10 Wrestling Video Game Moments That Became Real
When WWE games predicted deaths, storylines, hirings, firings and more.
Hands up who else misses THQ?
All but one of the moments examined on this list come from their WWE games, not those churned out by 2K Games. If that sounds disappointing to some younger fans, then do yourself a favour: Google > Amazon > search "PS2 console"/"Xbox 360 console" > search "SmackDown vs. Raw" > enjoy.
THQ produced some of the best wrestling games ever, but they didn't stop at crafting superior digital wrestlefests. As New Day might say, "Ooooooooh noooooo" - those developers also predicted WWE's future. You're reading that correctly. There have been loads of times when THQ (and, admittedly, 2K) called something before it actually happened in real life.
They've forecast hirings, firings, unique storylines, deaths, title unifications, entire companies coming back, stables reuniting, stables imploding, revolutionary moments for women's wrestling and much, much more. It may shock you to scan through some of these and see just how ahead-of-their-time these games were.
Who knows if WWE consciously poached these ideas (it's hard to see Vince McMahon sitting down to play SmackDown vs. Raw 2010, after all), but they're damn spooky nonetheless...
10. The Legacy Implosion
WrestleMania XXVI's Triple Threat between Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase Jr and Cody Rhodes was supposed to prep WWE for the future. It was a teasing glance into Vinnie Mac's crystal ball to see who was a future World Heavyweight Champion. Things... didn't quite work out that way for Ted or Cody, at least not in WWE.
THQ called the Legacy implosion first too.
SmackDown vs. Raw 2010's 'Road To WrestleMania' mode included an angle that had the trio splitting into two distinct parts. On one side stood Randy. On the other, DiBiase and Rhodes - both those young bucks were jealous of Orton's success and wanted to beat him on 'Mania's grand stage.
What does that sound like? The game launched in late-2009. Mere months later, WWE got the ball rolling on Legacy's split in time for the biggest pay-per-view of 2010 come spring. Christ knows if THQ had been fed some info on the breakup before it happened in real life.