Ranking The Best Wrestling Video Game For Each Major Console

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.