Ranking The Best Wrestling Video Game For Each Major Console

8. PlayStation 2 - WWE SmackDown! Here Comes The Pain

mankind smackdown 2 know your role
THQ

It takes something special to better Fire Pro Wrestling Returns, but being able to hitch a ride with a helicopter and then deliver an elbow drop from the skies means that WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain manages to nab the top spot when it comes to PS2 wrestling releases.

To be fair, Here Comes the Pain has far more to it than just outlandish aerial assaults, with the gameplay, roster, arenas, creation suite, and all-round fluidity marking this out as a favourite of many gamers to this very day.

Of all of the great wrestling games of the past that you can go back and revisit, Here Comes the Pain is the one that still holds up the absolute best. While it's admittedly fun to pick up WWF Raw, WCW/nWo Revenge, or WWF No Mercy, those games sadly feel all kinds of clunky nowadays - whereas Here Comes the Pain is just as beautifully brilliant as it's ever been.

As for Fire Pro Wrestling Returns, that game was another fantastic PS2 offering. One major reason HCTP edges it here, though, is that Fire Pro Wrestling Returns didn't get a widespread global release until the PlayStation 3 had already launched.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.