The evolution of WWE games over the years has been inspiring. We've seen them start out in the arcades with basic pick-up-and-play appeal, to yearly licensed products with a deluge of superstars, match types and gameplay options and tweaks for players to modify their experience the way they want to. Accessibility and choice have blown wide-open over the decades since the very first WWE-related videogame, MicroLeague Wrestling was released in 1989.
Superstar rosters have gotten larger, story modes have become far more intricate and involved, and the arcade allure of wrestling games have gradually shifted to semi-sim, with emphasis on realistic graphics and physics-although arcade-based options can be implemented as an alternative if you so desire.
Nothing gets us as giddy though, as new match type inclusions in the latest WWE videogame. Along the way, we've seen an increasing amount of new match types being added to WWE games, and it fills us with anticipation and excitement, dreaming of the possibilities and the hours and hours of enjoyment we'll no-doubt squeeze out of them.
However, for all the match types that have been featured over the years such as Hell In A Cell, Elimination Chamber, Ambulance, Casket and Iron Man matches, there are plenty we either haven't seen implemented in a very long time, or haven't seen in any WWE videogame ever.
So here are all the match types that WWE 2K need to incorporate into WWE games-and just so you know, Forklift and Item on a Pole matches are included... sorry to Judy Bagwell and all the other negatively affected participants or victims!
The Stretcher Match: Incapacitate To Seal Fate
You might say that the Stretcher Match carries similar objectives to the Ambulance Match-that being incapacitate your opponent enough so they don't move and you win the match ensuring that they don't move and either slamming the doors shut as in the case with the Ambulance Match, or pushing the stretcher over the line in a Stretcher Match.
However, the way physics could work if you happen to incapacitate a giant or a burly big brute could give Stretcher Matches something very unique because pushing a big hunk up the ramp way and pushing him over the line could exhaust you. It's not ideal for you to push a man or woman the size of three Zambonis stacked on top of each other, in case you kink your backside, but getting them over that line would be oh-so sweet.
Remember how Brock Lesnar won his Stretcher Match against The Big Show at Judgment Day in 2003? Well just picture that and apply it to videogames, it would definitely create some awesome moments. And heck, include the gurney and a special move where you can strap your opponent to the gurney and whack him and the attached gurney into the ring post like Big Show did to Rey Mysterio at Backlash 2003 (yes this writer loves 2003 so much that it's his favourite year in wrestling history!)
Texas Bullrope/Strap Match: Whipping Em Like A Government Mule
It's hard to believe we haven't had the chance to whip our opponents like government mules yet in WWE games, but the truth is it hasn't happened yet! Imagine you take that leather strap and start lashing your opponents until rose-coloured welts start forming on his/her back, and choking him/her out with that belt until they pass out like poor Scotty 2 Hotty did when JBL forced him to say I QUIT (dang there's a spoiler for another match featured on this list!)
The big challenge with both the Texas Bullrope Match and the Strap Match is that you have to tag each turnbuckle without your opponent pulling you away. There has got to be a great way for this kind of match to be inserted that gives you and your opponent a meter or some kind of minigame that shows how close or how far you are away from getting all 4 corners touched. Strap/Bullrope matches can work similarly to other incapacitating-based match-types, though there's the potential for you to sneak out a win in this variant because some superstars have managed to leap over their opponent and touch the final turnbuckle.
I Quit Match: It Speaks For Itself!
Speaking of which, we haven't seen I Quit matches since WWE 2K14, so for them to return would be huge, especially if they're reworked and made even better. You might pass off I Quit matches as some kind of verbal equivalent to a submission match, but getting a WWE superstar to utter those two defeating words can take a very long time, and usually there has to be a special kind of torture or threat to force those words out of a superstar's mouth. It does seem a bit silly putting a microphone to your opponent's mouth and force them to utter words, but imagine all the different ways you could punish your foe until they had no choice but to say I quit....the match would've been epic and an all-out war.
I Quit matches should return because they're designed for long and drawn out epic slugfests. These matches will be grueling and there will be ample room for experimentation. 2K ought to dispose of the submission-style meter for bringing I Quit matches back though, and instead insert a minigame that be more coherent with the specific stipulation of forcing a superstar to quit.
