This thread is basically for discussing the tiers and strategies in wrestling games ranging from no mercy to fire pro wrestling to smackdown vs. raw 07. I know they aren’t played competitively and most of these games have some seriously broken shit in them, but some of them have suprisingly deep gameplay and strats.
Personally the most experience I have is with Smackdown Vs. Raw 06. My friend used to play it online and he learned about all the cheap shit they used (glitches, hacks, and even INFINITTE COMBOES 
) and since I used to play against him I of course was exposed to a lot of the cheapness myself.
Smackdown Vs. Raw 2006 Normal Character tiers (No Created Wrestlers, Default Settings, No infinites)
Top Tier:
Triple H - 2nd highest attribute score in the game just behind Hogan 80’s by 1 point and tied with Kurt Angle. For those unfamiliar with the engine the best way to beat someone is to concentrate on one particular body part and damage it until the health of that one body part is red. Afterwards one strong move that damages the body part you are concentrating on is all it takes to get a 3 count.
Triple H not only has a wide array of moves that concentrate on the head, he also has THE head move - The Pedigree which has the highest damage score to the head which is well above the average finishing move (which is usually 16 damage compared to the pedigree’s 22). If that’s not enough he also has the Triple H Smash (Up+Grapple then Neutral Grapple) which puts the opponent in a Finisher State. (A dizzy state where if you press L1 you can peform your finisher on them) The crazy thing about the Triple H Smash is all the mix up games that you can do with it. Because of the game’s reversal system they have to guess between three possible move types you are going to do and if they guess right then they reverse. The reversals are as follows: Grapple (Reverse by pressing R2 at the right moment), Strike (L2), and Finisher (L2 + R2). Normally most people would be able to do:
Grapple (They are in finisher dizzy state while you are grappling them) then you can strike (which makes the grapple last longer), do a wrestling move, or a finisher (provided you have one stored). Triple H however, can do this:
Grapple (They can be hit with a finisher), Strike (Triple H’s first two strikes are unblockable) then do a triple H Smash. While they are dizzy from the triple H smash you can either try to do the finisher on them right away OR you can get extra damage by grappling them again. They will be so worried about getting hit by a pedigree most people will not guess you will grapple them again and from that point you can start the mix up game all over again.
Triple H is no doubt one of the best characters in the game, but the main thing keeping him from being solidly above everyone else is his trashy running grapples. They don’t keep the opponent on the ground long enough to abuse the stomp glitch which I will go into more detail about later.
Hogan 80’s The highest overall stat points in the game, powerful moves, and the wrestling game’s version of a shoryuken - The Hulk Up Power up. Basically he has a strike where he shakes wildly and if you hit your opponent with that he hulks up, blocks a punch, then hits them in the head. That’s fine except the Hulk Up has such a HUGE hit box and super fast start up time that it can stop almost ANYTHING. If you think your opponent is going to run at you with a clotheline counter it with a hulk up, if you think they are going to do a long range strike then counter it with a hulk up, if you think they are going to do ANYTHING and you have a tiny ammount of space and a tiny ammount of time for it’s start up then just do the hulk up. Hogan is broken and so is his other two versions in this game. Solidly top tier.
Andre The Giant - Ever since No Mercy big characters are very often broken in wrestling games. They either do unfairly ridiculous ammounts of damage, are invincible to most character’s attacks, or both. In this case it’s both, although he isn’t as bad as the Greath Khali in SvR 07 Andre is definantly one of the best normal characters in the game. He is the highest weight class in the game, one weight class higher than Big Show, and in Smackdown '06 big characters cannot be lifted up by characters 2 or more weight classes lower than them. What this means is normal heavyweights like Triple H, The Rock, Austin, and Randy Orton cannot use their wrestlings moves on him that fall under the lift-up category. This is a huge advantage obviously.
The only normal characters that can lift him up are Undertaker, Snitsky, Batista, Kane, Big Show, and other characters that are Super Heavyweights or higher. Despite his modest stat ranking he is no doubt a beast, and in Royal Rumble mode he is downright broken. Definantly a top character.
