Ranking The Best Wrestling Video Game For Each Major Console

7. GameCube - Def Jam Vendetta

mankind smackdown 2 know your role
Electronic Arts

A wrestling game without any actual pro wrestlers? Technically, yes. That didn't stop Def Jam Vendetta being an absolute blast to bash your way through.

Narrowly edging out the two WWE Day of Reckoning releases, EA Sports' Def Jam Vendetta took a bunch of legendary rappers and dumped then into a pro wrestling-driven environment. With players getting to fight their way through a linear story that jumps from fight to fight to fight, the only way to be victorious over an opponent is by pinfall, submission, or KO.

Playing like WWF No Mercy with rappers, the control system is basic but brutal, with it always fun to wear down a body part before breaking a bone and making somebody tap out - and that somebody can range from Method Man, to Ludacris, to DMX, to Ghostface Killah, and even Christina Milian across a roster of 46 playable characters who all want to become the top talent of an underground fight league.

Even now, Def Jam Vendetta is one of those games that many look back on with gooey eyes and fond memories.

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.