Tag Team Turmoil: Running The Gauntlet With A Counterpart
We've had the return of Gauntlet matches in WWE games, but we've never had Tag-Team Turmoils for some reason. Tag-Team Turmoil matches start with two teams and the winner of that match will have to face a new tag-team and whoever wins this contest will face another tag-team, and this will go on until one team is left standing. These matches are all about endurance as a team, and fending off each and every challenger that comes your way.
This match should be featured in WWE games simply because they're thrilling and they accentuate the importance of working as a team to get the job done. There's nothing like fending off a series of teams to come out on top, and Tag-Team Turmoils are the best kind of tag-team match because of this.
Championship Scramble: No Time For Losing
Ahh the Championship Scramble match, the match type where two superstars start and every 5 minutes another superstar enters the match. The match ends when the 20 minute time limit expires, and whoever is champion when the clock strikes zero becomes the champion.
The best thing about the Championship Scramble is how hectic it can get, with superstars pinning each other to claim the gold temporarily as their own, until another superstar gets a pinfall or submission over anyone else in that match.
You read that correctly, the champion DOES NOT need to be pinned in order to lose the championship, which really does make the Championship Scramble an unpredictable and exciting affair.
There have only been 4 Championship Scramble matches in history, and three of them took place on the same pay-per-view! Unforgiven 2008 was the pay-per-view, and the event played host to 3 Championship Scramble matches for the ECW, WWE and World Heavyweight championships.
The final Championship Scramble took place at The Bash in 2009 for the ECW Championship, and then this match type vanished and hasn't been seen on WWE programming since.
As for the best Championship Scramble? The World Heavyweight and WWE Championship Scrambles were great, especially their finishes with Triple H hitting a Pedigree on MVP to clinch the WWE Championship from Jeff Hardy in the fading seconds of that bout. The World Heavyweight Championship meanwhile, saw 'The Animal' Batista almost-reclaiming his World Heavyweight Championship until a pesky Chris Jericho managed to sneak in and pin Kane while Batista was too busy crotch-sniffing Rey Mysterio courtesy of the latter's hurricanrana attempt.
As for the games, the Championship Scramble hasn't been seen since WWE 13, and that's quite miraculous seeing as at that time, this multi-man match hadn't appeared for 4 years. Simply put, the Championship Scramble needs to return because it's too much fun and the calamity of the match type is perfect for a wrestling videogame. Just because we haven't seen a Championship Scramble in a long while, doesn't mean it shouldn't return to WWE games in the future.
Buried Alive Match: Rest in Piece Or Pieces
A fan-favourite, the Buried Alive match is synonymous with 'The Deadman' The Undertaker, and simply requires you to dump your opponent into a body-sized pit of dirt and bury him/her in it in order to win the match. Not seen since Smackdown vs. Raw 2008, the Buried Alive Match is one that is sorely missed in each entry that it doesn't show up. You can't blame the fans for missing Buried Alive so much, as all of them feature arguably the greatest superstar of all time, The Undertaker.
The very first Buried Alive match-up took place at In Your House: Buried Alive, and featured The Undertaker squaring off against Mankind. The match was a perfect fit for both superstars, as The Undertaker is all about burying people, graves, darkness and mind games, and Mankind is about crazy shizknit, bonkers stunts, and conjuring up twisted machinations to achieve and feel pain.
Since the inaugural Buried Alive Match, The Undertaker has feuded with the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Vince McMahon, his brother Kane, and AJ Styles in one-on-one Buried Alive matches (although AJ's was a Boneyard Match it's still sort-of the same), as well as an interesting tag-team Buried Alive Match in 1999, teaming with The Big Show and facing Mankind and The Rock.
For The Buried Alive Match to return, there have to be minigames that make sense and aren't just obsessive button-bashing affairs. In Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 for example, you'll need to button bash to throw your opponent inside the grave, but whilst doing so it actually looks like you're helping your opponent to throw up, as though he's just been drinking a lethal concoction of two pints of gin with tea bags. Of course, button bashing is a staple of competitive multiplayer games and shouldn't be completely abandoned, but wouldn't you rather throw your opponent into the pit, then man a loader to tip the dirt over the grave? Maybe you're worried the loader will explode like it did at Survivor Series 2003, as Kane helped a wayward Vince by beating The Undertaker down into the pit, while Vince climbed up into the loader and dumped the dirt down on The Undertaker to win the match.