Big Show - Basically Andre-Light, take everything I said about Andre and balance it out a bit more and you get Big Show. Don’t take that to mean he doesn’t have Sentinelesque stamina and ridiculous damage, because he does. His Show Stopper finishing move is one of the best Body attacking specials in the game and his overall strategy should be to attack the body. Another character that’s a cut above the rest.
Batista - This is a WWE game so don’t be so surprised to see so many muscle bound steroid pumping freaks at the top. Batista has the utterly broken “UFC Punches” (Up+Grapple on the ground) as a ground move that do a whopping 15 damage to the head. (if you recall most head specials, including Randy Orton’s RKO, do 16 damage to the head.) On top of that he has 10 strenght and a tiny speed advantage over other Super Heavyweights for good measure. His specials aren’t as good as Triple H’s (but then again who’s is?), but they most definantly get the job done.
Another note on the “UFC” punches, the super meter in this game which is known as “momentum” is filled up according to the moves you do and the stronger the moves the more meter you get. Well wouldn’t you know that this gives him hella meter and if that were’nt enough it’s also a dirty move which means it gives you double momentum if you play him as a heel character. Let me break it down for you 2 “UFC” punches = Your head on yellow + Batista with a full finishing move meter. Wonderful.
John Bradhaw Layfield - This guy has one of the craziest specials in the game - The clothesline from hell. Remember when I was talking about getting your opponent dizzy to land your finisher? Forget all that, the clothesline from hell is what’s known as a running special which basically means all he has to do is run, press L1, and he can hit you with it, dizzy or not. If that’s not enough it’s a beefy 18 damage to the head and pins you automatically if it lands correctly. This ALONE would be enough to get him up here, but wait there’s more - He has a unblockable grapple strike ala triple h aswell. Combine this with solid stats and good head moves (head punches on the ground that are considered dirty (double meter).
What keeps him from being broken? He’s not a superheavyweight and he has only slightly above average stats. Also since the clothesline from hell is a running special the damage it does runs on a speed modifier and JBL’s speed rating is mediocre at best. If it was a power move I would dare say he’s as good or better than Triple H, but even as is I still think he’s top tier.
Undertaker - Wow, just wow. 91 total attribute rating AND he’s a super heavyweight, that alone should tip you off that he’s a good character, but there is still so much more. He has a good ground submission to quickly finish off a grounded opponent who is on red, and he also has a dirty ground move that targets the head. If that’s not enough most of his standing moves are head moves and his chokeslam (left grapple then neutral grapple) does a pretty nice chunk of damage on it’s own. Also he and his brother Kane have the insanely good running ddt which is just made to be abused.
Overall, I think the main thing holding taker back a bit would be his strikes. They are a tad too slow, but even then he has the big boot which always knocks down (wake up games are a huge part of this game, you can turn the whole game around on one or two knock downs) and all his other overpowered qualities easily make up for that.
Kane - Undertaker-Light, he has a few advantages over his brother such as the tombstone pile driver as a normal move (left grapple then right grapple) and better strikes. I believe he has less stamina however, so he definantly isn’t superior to undertaker although I’d be hard pressed to say he is significantly worse than him either.
Steve Austin - He has a normal stunner move that functions in a lot of the same way the Triple H smash does (although the triple H smash keeps them dizzy longer). Overall he has a grand assortment of head moves and his Special Stone Cold Stunner does 18 damage to the head which is quite above average. I still think Triple H is still the superior character however.
Notable Glitches and Infinite Combos:
Infinite combos in this game are produced with moves that produce a hitstun in which you are not allowed to reverse for a small period of time. If you can chain the same move in during the small timeframe where they are not allowed to reverse than you have yourself a infinte. Here are a few:
Ring Post Infinite: On the outside of the ring press circle+triangle to whip them into the ring post, then before they start to slump down do it again. You will keep whipping them into the ring post and they should not be able to reverse. Note you have to do this immediately after they hit the ring post, if you smash their head into the ring post and roll them inside the ring you are doing it too late. One last thing, it really helps if you are close to the turnbuckle when you do this so you can just grab them afterwards.
