A selection of interesting facts about the game "WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game" (19 photos)

In 1995, a fun arcade wrestling game “WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game” was released on the Sega mega drive 2 (and not only) consoles. Here are some interesting facts about the popular game that you may not even know about.





1. The game was developed by Midway, which is responsible for the development of such cult games as “Mortal Kombat” and “NBA Jam”. In fact, inspired by their own creations, they decided to release a game about wrestling.



2. One of the creators of the game is Sal Divita, who had a hand in the third part of the game "Mortal Kombat", and also played Nightwolf and all the cyborgs in the game "Mortal Kombat 3".



3. When it came to the characters, the creators decided to include the game of top wrestlers from the WWF wrestling promotion. As with Mortal Kombat, the characters were created using real people (and their movements), which were then digitized and transferred into the game. But the most important thing is that real WWF wrestlers took part in the filming.



But still, among the 8 fighters there was one who did not fall under the top status, namely the clown Doink. The image of the evil clown became interesting, as it stood out from the standard images of wrestlers, so they decided to include it in the promotion too.



By the way, Doink is not a specific person, but only an image that several wrestlers tried on. But specifically in the game we could see wrestler Matt Bourne in the image of Doink. By the way, Doink was the first character we worked with to create the game. The rest of the wrestlers joined in a little later.



4. According to the creators, it was easiest for them to work with Shawn Michaels. If any scene was played imperfectly, he never entered into an argument, but obediently and without any persuasion repeated all the tricks until they were done perfectly.



The creators were amazed that the outwardly goofy wrestler obeyed unquestioningly and did everything he was told.

5. Bret Hart worked not only as an actor and model, but also helped developers when working on sound, namely helping to record sound effects and even music.



John Turk (Sub-Zero and Shang-Tsung in MK 3) and Bret Hart

And in general, the creators noted that Bret Hart is a very creative person and always approached the filming process with soul.

6. Yokozuna (real name Agaptu Rodney Anoa'i) weighed just over 250 kg, so it was difficult for him to record the required movements. In order to facilitate this process, a treadmill was brought to the set especially for it. After this, work with movements immediately improved.



7. By the way, despite the fact that according to legend Yokozuna is a Japanese sumo wrestler, in fact Agaptu Rodney Anoa'i is an American of Samoan origin.

8. While filming Yokozuna's moves, Sal Divita asked the sumo wrestler to do a somersault. This question offended the 200-kilogram wrestler, after which he replied that Sal himself should do a somersault first.



Sal Divita decided to prove to Yokozuna that he was capable of this, especially since he played Nightwolf in the third Mortal, and did a somersault... However, unsuccessfully. While trying to do a somersault, Sal landed poorly and nearly broke his neck.



As a result, as a gesture of reconciliation, Yokozuna and “The Undertaker” invited Sal to a restaurant to “get wet.” And then (according to Sal Divita) it was a complete failure. He woke up on the street near a trash can.

9. Many people know the undertaker's signature image. This is a black robe with purple accents (tie and gloves). But many fans were taken aback when they saw a photo of their favorite hero, where he flaunts a red tie and red glovesX. This confused many, since they had always followed wrestling and did not notice such a change in image.



But everything turned out to be quite simple. The fact is that the fighters were filmed on a blue background (chromakey), and purple colors combined very poorly with blue.



As a result, the Undertaker was given red gloves and a tie, and during digitization they were painted purple.



10. Wrestlers The Steiner Brothers were also supposed to appear in the game, but since they moved from WWF to WCW, it was decided to kick them out of the game. However, Lex Luger, who at the time of the game's creation also left for competitors in WCW, was still retained as a character for the game.



Also, wrestler Kurt "Mr. Perfect" Hennig was supposed to participate in the filming, but he simply did not show up to the set.

11. Of the 8 wrestlers participating in the game, four are no longer alive:

Matt Bourne (Doink) died in 2013 at the age of 55. The cause of death was substance abuse;

Scott Hall (Razor Ramon) passed away on March 14, 2022 at the age of 63. Heart problems made themselves felt, because he had been wearing a pacemaker since 2010;

Agaptu Rodney Anoa'i (Yokozuna) died in 2000 at the age of 34. The cause was pulmonary edema. Well, his excess weight played a significant role in this;

Scott Charles Bigelow (Bam Bam Bigelow) died in 2007 at the age of 45. Traces of numerous narcotic sedatives were found in his blood.



12. Bam Bam Bigelow has the most powerful combo (23 hits). In second place is Undertaker with a 19 hit combo.



13. In addition to the wrestlers in the game, you can also notice commentators Jerry Lawler and Mr. McMahon.



14. The game developers initially did not want to make a sports fighting game. They immediately decided that the game would be tough (like MK), but with elements of the absurd. Therefore, the players were given weapons that they used in the ring. For example, The Undertaker could hit with a tombstone, Doink wielded a hammer, Shawn Michael swung a bat, and Bub Bam Bigelow got fiery fists.



Also, Sal Divita and Michael Turmell decided that the game should have a fatal finishing move, similar to Fatality in MK, but the third developer Vince McMahon killed this idea because he wanted the game to be playable for children.