In recent times, WWE games haven’t given us original storylines to play through as part of its season mode while real-life angles are recreated as part of the title's story mode. This has led to newer gamers not realizing that older WWE games were rich with quality plot lines that put most real-life stories to shame.
The best part was that we got to steer the vehicle with these arcs, allowing superstars who generally got overlooked to receive starring roles. Having said that, it’s time for you to check out these 10 WWE season mode angles that turned out to be better than those you’ve seen on TV.
10 Better Than Utopia
MVP was easily one of the most underrated wrestlers WWE ever signed on, and unfortunately, he’s been gone for almost a decade by this point. His greatest moment is arguably the “Better Than Utopia” angle introduced in WWE SmackDown vs Raw 2008.
In this storyline, MVP creates a faction to antagonize John Cena, just with the added twist was this group actually becomes its own nation. It was complete with rules MVP devised, and John had to overcome all the obstacles of this “country” to put an end to MVP’s evil rule.
9 Breaking The Undertaker's Streak
Weirdly enough, the most terrifying part of the Undertaker wasn’t seen in his 30-year in-ring career, but in a video game. As one of the license's more memorable “Road to WrestleMania” storylines, the superstar picked by the player is heavily antagonized by the Undertaker in the lead-up to the event.
This involves being literally possessed by the Undertaker, along with falling prey to his number of mind games, where the Undertaker’s powers made it feel as if you really were descending into Hell. Filled with druids, eerie corridors, and the Undertaker popping up unannounced, this was horror injected into wrestling.
8 Winning All The Titles
The Sheamus from 2009 to 2014 was the best version of the Celtic Warrior, and WWE was aware of the wrestler's dominance. So much so, WWE ‘12’s “Road to WrestleMania” has Sheamus going after every title.
Impressively, Sheamus does win every single title - even the tag championships for some reason - capping off a superb heel storyline. It’s no secret the contemporary fan favors villains more, so it was a treat to have the bad guy win for a change, as Sheamus cashed in on his dominance to conquer every title in WWE.
7 Friendship Scenario
Batista and Rey never reconciled after Survivor Series 2009, which is a shame as we loved the friendship they once had. This makes this year’s “Road to WrestleMania” all the sweeter, as the storyline tests their friendship.
There were many obstacles in the way of this unorthodox friendship, but for once, betrayal was not one of them; rather, it was a heartwarming angle of the strength of their brotherhood as the story culminated in either one of them triumphing over the other but confirming their friendship would outlast anything.
6 Chris Jericho's Mystery Attacker
Chris Jericho’s Y2J gimmick is something we really miss. Although he’s always killed it with whatever gimmick he’s come up with, his most famous one will remain the original. This angle saw Jericho being antagonized by his own mannerisms, as cryptic messages appeared to distract him.
This would cause Jericho to lose focus and consequently, his match. As the messages continued, a mystery assailant was eventually introduced. It was an effective and mysterious story, circling around the investigation behind the identity of this cryptic attacker.
5 Christian's Ascent
It’s a crying shame Christian still isn’t in the Hall of Fame, but at least we got to see a main event caliber storyline he never got in real life. You can consider this story something of an alternate reality, as here Christian shifted from ECW to different brands and took his rise toward the main event picture.
What followed was a topsy-turvy affair, where the player could either choose to challenge Christian’s buddy Edge for the top prize or have Edge be in his corner as Christian pursued the other world title. Either way, it was great to see Christian bask in the spotlight.
4 The UK Faction
WWE actually did try to replicate a storyline from the video games, as the League of Nations were the live-action version of the United Kingdom faction. Comprising of Wade Barrett, Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio, and Rusev, the League of Nations was a total failure, but the United Kingdom storyline was a win.
In this angle, William Regal grew tired of being overlooked and formed a faction of men with similar origins. While Sheamus wasn’t from the UK, he still was part Regal’s group, which also included Drew McIntyre and Wade Barrett. It was a fine example of William Regal’s potential as a dastardly villain.
3 Eddie Guerrero Controls The Undertaker
Lie, Cheat, and Steal was the motto of Eddie Guerrero, and you got all of that in this scenario, where the wrestler gains control of the Undertaker’s urn. Using this artifact, Eddie has complete access to Undertaker’s action, which naturally leads to him employing the Deadman’s services for nefarious means.
A heel Eddie Guerrero was the best version of him and, with no TV rules to restrict him, this ended up being both a hilarious and oddly unsettling story that was early proof of just how awesome video game storylines could be for the WWE.
2 Rey Mysterio's Amnesia
Rey Mysterio has been a good guy during his entire WWE run, which makes this an entertaining subversion, as this story showcases an evil Rey. The plot kicked off with Rey getting into an accident, something that gave him amnesia.
Jack Swagger, the true villain of this story, took advantage of this situation and feigned being Rey’s friend. This led to a heel Rey who had no problems taking shortcuts and being a downright jerk to people. It’s too bad we’ll never get to see this in the actual WWE, which makes this a special story that reveals Rey’s mettle as a bad guy.
1 Shawn Michaels' Retirement
Funnily enough, the feud between Shawn Michaels and JBL happened in real life almost at the same time as this angle played out in WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010. However, the game version takes the victory due to Shawn being more of a cool figure than the down-on-his-luck attitude of his real-life persona.
In this story, Shawn was regularly attacked by JBL and his cronies, with the latter wanting a shot at the world championship that Shawn held. This led to an angle where every person Shawn trusts ends up betraying him due to Bradshaw paying them off, culminating in a final fight where Shawn defeats JBL and forces him to quit.