Weirdest WWE Games Of All Time

Key Takeaways

• WWE tapped into other genres with entries like
  WWF Betrayal
  and
  WWE Crush Hour.
• Little sense to some naming conventions, such as
  WWE Survivor Series
  , which placed no emphasis on the November show.
• WWE 2K Battlegrounds
  introduced arcade-style gameplay with a divisive art style and controversy around microtransactions.

Professional wrestling has been captivating audiences since the 1800s. Combining larger-than-life characters with superhuman strength and sporting competition with a heap of drama, it’s a perfect fit for video games, and WWE (formerly WWF) has provided some of the best around.

Most of the WWE 2K series have perfectly encapsulated the action in the squared circle, bringing everyone’s favorite superstars to life, but for every No Mercy or Here Comes the Pain there are some downright weird games. From turn-based strategy to car demolition, for better or worse, the WWE has tried just about everything when it comes to gaming.

10 MicroLeague Wrestling

Turn-Based Grappling

• Platforms: Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS
• Released: 1987
• Developer: MicroLeague, Subway Software (C64), Upfront Software (Amiga)
• Genre: Turn-based strategy, sports

Having witnessed the success of other MicroLeague games and the growth of the video game industry in the 1980s, the company decided to get in on the action. Playing more like a turn-based strategy and showing the wrestlers as digitized images from real matches, it left players with somewhat limited options.

There were only two playable matches available in the initial release, and commentators announced the action through text at the bottom of the screen. To call MicroLeague Wrestling weird may seem unfair, but considering that only two years later there would be WWE games involving two-dimensional sprites and real-time combat, this entry really stands out as a quirky one.

9 WWF War Zone

Incomprehensible Shouting

• Platforms: PlayStation 1, Nintendo 64, Game Boy
• Released: July 24, 1998
• Developer: Sculptured Software
• Genre: Sports, professional wrestling

Heralded as one of the greatest wrestling games ever made at the time, WWF War Zone is now best remembered for one of its more bizarre features. Members of the 18-strong roster provided promos via FMV cut scenes, with Goldust’s being characteristically unnerving, and Ahmed Johnson’s amounting to unintelligible shouting.

Apart from that, the gameplay was rendered obsolete within a couple of years when far superior wrestling games hit the market, and the Game Boy port was virtually unplayable. Still, where other contemporary wrestling games have been largely forgotten, War Zone is fondly remembered by many fans — mainly due to those infamous cut scenes.

8 WWE 2K Battlegrounds

Wrestling All Stars

After the disaster that was WWE 2K20, WWE and developers 2K decided to skip 2K21 and ditched the traditional wrestling game formula to make WWE 2K Battlegrounds. Its love-it-or-hate-it exaggerated art style last seen in WWE All Stars ten years prior, and the ridiculous in-ring action, made this entry in the 2K series quite divisive.

While there is plenty to enjoy about the arcade-style nature of this game, the superhuman movesets and unique wrestling arenas turned off many purists. The inclusion of the ever controversial microtransactions was also a sticking point for many fans, and 2K have since returned to developing more conventional simulated grappling action.

7 WWE Legends Of WrestleMania

Some Legends, Not Others

• Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, iOS, Mobile
• Released: March 19, 2009
• Developer: Yuke’s
• Genre: Sports, professional wrestling

During the height of the Smackdown vs. Raw series of games, Yuke’s released WWE Legends of Wrestlemania, with its own unique controls and slightly different art style. While the game itself was different to the main games, it was widely regarded as enjoyable, but there were some glaring and unforgivable omissions from the roster.

Some wrestlers were omitted due to political or legal differences, such as Mick Foley and Demolition, but ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat, stars of arguably the greatest WrestleMania match of all time, were left out. Confusingly, Michael Hayes was included, despite only ever appearing at WrestleMania X-Seven’s infamous “Gimmick Battle Royal.”

