Ultra Pro Wrestling’s showcase has dropped and with it comes the first in-game footage and a metric-ton of roster announcements. We got to see intros that pay homage to Virtual Pro Wrestling 2’s full walkouts from the backstage area to the ring with “Blue Collar” Bill Dollar facing “Sir” Oliver Buckingham. The light and hard strikes and grapples were shown off and the strikes definitely have the same feel as No Mercy in terms of reactions and selling. The grapples seem a tad floaty, but this is pre-alpha footage and that can always be tightened up. The go-behind animation definitely needs some work and the snap German based on one of Dr. Death’s variants in the Aki engine looks pretty good overall.
The roster announcements were huge, with Matt Cardona probably being the biggest modern-day name announced - and someone with a lot of different gimmicks you may put in even from this non-WWE run. Ultra Pro Wrestling being an homage to the Aki engine creates an interesting what if scenario since we had WWF and WCW games with that engine - but never an ECW one. There were ex-ECW stars featured in it to some degree with Raven in WCW/NWO Revenge and Mike Awesome, Hayabusa, and Jinsei Shinzaki being homaged in VPW 2 - but never a large-scale recreation of the company. Now, ECW stalwarts Nova, Francine, Louie Spicolli, Al Snow, and 2 Cold Scorpio will be in. Scorpio hasn’t been in a game officially sinceAll-Star Pro Wrestling IIIon the PS2 and was another wrestler popular with Fire Pro recreations. He’s also someone who was a good decade ahead of his time style-wise.
Fans of Gangrel who wanted him fully in No Mercy will be happy to have him in this game officially, while underrated legend of the underground and a wrestler whose influence is felt more today than it was in his time in Kanyon will be featured in the game as well - alongside his Mortis persona. His rival Glacier now joins the lineup alongside the already-known Wrath/Bryan Clark/Adam Bomb - so when combined with Arn Anderson being in, this is quickly becoming a must-own game for WCW fans. Devon Storm AKA Crowbar gets his first official video game treatment outside of WCW Backstage Assault, which really doesn’t count given the game’s complete lack of a wrestling ring. Buff Bagwell will be featured here after still having the definitive Buff Blockbuster animation in WCW/NWO Revenge.
In some of the biggest news for international wrestling fans, Bull Nakano gets her first 3D gaming incarnation ever and perhaps the only official version of her in a game yet. She was of course a legendary fixture as Legally Not Bull Nakano in Fire Pro Wrestling over the years, but one of the most influential wrestlers of the past 30 years will finally be in a game. In a surprising move, Brother Devon of WWE, TNA, and ECW fame joins the lineup alongside modern-day indy star Warhorse and the Sandman. Dynamite Kid joining the lineup is a huge deal as he’s been rarely put into games and yet his style was perfect for this engine. I made him in No Mercy and was able to have some real classics - and hopefully the creation suite here allows for a good Tiger Mask recreation.
Tito Santana joining the lineup is fantastic as he was a great worker and a perfect stylistic match for this kind of gameplay engine with how his matches flowed. The Powers of Pain will be fun for anyone who loves steamrolling folks in squashes and this is the first official game for the Warlord and the first since Revenge for the Barbarian - who never really got his just due in pro wrestling. If he’d come around today, with his size and workrate, he’d have gotten a far better shake than just someone who got the illusion of a push in both the Powers of Pain with Warlord and Faces of Fear with Meng/Haku. “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan is absolutely perfect for this engine too as he was a fantastic punch and kick wrestler and his style was a blast to recreate in No Mercy and should be even better here. There are so many different versions of his career to draw on too - from Mid-South to the WWF and WCW run.
Jake Roberts was recently featured in WrestleQuest and will appear to be using his fantastic blue and flame gear from his heel ‘91 run in UPW. This will be his first non-WWE 3D game appearance ever and it’s fantastic to see him still around to get his flowers for his influence across the board. Roberts, Duggan, and now “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff will also help make this feel like a nice homage to Mid-South Wrestling’s history. Orndorff has been in very few games, but his blend of a hard-hitting style with a lot of physical charisma has always blended well with any game I’ve made him in and it’s surprising he hasn’t been in more games given just how big he was as a draw in the ’80s WWF run.
