6 Facts About RetroMania Wrestling

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, arcades were more popular than ever. With classic arcade games like Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Simpsons, Mario Bros., and so many others, a trip to the arcade could be a great (and expensive way) to spend an afternoon.

Among the more popular arcade titles in the early 1990s was a game called WWF WrestleFest, which made sense, considering the undeniable popularity of the World Wrestling Federation at that time, with stars like Hulk Hogan, Macho Man Randy Savage, Andre the Giant, and many others. The game was never ported to home consoles, yet 30 years later, the spiritual successor to the game would hit home consoles everywhere.

Here are 6 fascinating RetroMania Wrestling facts.

1. 1. RetroMania Wrestling is the only pro wrestling video game to ever feature the Blue World Order as a faction. (source) The launch roster of the game included the entire unit of the Blue World Order, featuring the Blue Meanie, Hollywood Nova and Stevie Richards. While all three of these men have appeared in video game as playable wrestlers before, several times over, they’ve never appeared as the Blue World Order. As the Blue World Order (bWo), they were a very popular trio in the 1990s in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), and later had a short-lived run in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

2. 2. More than a third of the RetroMania Wrestling game roster had never appeared in a video game prior. (source) Of the 19 professional wrestlers who were included in RetroMania Wrestling, 31.6% of them had never been playable in any video games prior, despite some of them being active in the world of wrestling for decades. Along with the game’s default NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Nick Aldis, others who were in their first ever video game include Austin Idol, Warhorse, Jeff Cobb, Chris Bey and Mr. Hughes.

3. 3. In 2021, RetroMania Wrestling became the best-selling game ever on iiRcade. (source) The iiRcade is a home console that was released in early 2021, following a successful Kickstarter campaign. By the time that 2021 came to a close, more than 300 titles had been made available on these home arcade cabinets, but it was RetroMania Wrestling that became the console’s best-seller in its first year. The five best-selling games of iiRcade in 2021 were RetroMania Wrestling, Space Ace, Riptipe GP Renegade, Burger Time and Oddmar.

4. 4. RetroMania Wrestling is actually a remake of a classic arcade game from 1991. (source) In WWF WrestleFest was released in 1991, it quickly became one of the most popular games throughout arcades all over the United States. It made its way to the arcades at the height of WWE’s (then the WWF) popularity, with its roster including the likes of Hulk Hogan, the Ultimate Warrior, Jake ‘the Snake’ Roberts, and many others. RetroMania Wrestling was created as a successor to that game, using the same visuals, gameplay style and more. In WWF WrestleFest, Hawk and Animal of the Road Warriors were the final bosses, but were not playable in any version of the game, yet are playable in RetroMania Wrestling.

5. 5. RetroMania Wrestling is the only wrestling game ever to feature an arena based around the popular WWF Hasbro toy rings of the late 1980s and early 1990s. (source) The hobby of toy collecting is seemingly more popular today than ever before, and the two professional wrestlers today who are most synonymous with the hobby are none other than former WWE talent Matt Cardona and Brian Myers. When the two were released from their WWE contracts in early 2020, they signed a deal to become part of RetroMania Wrestling’s launch roster. Along with their inclusion would come an arena with the ring having the same look and feel of the classic, old school blue wrestling ring that had been a staple of the WWF action figure line from Hasbro that ran from the late 1980s and into the early 1990s. The original Hasbro line of pro wrestling action figures remains one of the most popular even today.

6. 6. The RetroMania Wrestling iiRcade arcade cabinet was an item up for bids on the Price is Right. (source) Come on down! In 2022, bidders on the Price is Right had to take their guesses on the cost of one of the RetroMania Wrestling arcade cabinets. The actual retail price was over $800.00.

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