6 WWE Survivor Series

Just A Normal Wrestling Game

• Platform: Game Boy Advance
• Released: October 21, 2004
• Developer: Natsume
• Genre: Sports, professional wrestling

A Game Boy Advance exclusive, WWE Survivor Series appears to be pretty normal for a wrestling game. There is nothing peculiar about the 16 wrestlers on the roster or the various match types available, and it has a reasonable story mode given the processing power of the handheld hardware.

It is precisely the limitations of the hardware that provide the strangeness here, since there could only be a maximum of four characters on screen at one time. Survivor Series traditionally features teams of four or five facing off in elimination tag matches, but that isn’t possible on the GBA. There’s no particular emphasis on the November event in the story mode either, so it’s unclear why the game took its name from Survivor Series.

5 WWF Royal Rumble

You Look Familiar

• Platforms: Dreamcast, Arcade
• Released: August 14, 2000
• Developer: Yuke’s
• Genre: Sports, professional wrestling

One of the most popular shows on WWE’s calendar is the Royal Rumble, rivaling even WrestleMania. 30 people gradually making their way to the ring, aiming for the prize of a championship match in the main event at WrestleMania. For many years, it has been a fan favorite feature in video games too, since it is always unpredictable and full of surprises.

Unlike WWE Survivor Series, WWF Royal Rumble really emphasizes the match type it’s based on, even allowing nine characters in the ring simultaneously, unlike the standard four at that time. Weirdly, there are only 21 wrestlers on the roster, meaning that some wrestlers enter the match multiple times, even potentially having two or three copies of themselves in the ring at once.

4 WWE Aftershock

A Novelty For Nokia

• Platform: N-Gage
• Released: May 19, 2005
• Developer: Exient Entertainment
• Genre: Sports, professional wrestling

Finnish telecommunications company Nokia decided to enter the video games industry with their N-Gage handheld console. It was a commercial flop, and only 64 games were released for the console in the end, one of which was WWE Aftershock, making it quite a novelty item.

Like so many of the N-Gage’s lineup, it received mixed reviews. Graphics were poor for the time, and controls were unintuitive. The roster of only 12 wrestlers was quite limited for the time too, but at least this rarity made it to the market, unlike so many other games announced for the console.

3 WWE With Authority!

Magic: The Grappling

• Platform: PC
• Released: February 21, 2001
• Developer: Genetic Anomalies Inc.
• Genre: Strategy card game

An online deck-building card game, WWE With Authority only lasted for about a year before the servers shut down. Players had to build their playbook, consisting of wrestling moves and superstars, which they could use strategically in matches commentated by Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross.

Fans didn’t particularly enjoy the gameplay, and a physical collectible card game called ‘Raw Deal’ was released in the same year, which fans considered to be far better. Forcing players to part with small increments of cash was also not popular for this niche product.

2 WWF Betrayal

Beat ‘Em Up, But Not In The Ring

• Platform: Game Boy Color
• Released: August 7, 2001
• Developer: WayForward Technologies
• Genre: Beat ’em up

Moving away from the traditional in-ring action, WWF Betrayal is a beat ’em up game akin to Double Dragon and Streets of Rage. It stands out as a unique entry in WWE’s long list of video games, since it is their only foray into this genre.

Playing as one of four fan favorites, players must rescue the kidnapped Stephanie McMahon, with one of the other three characters not selected acting as the main villain in the story. Its run-time of only 30 minutes to an hour is on the short side, and it is generally regarded as inferior to other entries in the genre.

1 WWE Crush Hour

WWE Meets Twisted Metal In This Bizarre Match-Up

• Platforms: PlayStation 2, GameCube
• Released: 2003-03-17
• Developer: Pacific Coast Power & Light
• Genre: Vehicular combat

Just as with WWF Betrayal, WWE decided to invade a different genre, following in the footsteps of the cult classic Twisted Metal. WWE Crush Hour is a vehicular combat game but with wrestling twists, such as Jim Ross commentating on the action and varied match types.

There are 12 arenas and more than 30 wrestlers to choose from, each with their own personalized cars and catchphrases. Once again, it’s inferior to the inspiration, but many wrestling fans certainly remember this game fondly, even if it’s mostly for the weirdness factor.