3. What If...?
WWE.com"What if..." scenarios are a blast to talk about in wrestling, but they certainly aren't used enough in wrestling video games. That needs to change. This particular mode would take actual events in wrestling history, and would have the players play them out in the
opposite direction as what actually did happen. What if Bret Hart willingly dropped the WWF Title at Survivor Series 1997? Would we have no "Mr. McMahon" character? What if Goldberg came to the WWF immediately after WCW was purchased, and was part of the Invasion storyline? Would he have taken over as the new leader of The Alliance? What if ECW was still around? How big would they have gotten? What if Marty Jannetty turned heel on Shawn Michaels, instead of the other way around? Would Jannetty have gone on to be a huge main event star, or would his push have fizzled out? What if Scott Hall and Kevin Nash never went to WCW in 1996? Would Razor Ramon and Diesel have become even bigger stars for the WWF? There are so many moments and matches that you could include here, and having alternate histories for everything that has happened through the years would take up a big chunk of playing time. Each included event could feature a Road To WrestleMania-style story arc, where you take control of a few months worth of matches and moments, covering the before, during, and after of the event. That way, you wouldn't just take control, win a couple matches, get a trophy, and move on. Like the WCW content previously mentioned, this is something that could happen in multiple years worth of the series, as there is so much to cover that you're going to leave things out, no matter what you try to do. Again, if it's going to be received well by the public, why not just update it in future releases, as long as you're still adding new content and not just rehashing "old" ones? It would be a nice twist on things to play through something where we don't already know the final outcome. If you're playing to try and make The Undertaker continue his WrestleMania streak, you know what happens... he keeps winning, year in and year out. If you're playing to take "Stone Cold" Steve Austin to the main event, you know what happens... he wins the WWF Title at WrestleMania 14, birthing the "Austin Era". It can be fun, but there's no mystery involved. This way, you don't know what's going to happen, and it's that mystery that keeps you guessing. As an added bonus, it could almost turn into a Choose Your Own Adventure type of thing, where different outcomes happen depending on what you decide to do. As an example, if you're doing the above-listed Goldberg storyline, your "objective" would be to have Goldberg debut for the WWF in 2001 as part of the Invasion storyline. What would he do, though? Would he take Booker T's place, feuding with The Rock from day one? Would you want him as the leader of The Alliance? Wins and losses would determine the direction your story goes, which adds to the replay value of the game, because you wouldn't be forced to win/lose matches
when you're told, and
how you're told. That way, you could play each event multiple times, as your decisions lead to different things... maybe WCW "wins" the storyline in one outcome, and maybe Goldberg goes on to become a several-time champion in another one. It helps to stretch people's money this way, as it wouldn't just be people completing things in one sitting and then having nothing else to do.