10 Best Non-WWE Wrestling Video Games Ever

6. Fire Pro Wrestling Returns (PS2)

Fire Pro Wrestling Returns
Spike

The hipster wrestling fan’s computer game of choice, that’s for sure. Released in 2006, Fire Pro Wrestling Returns featured more than 300 wrestlers from promotions around the world, with the capacity to extend that number by a whopping 500 if needed. Considering most mainstream games offered a roster of 50 or so wrestlers at best, this was a game for serious aficionados.

The scope of match types on offer was also a feather in the cap of Fire Pro Wrestling’s return to the scene. The Japanese bent of it all meant that exploding barbed wire rope matches could be, erm, enjoyed, while there was also an extensive booking component that allowed players to test their aptitude with the pencil out, maybe before moving on to TEW or something similar.

The entire Fire Pro Wrestling series has always been about substance over style, with cutting edge graphics and detail eschewed in favour of scope, ambition and data. Available on the PlayStation Network, this is the thinking man’s type of wrestling game, focused more on strategy than spamming punches and finishers. It is never going to appeal to casual fans, but for diehard lovers of wrestling, this is as good as it gets.

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Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.