Wrestler appearances in other video games

At the beginning of this thread, I briefly talked about the World Heroes series. With this post, I'd like to go into greater detail about this 2D
fighter and bring to light a recent fan-made World Heroes hack a few of you might not be aware of:


Muscle Power (Hulk Hogan) provides a vertical suplex to Dragon (Bruce Lee) in the Spiked Wall stage. Don't get too close...



The Land Mine Deathmatch contains mines sprinkled around the stage. Watch your step.
The best part? The mines constantly re-spawn.



The Thunderbolt Deathmatch is a real shocker. Laser beams constantly rain down (with holes in the sand
marking the danger spots). Come in contact with one and you'll become the most electrifying man in sports
entertainment.



The Sawblade Deathmatch involves a single sawblade moving back and forth throughout the stage.
Not only does the sawblade take out chunks of damage, it can also stun you into taking multiple hits
at once. Ouch.



The Barbed Wire Deathmatch is a tribute to FMW's No Rope Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch. The left and right
edges of this stage contain re-spawning bombs which explode on impact.



The most comical option is the Haircut Deathmatch; which takes it's inspiration from the classic match stipulation
found in Lucha Libre.



Even in the slippery Oil Slick Deathmatch, Hulkamania's Leg Drop can't be stopped.

The Oil Slick Deathmatch bridges the gap in matches; pushing opponents closer or further away depending on direction.



The Metal Mesh Deathmatch is a modified cage match. No ring? No problem.

The danger here is the limited space available for both fighters to move around in; keeping the match in close quarters.
World Heroes Supreme Justice (Hack)

From the same creator that brought us Double Dragon Reloaded (which has already been covered in this thread), comes another
free to download fan-made hack using the Openbor engine.



A mixture of likenesses from the World Heroes saga are all playable characters.

 



Supreme Justice is a two player beat em up that includes enemies from other fighting games such as Fighter's History.



My favourite mode is survival which acts as Supreme Justice's Royal Rumble of sorts. Two players can participate in the six man mayhem.




You can't get any more Real American than Tomahawk's second attire.

There's also Ryuji, the typical Mas Oyama/Ryu Japanese Karateka and Ninja who serves as a carbon copy
to Virtua Fighter's Kage.



Fighter's History 2 contains two more pop culture references. D-Dog is based on famed Basketball player and former NWO
member Dennis Rodman while Dixon is likely based on "Firestarter" singer Keith Flint of the band Prodigy.



Wrestler Tomahawk was replaced by German Wrestler Ziege in Fighter's Destiny 2. I guess Tomahawk's likeness was too close to
Wolf Hawkfield.

Design wise, Ziege may be based on famed Russian Wrestler Alexander Karelin. Both have worn traditional Wrestling unitards, spot
shaved heads and Karelin's famous nickname was "The Experiment" (Ziege's stage is a laboratory and looks to be a robot).

Around the time of Fighter's Destiny 2's production in Japan, Alexander Karelin was making headlines around the world for coming out
retirement to take on Akira Maeda for Maeda's last match in 1999.

Speaking of obscure video games with Wrestling subtleties, here's one some of you may have missed in the mid 90's:

Tobal No. 1. (PS1)

Released in 1996, Tobal No. 1. is a 3D fighter which featured a fresh batch of characters created by Akira Toriyama
(the man responsible for the Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump franchises).



When most 3D fighters at the time were confined to 1 on 1 tournaments, Tobal broke new ground by featuring
an innovative quest mode with various levels, enemies, objects and bosses.

Besides the standard versus modes, Quest mode offered the chance for players to explore open levels with RPG
elements implemented such as levelling up, acquiring items (food, potions, tools) and even weapons!



Graphically, Tobal No. 1. is quite blocky and is reminiscent of Final Fantasy VII




...which was deceptively bundled with Tobal No. 1. for western audience as a demo disc.



For those familiar with Akiyama's work, it's not uncommon for Akiyama to incorporate real-life references into his work
(the early Dragon Ball characters being inspired by Journey to the West, DBZ names following themes such as
vegetables and clothing, etc...)

For Tobal's diverse roster, I have a few theories of my own that I thought I'd share with everyone:




One of the largest characters in the Tobal series is Russian Pro-Wrestler Mary Ivonskaya.

Mary uses all the standard Pro-Wrestling tropes such as knife edge chops, powerbombs, dropkicks and
even a brainbuster. Since Joshi Pro Wrestling was huge in the mid 90's, I'd like to think that Mary was
based on Reggie Bennett.



Tobal No. 1. also has an intergalactic theme going; which I think was heavily inspired by the Star Wars
franchise. The first instance that comes to mind is Tobal's whimsical robotic fighter Hom - which bares
a resemblance to Star War's C3PO.



First boss character Mufu's heavy set body and frog-like appearance brings to mind Jabba The Hut.



Second boss Nork looks like a gamorrean...which Jabba the Hut used as guards.



