The Nov. 17 installment of Monday Night Raw on Netflix saw John Cena’s final appearance on the program as an active wrestler. It also saw the return and face-off between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns as they joined their respective groups for the upcoming 5-on-5 match at WarGames. Wedged in between the excitement were the surprises of AJ Lee helping Maxxine Dupri win the women’s Intercontinental Championship, and Dolph Ziggler returning. In such a packed Madison Square Garden show, the spotlight was stolen by Lil Yachty, when he put his silver PSP on display for the camera, showing he was playing SmackDown! vs Raw 2006.
Despite everything that went down on this historic Raw, it was Lil Yachty and his PSP that went viral. Is it because of pop culture’s undying love for Sony’s portable system? Is it because people fondly remember the greatness of the SmackDown! vs. Raw franchise? Or is it because WWE fans don’t care for the newer 2K games?
For those who don’t know, SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006 marked the series’ debut on the PSP and was the final entry in the SmackDown! vs. Raw line to remain PlayStation-exclusive. The game shifted the franchise toward greater realism and authenticity, moving away from the arcade-style feel of earlier titles. It introduced a new momentum bar that dictated the flow of a match, replacing the previous “clean/dirty” and “SmackDown!” meters. Players could choose to wrestle “clean” as a face or “dirty” as a heel, with a stamina system that drained as matches grew more intense; flashier moves meant faster fatigue. SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006 ultimately became the best-selling PlayStation 2 installment in the entire series.
The series began with WWF SmackDown! on the original PlayStation and continued as an annual release, except in 2021. It remained a PlayStation exclusive until WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007, which brought the franchise to additional platforms. In 2013, the series was rebranded as WWE 2K, starting with WWE 2K14.
Back in the day, the SmackDown! vs. Raw games reigned supreme and felt like an evolution of titles from the N64 era, thanks to enhanced graphics. When the franchise transitioned to PlayStation 2, that feeling only intensified as titles with crisp visuals, new gaming modes, and role-playing storylines were steadily introduced.
The PSP release of SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006 adds features not found on its PS2 equivalent, including three exclusive minigames available from the start. The first, “WWE Game Show,” quizzes players with 500 wrestling questions covering everything from music and finishers to history and feuds, sometimes using audio clips or video snippets. The other two minigames are a poker game and “Eugene’s Airplane,” where players guide Eugene (whose gimmick is being an intellectually challenged wrestling savant) around the ring as quickly as possible.
The older SmackDown! vs. Raw games were very whacky, even when they aimed for more realistic gameplay. The franchise transitioned toward full-on simulations with the 2K games, lacking the out-of-the-box ideas of their predecessors. But the older titles also served as time capsules of some of our favorite eras of wrestling.
Maybe fans are nostalgic for a similar, more “fun-based” time in their wrestling games. Perhaps the joy of seeing a celebrity honoring the greatness of the PSP, like the rest of the internet does, is what made folks clamor for Yachty. Or perhaps SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006 was really that great, and reflects an equally great era of wrestling, one that was dominated by John Cena, who will retire from in-ring competition on Dec. 13, at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
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Author: 360 Technology Group