Item On A Pole: Time To Take Pole Position
Grabbing an item from a pole doesn't sound all that exciting, but when you think about what can be dangling from that pole, then the match type could be a laugh riot. You could put anything on the pole and entice superstars to wrestle for it. For example, you could have Solo Sikoa and Roman Reigns fight to grab the Ula Fala, or maybe Logan Paul's brass knuckles could be on a pole-mind you, we haven't seen brass knuckles in a WWE game since Day of Reckoning on the Nintendo GameCube!
The Pole Match doesn't need the conclusion to come when grabbing the item or weapon from the pole, it can be an enhancement to a No Disqualification Match. There are so many possibilities with a Pole Match, that there isn't much that can go wrong. They could even be a welcome change of pace from the long drawn-out match stipulations, so they may be short and sweet and thus more easily digestible.
Punjabi Prison Match: A Bamboo Snafu For Two
Debuting at The Great American Bash in 2006, the Punjabi Prison Match is a strange yet intimidating match, where you're required to escape a double-layered cage made of bamboo. The uniqueness and enormity of the structure would make this Indian-inspired match type a very good addition to any WWE match selection screen. With an inner cage containing 4 doors that can be lifted up for 60 seconds until they become permanently locked for the remainder of the contest, and a towering outer cage you'll need to climb over the top of, there's an extra layer of challenge to the Punjabi Prison Match that ensures it's not just a wooden version of a Steel Cage Match.
Hopefully when you start playing a Punjabi Prison Match, The Great Khali won't be involved because in some for or fashion, The Great Khali has appeared in all three Punjabi Prison matches in history. Sure, a scary Indian giant makes a lot of sense for a match type that is in itself Indian, but that doesn't mean other huge superstars can't be featured in this intimidating bamboo cage.
Iron Survivor Challenge: Who Will Be Iron Man?
One of WWE's latest creations, the Iron Survivor Challenge is a blend of the Championship Scramble, Iron Man Match, and TNA's very own King of the Mountain Match, where five participants vie to accrue enough points by gaining pinfalls and submissions over the other combatants in order to achieve victory. There is a 25 minute clock, and two wrestlers begin the match and every 5 minutes another superstar enters. If a superstar gets pinned or submitted, they'll need to stand in the penalty box until they are allowed to continue the match.
The reason this one would be a great addition to a WWE 2K game is due to those blended elements mentioned above. An unpredictable, chaotic and high-stakes match-up, the Iron Survivor Challenge would definitely be a highlight among the long list of matches in any WWE game.
Beat The Clock Challenge: Time To Set The Time To Beat
Setting match times to beat sounds a lot like Formula One qualifying times, but Beat The Clock has always been about outdoing your competition, both by facing them in the ring, and by also not facing them because your competitors are booked in other matches trying to beat the time you set, or laying down the time for you to beat later on.
Originally included in WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 and WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009, The Beat The Clock Challenge should return as a competitive mode in the vain of King of the Ring, and it would be heaps of fun as you and friends battle to see who can beat their opponents the fastest. The multiplayer possibilities are too sweet to pass up, so seeing Beat The Clock return would be very ideal indeed.
Final Word
As you can tell, there are many match types we either haven't seen for a while or we haven't seen at all in WWE games. These matches should return to WWE games because not only are they fan-favourites that everybody loves, but they're different enough to be worthy of consideration for future WWE 2K installments.
The Buried Alive, I Quit and Stretcher matches are the types where grueling drawn-out brawls can take place, with the chance for thrilling bouts that would give their inclusions some added bite.
In addition, Tag-Team Turmoil and Championship Scramble matches would shake-up the gauntlet-style options, and Pole matches and Strap/Bullrope matches would allow superstars to vie for control and supremacy in ways we don't see all that much in modern WWE games.
2K has a lot of work to do, and this list shows that there's plenty of room for them to give us more of the match types we crave and have been craving for so long.