Spike Dudley Headbutt infinite: Spike Dudley has a strike (I believe it is up+strike button) in which he falls to his knees and headbutts you. This produces a hit stun where they cannot reverse for a short period of time and so you can just keep headbutting them over and over again. The dangerous thing about this infinite is that A) The headbutt is one of the longest reaching strikes in the game and B) It is fast. Combine this with a spear running grapple and expect to have your friends throw down their remotes and vow never to play you again.
Headbutt number 4 - back grapple infinite: Your character will headbutt them and they will fall to their knees, you must then mmediately headbutt them again. Do this until the opponent is on red and then do a back grapple like the tazzplex which is high damage with the potential to knock them out for the game.
Glitches:
Strike Cancelling - One of the most prominent mix up moves in the game is cancelling your strikes into grapples. The only strikes you are able to do this with are your combination attacks (neutral strike) and this is downright lethal when you use this tactic with Elbow Smash 1 which has like zero start-up and short reach. Why is short reach a good thing you may ask? Because it randomly whiffs and then cancels into a grapple. Still don’t get it? It’s basically it’s as if Magneto’s Tri-jump lk would randomly whiff at times and you would never know if he was going to hit you high or low. Same principle here, sometimes you’ll have to strike reverse, but sometimes it will whiff and you will actually need to use grapple reverse. Note: it whiffs way more randomly when you use it from behind your opponent.
Another important note about strike cancelling, if you cancel a strike into a power grapple the power grapple comes out as a quick grapple. Basically what that means is that power grapples, the grapples which have huge start up time to make up for the fact that the moves you can do off power grapples are the strongest in the game, become quick no start-up grapples when cancelled off a strike. Good to know.
Stomp Glitch - Pretty basic yet many people don’t know about it. Basically when your opponent is grounded you can stomp them and if it connects you can immediately grapple them on the ground. Most ground moves keep your opponent on the ground longer so you can just repeat the process indefinitely. Using the stomp glitch is way safer than normal grappling because the worst you have to worry about if your opponent reverses a stomp is them rolling away. If your opponent reverses your ground grapple you can be in seriously deep shit.
Note that this only works with stomps that have little “recovery time” if you will, if you don’t grapple them the instant after the stomp connects they will be able to reverse it. This means The Rock’s stomp and Kurt Angle’s stomp cannot be used with the stomp glitch and it is also the main reason those two are not in the top tier.
Running Grapple Finisher Glitch - Just so there is no confusion Running Grapple Finishers are different than Running Strike Finishers. A running strike finisher is like JBL’s Clothesline From Hell and Running Big Boot. A Running Grapple special is when you use something like the Running Fame Asser or DDT 3 as a finisher. Basically the glitch makes Running Grapples the most versatile finishers in the game, period. They can be used as back specials, corner specials, pseudo-front specials and running specials. If you use this type of finisher with a ground special then you will be able to hit your finisher from every position except the top rope.
The key to using Running Grapple Specials is knowing when to press L1, you literally have to be a inch away from your opponent or else your finisher will whiff. This may seem like a disadvantage, but the timing isn’t really that hard and the fact that you can do them from so close is actually a game breaking advantage. Let me give you this scenario:
Your opponent is waking up, you are right in his face, before he can even recover you press triangle then immediately press L1… you just hit him with your special. There was no “Press L1 for finisher” sign to warn him, no way for him to prepare, and he’s probably wondering what the hell happened.
Oddly enough running grapples also count as back specials for some reason, basically if you are behind your opponent while he is groggy you will be able to hit your special - WITHOUT running. It will simply say press L1 for finisher as if you had a back special and if you press it your opponent will turn all the way around and get hit by your finisher. If that’s not enough while your opponent is in the corner you can just run at them until you are a inch from their face and press L1… it works there too.
Running Grapple Specials are broken, that’s all I got to say about it, and I’ll go more in depth later if this topic gets any interest. If not lol whatever, I guess it was a big waste of time =) heh.
For those of you who are looking for a more balanced wrestling game I’d suggest looking into Smackdown 07, but if you want I’ll take a stab at making some home rules:
No CAWS, No Infinites, Clean/Dirty momentum at the lowest setting. (check the options menu for this last one). Take care and have fun
- Jin