WWE vs. TNA: The Video Games

I was once a fairly intense pro-wrestling fan. Judge me as you will, but as a middle schooler, I couldn't get enough. It's the perfect soap opera for young boys.

So eventually, my love of the WCW wained and I became a fan of the better-written WWF. Then the WWF and the WCW merged, and a bunch of my favorite wrestlers either got fired, quit or died. Now, there are two wrestling companies: the WWE (formerly the WWF) and TNA.

TNA (or Total Nonstop Action Wrestling) is a group founded by Jeff Jarrett, former WWF and WCW star who ultimately isn't a very popular guy in the wrestling community. The company is chock full of members of both companies whose contracts were never renewed, such as Sting, The Dudley Boys (now wrestling as Team 3D), Booker T, Kevin Nash, and Kurt Angle, to name a few.

The WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) is the well established organization, whose origins began with Hulk Hogan and the legends we know and love today. The company still holds pay-per-view events every month, complete with wrestling legends like Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Triple H, The Big Show, and Ric Flair. Both companies, as you can see, have their big hooks.

Both companies are coming out with video games this year. For TNA, it will be the first (to be released on PS2, PS3, Wii, and 360). WWE have made over twenty games with THQ, not including THQ's WCW games (the latest will be released on the PS2, PS3, PSP, DS, 360, and Wii). The TNA iMPACT! game will get a June release and we can expect WWE's Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 to release sometime this fall.

To be frank, THQ have been here and there with their WCW/WWF/WWE games. The WWE games for the GameCube were always kind of finicky with the control system and the original WCW games for the Nintendo 64 were always a bit too primitive. However, a couple of those WWF games for the N64, particularly Wrestlemania 2000, will always have a special place in my heart. The newer games have gotten pretty advanced in style and controls and I've had a much harder time getting into them than the old N64 WWF games.

The new kids' game will be developed by Midway. These are the guys that have been putting out the Mortal Kombat games. You know, the ones that have been consistently good from day one? The ones that I haven't been bored with since elementary school? It looks like TNA has a fighting chance against the WWE. You can check out some screen shots and a trailer at the TNA iMPACT! site.

So ignore the fact that TNA is newer, has a weird looking ring, and not as many superstars. Give it a chance. If Midway can make a good fighting game, they can surely make a decent "fighting" game.