PWInsider - WWE News, Wrestling News, WWE

 
 

WRESTLING'S REPRESENTATION IN GAMING

By Kendall Jenkins on 2020-09-16 08:50:00

Bringing in millions of viewers each year and attracting huge crowds at live events, wrestling is just as big as it has ever been. With a growing number of options available for new viewers both young and old, this trend will surely continue. Wrestling as a whole has certainly been able to benefit from the huge surge in viewership that has come with the increasing popularity in combat sports as a whole, but the sport has always had the benefit of the many gaming titles attached to the franchise too. With next generation consoles just around the corner for the main title games and the huge increases seen in the mobile gaming market for other wrestling titles, it’s a great time to play wrestling related content as well as watching it.

In this article we will take a look at some of the biggest titles across a couple of platforms – they feature both established names and new ideas and may even include some of your favourite wrestlers of all time.

The big licensed titles – It’s tough to talk about wrestling in gaming without talking about the big licensed WWE titles that have been released on the consoles throughout the years. Whether you’re looking to play as your favourite star or create your own to compete against them, there’s certainly plenty of fun to be had. Playing the many different match modes such as Royal Rumble, Hell in a Cell, or a Ladder Match and throwing your opponent around until you can use your signature move will never get old.

Whilst the console games are in a bit if a rut at the moment as many players experience glitches and bugs, for many it certainly doesn’t take away from the fun and with the knowledge that these games will continue to be produced throughout the years. The growing audience leaves plenty of room for improvements to be made, with the next generation consoles boasting big changes in gaming. We may see a truly revolutionary title soon enough and with the rise of VR on the way, there’s a huge possibility for some different gameplay from a first-person perspective.

Mobile wrestling slots – Another hugely popular genre for wrestling in gaming is within the variety in wrestling slot machines, as online gambling continues to find an increasing surge in new players. One of more popular titles features the man with the 24 inch pythons himself, the Hulkamania slots feature Hulk Hogan in a variety of his costumes and have players lining up the letters H, U, L, and K on the reels. Fans of wrestling will definitely want to give this one a go and with welcome free spins offered you can look for that 1000x jackpot without putting anything down for your first few tries.

Hulkamania Online Slot Game Developed by Endemol Games

(Image from gamingslots.com)

If you’re looking for something a little more colourful in the wrestling world you’re covered here too. There are plenty of titles that are based on the Lucha wrestling with titles such as Luchadora, Lucha Libre, and Nacho Libre available to fulfil your Mexican wrestling dream. These five-reel titles offer big multipliers and other welcoming offers too, and the latter title also plays on the famous movie released with Jack Black. The main symbols on the reel feature characters from the show; Dynasty, Esqueleto, Ramses, Rosales, and Sage. It’s a lot of fun and a bit of a different approach to the genre.

Whilst mobile is still a little behind the bigger devices in what can be offered, we are starting to see some more fully-fledged wrestling games make their way over to our handheld devices too. They’re a little rudimentary for now but titles like Wrestling Revolution 3D have over 1.2 million downloads on Google’s Play Store and with many comments calling for a multiplayer mode, it’s probably a safe bet to assume that may be on its way in no time at all. Throwing a people’s elbow from a couple of taps on your mobile device would certainly be great fun.

It seems there aren’t many live events planned to have fans in attendance until at least 2021, which is one of the best ways to experience the shows. But with gaming more accessible than ever before it may be the perfect way to enjoy the sport until the live shows are able to return with the new storylines and new matches. Some events were announced for a little later this year with two events in both November and December, and of course the 2020 Clash of Champions which is just around the corner set to take place on September 27th.  This seems as if it will be going ahead without much disruption, but which champions will hold on to their titles and which will have to fight their way back up?

If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!