10 Best Non-WWE Wrestling Video Games Ever

5. Def Jam: Fight For New York (PS2)

def jam fight for new york
EA

Released in late 2004 for the PlayStation 2, Def Jam: Fight for NY was a wrestling game with a difference. The aim was to beat your opponents into submission (or knockout, or pinfall and all the rest) but players weren’t going to be controlling icons like The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin. This was wrestling without the wrestlers.

The scraps in Def Jam: Fight for NY were between rap royalty, stars and icons such as Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, Lil’ Kim and many more artists signed to Def Jam at the time. There were also plenty of fictional characters in the game, along with record company execs, PR people and all the rest. If you ever wanted to see a fight between Shawn Paul and Carmen Electra, this was your chance.

The fighting was all sorts of fun, but what helped Def Jam: Fight for NY stand out was the sheer depth of story. While most wrestling games hinged on basic stories and the excitement in the ring, the free-for-all nature of this game allowed for a movie-like scope and an incredibly layered backstory. It bridged the gap between traditional wrestling games and the immense depth of modern gaming.

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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.