Here Comes the Pain is the best without question, and after experiencing the lightning-quick and equally as smooth game play, it’s easy to see why, the season mode changes every time you play it, adding as much replay value as you want out of it. Here Comes the Pain is the perfect finale to the original SmackDown series that started on the original PlayStation, and let it be known that if you pick Goldberg or Brock Lesnar in an exhibition match against your friends, then you are a bad person.

#1 SmackDown VS Raw 2006: I mean seriously, if you somehow didn’t expect the game that is literally the logo I use, and the inspiration for my name to top my list of the best wrestling games I honestly don’t know what to tell you. The second in the SmackDown VS Raw series, 2006 got everything just right, the game play is the perfect balance between the Here Comes the Pain fast pace arcade style and the simulation style of the later SmackDown Vs Raw series. The season mode includes legendary story lines such as The Who ran over Teddy Long story, which is so good I honestly don’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t played it. The roster is positively stacked with legends, Andre the Giant, Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold and The Rock to name a few. SmackDown Vs Raw 2006 is in many ways the perfect wrestling game, and I encourage you to play it, whether it’s reliving your childhood like me, or for the first time, this game is a must play for all wrestling fans

Wrestling Trivia: What wrestling video game has the highest score on Metacritic?

DM @JackDownVSRaw on Twitter for the answer