The tiny Final boss Emperor Udan brings to mind Yoda with attire inspired by Supreme Kai. Both have weird
voices and their names even sound similar.

I wouldn't be surprised if Udan was recycled years later to become Beerus in the Dragon Ball Z series...



Gren Kutz and Tobal poster boy Chuji Wu make me think of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo.




Rooster humanoid Oliems and Chinese Master Fei Pusu could very well be loosely based Chewbacca and Obi Wan
(but...that's a stretch).

Design-wise, Fei looks like a recycled "Old Kai" from the DBZ series mixed in with Master Roshi. Oliems makes me
think of Android 16, too.

Even with a Final Fantasy VII demo disc, Tobal No. 1. fell under the radar of many fighting game fans; leaving it's
sequel Tobal. 2. as a Japan-only sequel.

Still, how many games can you think of that allows you to get DDT'd by a frog standing on it's hind legs?

But, Tobal No. 1. wouldn't be the first creation of Toriyama's to feature Wrestling and pop culture references:



Hulk Hogan can be spotted as an unnamed preliminary contestant in Dragon Ball.



Yajirobe wears a Destroyer mask for his tournament entry.



Hulk Hogan appears once again as "Quarrelman". A shoot on Kinnikuman's Neptune Man - another character
inspired by Hulk Hogan.



Giant fighter Gregor is based on Andre The Giant.



Gregor also has a brother called Antoine The Great. Just in case you couldn't live with just one Andre reference
in the Dragon Ball series.



Udo is based on Stan Hansen. Stan Hansen also appears in Toriyama's Dr. Slump manga.



Bruce Lee also makes an appearance. Losing to a young Goku.



Let's not forget "Jackie Chun" the fake name Master Roshi went under to test his pupils in disguise.

EA Sports UFC series

EA Sports UFC 1
Cain Velasquez vs Brock Lesnar


EA Sports UFC Undisputed 3


EA Sports UFC 4


EA Sports UFC Mobile


UFC 1 had Ronda Rousey, Brock Lesnar, Cain Velasquez.
UFC 2 had Ronda Rousey, Josh Barnett, Cain Velasquez.
UFC 3 Undisputed had Ronda Rousey, Cain Velasquez, Dan Severn, Bob Sapp, Brock Lesnar, Don Frye.
UFC 4 had Ronda Rousey, Brock Lesnar, Cain Velasquez, Dan Severn, Tyson Fury.


EA Sports MMA


EA Sports MMA had Bobby Lashley, Josh Barnett, Bob Sapp, Ken Shamrock, Don Frye.

Don't think I got them all...

The last EA martial arts game I liked was EA MMA, the roster was great and they included PRIDE rules, no one else (save for FP) had that at the time. Battles between the shamrocks, and of course, there’s El Guapo!

Oh man, I think I had that game now that I think about it! Oops.

Yeah, using emelianenko and couture was fun, and I don’t think frank shamrock has made it into any other “modern “ ufc game.

Quadros/Bas was a great team!

Sometimes, video games characters are inspired by more than just real life personalities. Sometimes character inspirations are lifted
from other video games:

Virtua Fighter may be the first 3D fighting game, but the game's roster seems to be based on other properties. Virtua Fighter's initial
release was in October of 1993, just one month after Super Street Fighter 2 - The New Challengers. Here's some theories:



Wolf Hawkfield - seems to be inspired by another Indigenous grappler: Street Fighter's T.Hawk. They even have similar names!
                       Though, I think Wolf's facepaint and appearance may also be based on FMW's Big Titan.

Akira Yuki - one of many Mas Oyama/Ryu clones.

Sarah Bryant - the spandex clad blonde bombshell is reminiscent of Street Fighter's Cammy.

Jacky Bryant - this upbeat and cocky American fighter is the yin to Akira's Yang. Kind of like Street Fighter's Ken and Ryu.

Kage Maru - the token Japanese Ninja brings to mind Geki from the original Street Fighter.

Jeffrey McWild - based on Willie Williams. Interestingly, Jeffrey's bio says he likes Reggae music. Which makes me think of Street Fighter's Deejay, too.

Lau Chan - may be inspired by another Chinese master: Gen from the original Street Fighter. Both characters also own their own
        restaurants.

Pai Chan - the token Chinese female fighter may be based on Chun-Li or Star from the Yie Ar Kung Fu series.



Final boss Dural looks just like World Heroes's final boss Geegus. Dural uses a moveset crafted from multiple fighters while Geegus
can take on the form of any combatant at will.



An early model design for Tekken's Nina Williams (left) which looks a lot like Virtua Fighter's Pai Chan. It's easy to see why this concept was adjusted for the finished
look in Nina's appearance in the original Tekken (right).



Fatal Fury's Marco Rodriguez/Khushnood Butt (I wish I was making the second name up) is also based on Willie Williams.

Tao makes perfect sense now that you mention it. I humbly rescind yesterday's theory.
And thank you for contributing to this thread!