The state of professional wrestling (at least how that label applies to the WWE) right now is in a strange place. Besides Hulk Hogan's "TNA", which has a loyal following, the WWE basically has a monopoly on the entire business. They should be "bigger and better" than ever before. The truth of the matter, though, is that they simply are not, for the simple reason that they have almost zero effectiveness at developing iconic characters anymore. Once upon a time, pro wrestlers were household names even if you didn't watch wrestling. Now, you have to be a "wrestling fan" to know 3/4 of the current wrestlers this game comes with.
Last year's 2K game got it close, offering a tantalizing portion of old-school wrestlers and game modes, but 2K14 goes all-in on the nostalgia factor and creates perhaps the best wrestling game I have ever played on a video game console.
Basically, this franchise had to start offering up the classic wrestlers or the interest would have quickly faded. Now that I can use guys like Andre The Giant, Big John Studd, Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase, and Razor Ramon (to name but a few), I feel like I will have hours and hours (days?!) of fun with this game in the future mixing it up with fellow old-school wrestling fan buddies. The possibilities seem endless!
Of course, many sports games are completely and utterly doomed by clunky controls, but 2K seems to have created a very usable system. It is easy enough to "pick up and play" right off the bat, but also loaded with trickier combinations that will take time to master. The oft-maligned "reversal" system has also made a bit more difficult to master, which was a big plus.
Simply put, now that "Madden season" is coming to an end, I can easily say I will log more hours on this game than any other for the foreseeable future. Whether playing the game modes to unlock more classic players or getting some friends over to virtually pummel each other in a TLC match, this game will entertain me for quite some time.
