Wrestler appearances in other video games

Yes, Abore was basically a re-designed Andre The Giant paired with some Terminator influence.

We're heading back into ultra-obscure territory again for my newest Pro-Wrestling discovery:



Recognize the pitcher in the above photos? It's none other than Pro-Wrestler The Great Kabuki!

Kabuki was a guest character in the Japanese mobile Baseball game  "Burning! Professional Baseball Home Run Competition SP".
I believe the game was first released back in 2015 with Kabuki's appearance being included a year later.



Bull Nakano is another guest player.



Bull Nakano's 1980'S ring wear and Killer Khan in entrance gear.

Could the character in the headress for LV.14 (bottom left corner) be Abdullah The Butcher?!!!





Like The Great Kabuki, Killer Khan now operates his own tavern.
Khan is listed as "Khan-san" or "Mr. Khan" here.




Hikaru Shida.



Pro-Wrestler Sayaka Obihiro was also included as a guest character.



Alas, the hooded character is Abdullah Kobayashi.



Risa Sera from the Ice Ribbon promotion.



The next Wrestler from the Japanese BJW Deathmatch promotion is Yuji Okabayashi.



Ryuji Ito and Hideyoshi Kamitani.




Takayuki Ueki and Eiji Tosaka.  

Personally, I think Burning! Baseball missed out by not including Stan Hansen as a playable character. Could you imagine being able to score home runs with a Western Lariat?!!!                                                                    

The next entry is a browser-based game with a few recognizable faces:


Pro-Wrestling Action (2018)






Emphasizing super-deformed, cartoonish graphics, Pro-Wrestling Action's strongest point is the game's character sprites.
The roster is pretty straight-forward:

The Cliff: The Rock 

Bold Steve: Stone Cold Steve Austin

John Rhino: John Cena

Vladimir Strongman: I thought he was Bobby Rude or Harley Race at first. Though, the handlebar moustache is probably Triple H.

Bulk: Probably the most laid-back Hulk Hogan knockoff around.

Crock The Beast: Brock Lesnar

Curve Angle: Sounds like Kurt Angle has a new job as an architect.

Mexicano: the token Luchador. Rey Mysterio.




There's only one mode to play: an endless royal rumble/survival mode where enemies continue to enter the ring until the player has been thrown out.

Closing thoughts:

There's really not much to say here. Simple gameplay, one mode to play through and only eight characters to choose from. There's also a level-up system where players
can use in-game currency (earned by throwing opponents over the ropes) to purchase stat upgrades like stronger attacks, improved defence and longer "rage mode" times.

Though, by the time you max out your Wrestler's stats, there's little incentive to keep playing. From my experience,  it seems every Wrestler contains the same, identical
moveset. Having said that, for a 10-minute distraction, Pro-Wrestling Action is a fun little time waster that Wrasslin' fans may get a kick out of.

If you guys wanna give this game a spin, here's a link:

html5.gamedistribution.com/d1367bdf6bb84b6bafd329747ef200fa/

In the age of smart phones and downloadable apps, the idea of playing a Wrestling game on a web browser seems pretty archaic these days. Though, that hasn't
stopped developers from continuing to churn out browser-based Wrestling titles.

Keeping the Pro-Wrestler likenesses going, I present to everyone:


WRESTLE ONLINE



Right off the bat, WWE fans should notice a few Wrestler knockoffs. We'll get to them in a minute.



The goal of Wrestle Online is to hit your opponent's head against the blue and orange barriers. Players lock up and have to press the jump button
to forcefully move their opponent back and forth. The placement of the barriers also changes from round to round; offering some semblance
of a strategy.

The first Wrestler is known as Mysterio. Obviously Rey Mysterio. The red masked Wrestler is our first movie-based reference with a nod to Deadpool.



The Joker.                                                         Indiana Jones.                                                  The princess from Frozen!                          An executioner?

 

John Cena.                                                  At first I thought Ric Flair. But with the finger tape and goatee: CM Punk?





I'm guessing Randy Orton  and no idea on the last one.


To unlock the other Wrestlers you have to complete matches. Unfortunately, after two matches, I was brought back to the main menu without any currency awarded;
rendering my attempt to unlock anyone virtually impossible.

Overall, I found Wrestle Online very unresponsive. When jumping in the air, in particular, the Wrestlers' struggle animations look more like swimming than an attempt
at locking up. Matches (if you want to call them that) are dreadfully slow with a strange, teeter totter physic at play.

For those of you who still want to give Wrestle Online a try, you can play it:

HERE<---------------------

The honor is all mine. This thread is fantastic and I thought I knew a lot about Pro wrestling video games but apparently not LOL 


thanks for all the hard work

Like many of us, Patman is an old school Wrestling fan. Through Pat's Ninja Gaiden videos I discovered the unofficial inclusion of The Road Warriors (see previous posts in this tread).

If guest characters in a Japanese Baseball game wasn't obscure enough for you, it's time to bring up another medium I've never talked about before: handheld LCD games.
To start, let's take a look at:


Big Wrestler

(Known in Japan as "ビッグレスラー")
(Can also be found using the following text "ビッグレスラー LCD ボードゲーム")

Big Wrestler is a handheld LCD game released by Japanese publisher Gakken (who are best known for their 1980's tabletop LCD Pacman knockoff called
"Super Puck Monster") in 1983.

Besides being your typical handheld, Big Wrestler also came bundled with it's own board game that was to be used in conjunction while playing.



The front cover features two Luchadors performing a Brainbuster. The one on the left is based on Mil Mascaras, while the Wrestler on the right reminds me of The Destroyer mixed with
the extra mask Mil would throw to the audience before a match.



The LCD handheld with board game mat. Obviously, the Luchador is once again based on Mil Mascaras; this time, performing his signature Flying Crossbody on a Wrestler
who looks like Jumbo Tsuruta.

Seeing as the board has three "start" sections (and All Japan Pro-Wrestling didn't invent the Triple Crown Championship until a few years later), I'm assuming up to three
players could participate in Big Wrestler.



Additional graphics show different Wrestling manuevers available in game. The manuevers shown are:

Dropkick    Cobra Twist    Brainbuster

Piledriver                        Elbow Drop


The illustrations of the Wrestlers themselves in the middle are clearly inspired by Antonio Inoki and Stan Hansen.



The Big Pro-Wrestling (Arcade 1983)

(Known in Japan as ザ・ビッグプロレスリング )

In previous posts, we talked about one of the very first Wrestling games ever made: Tag Team Wrestling. The Big Pro-Wrestling is the
Japanese Arcade version of the game:


You may even notice Abdullah The Butcher at the bottom of the picture on the right.

In the Japanese version, the player controls "The Gemini Brothers" Sunny and Terry (who are based on Antonio Inoki and supposedly Tatsumi Fujinami or Seiji Sakaguchi).

The heel Wrestlers are Mad Bull Giant (Andre The Giant), Bloody Mask (Mil Mascaras) and a special character that only appears outside the ring:




A Wrestler inspired by Tiger Jeet Singh wades through the audience.



Seats are strewn and audience members scatter as Tiger begins attacking the opponent from outside the ring!
You may also notice AJPW referee Jo Higuchi standing by as well.

From the above promotional poster, Tiger's name is hard to make out. From what I can read, Tiger's name is written as

バイオレンス・ シーザ・シニア (Violence Caesar Senior).


Antonio Inoki's theme song is also present during The Gemini Brother's entrance. At the time, both All Japan Pro-Wrestling and New
Japan Pro-Wrestling reportedly approved of The Big Pro-Wrestling - despite the name changes.

As for why the roster was changed for the home console ports? Your guess is as good as mine.