WWE's first licensed home video game, WWF WrestleMania, was made available for gamers on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1989. From humble beginnings as a traditional arcade fighting game to today's often more complex game modes, WWE has produced dozens of home or mobile games since then. Each one adds to their traditional player vs. player or player vs. AI origins.
A hallmark of later games is a career or season mode where the player at home takes control of an original wrestler or their favorite superstar. The objective is to compete in entertaining feuds, ranging from pure fantasy fun to fulfilling every fan's dream of holding the WWE Championship at WrestleMania. However, during some of WWE's lackluster television moments, fans of the game may wonder why WWE just doesn't rehash storylines the company used in video games.
9 Amnesia - SmackDown Vs. Raw 2011
For fans of a certain age, No Mercy or the SmackDown! series of games are cherished childhood memories. Slightly younger gamers, though, remember the SmackDown vs. Raw series that ran from 2004 to 2011 with that same fondness.
In the final installment of the series, one of the stories gives you control over an injured Rey Mysterio suffering from amnesia. The dastardly Jack Swagger uses the predicament to turn Rey against his allies and recruit him. While the story could quickly fall into the absurd, performers who really get into the more comedic roles could easily replicate this to freshen up an ongoing face and heel rivalry. Turning a beloved face to the dark side can also help that character develop.
8 You Can't Face Me - WWE 2K22
WWE's 2022 revamp of their WWE 2K series added two separate career modes for players following an original male and female superstars' journey in WWE. The mode, called MyRise, has unique stories for each character that takes place across all three brands. When your male superstar joins the Raw brand and wins the WWE Championship, you ally with the GM to boost ratings by challenging John Cena to a Match at SummerSlam.
In order to get Cena's attention, the player recreates some of his iconic moments and fixes a few of Cena's most memorable mistakes, leading to the matchup. Unfortunately, as the real-life performers who made John Cena are aging out of active competition, the likelihood of the story working diminishes but is still possible. Nevertheless, it could be an exciting way for a younger champion to get several accolades and provides a new story for a veteran, John Cena.
7 Behind Every Great Man - SmackDown Vs. Raw 2007
As a video game story, Behind Every Great Man, leaves a lot to be desired. With several cutscenes, the feud doesn't give you much control over the story that unfolds between Chris Masters, Trish Stratus, and the player. The story itself though could make for fascinating viewing on weekly television.
While defending the WWE Championship in a ladder match, Trish Stratus climbs the ladder and takes the title for Chris Masters. After some debate, all three wrestlers have a triple threat match to decide the champion, which Stratus wins. Women's wrestling is increasingly popular and absolutely on the level of their male counterparts. A story where one of WWE's supremely talented women finds her way into the WWE Championship match and outsmarts the men to win could be engaging with the right performers.
6 Legends Tour! - SmackDown Vs. Raw 2006
One of WWE's major selling points for their video games is the inclusion of iconic wrestlers from decades past. However, SmackDown vs. Raw 2006 uses the legends not as DLC selling point but as an integral part of the season mode. That installment's season mode includes Legends Tour! were a handful of legends return to compete for one more match against future legends.
The story in the game focuses primarily on your selected superstar and an irate Stone Cold Steve Austin, meaning the total cast would need to expand for weekly television. While the legends from 2006 can't compete any longer, a new set of legends working with younger talent would provide fans with dream matches. Also, an icon like Edge or Randy Orton could easily fill Stone Cold's role for modern audiences.
5 A Villain Story (Win All The Titles) - WWE '12
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In WWE '12, the season mode shifted and players are given three stories to follow on the road to WrestleMania which all flow into one another. You follow "The Hero" John Cena, "The Villain" Sheamus, and "The Outsider" Triple H. The villain story includes a heel faction coming together to win all the company's titles and then imploding with a winner-take-all blow-off match. One calendar year may be too quick for a television story.
Establishing a credible faction to win every title and building investment from fans for that final match would take time. However, a story that size would create several stars and ultimately result in at least one major face turn. Additionally, making a large team the main story on one or all of WWE's programs could give more main event opportunities for often underutilized talent.
4 Taking On The Show (Giant Hunters) - SmackDown Vs. Raw 2007
The first story from SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 is also one of the most memorable stories in the series. If the player selects one of the smaller members of the roster to play through Taking on the Show becomes even more believable as an actual feud that WWE could run.
Your character meets a group of cruiserweight led by Carlito, who take over and target larger performers. You can either join the new faction or answer Big Show's call for backup and fight off the team. The game created intense promos with loads of action, and the remnants of NXT 2.0's cruiserweight division have been left without any direction, but they could deliver the SvR '07 story to television audiences.
3 Demons and Monsters (Five Minute Challenge) - WWE 2K22
WWE and NXT have both booked a number of lukewarm feuds around Finn Balor's demon persona, which means half of the story in Demons and Monsters from WWE 2K22 has already appeared on television screens. However, the first half alone would make for an excellent story to add to any title program.
The story starts with Balor having negotiated an iron-clad contract that states his championship defenses cannot exceed five minutes. The NXT GM is desperate to fix his mistake with the contract and get the title back, helping your character prepare to beat the clock. A heel like Kevin Owens or Carmelo Hayes in NXT could make the time-limit clause their own, and running this story on Raw or SmackDown would free up television time without hurting the talent involved.
2 Better-Than-U-Topia - SmackDown Vs. Raw 2009
Better-Than-U-Topia is a recognizable name for gamers, and WWE could use the faction's clever title on television. Additionally, the story would need to be modernized a bit. But the talented microphone work from the WWE roster and a popular protagonist could make the feud work even better on television than it did for the game in 2009.
A faction of heels, led by MVP, declare themselves a sovereign nation, with its own wrestling-based constitution. They use this constitution to change the rules for their matches against your player's character, John Cena. On WWE television, several delusional stars could step into MVP's role, and the story could be unique on television for new fans and an homage to one of the best stories in WWE's video-game library.
1 War Of The Numbers - SmackDown Vs. Raw 2007
In recent years, the surprise factor of the Royal Rumble has become its selling point, and not setting up WrestleMania feuds. A way for WWE to bring some storytelling back without spoiling the surprise aspect was written conveniently into the story of SmackDown vs. Raw 2007.
Your player's character takes the number one entry into the Royal Rumble from JBL who is giving it away after selecting it in a lottery drawing. From that point, the player challenges other superstars in number vs number matches, trading up to a more favorable position. It's a simple story that doesn't reveal every slot in the Royal Rumble, but the talent involved would have a reason to compete each week, and the superstar who gave up the one spot has a feud in-waiting for WrestleMania.