Click the game once so it picks up your keyboard. Controllers work as soon as you press a button. Press M to mute.

CREATE-A-WRESTLER

Design a wrestler from the boots up, including his entrance, pyro and theme music. Start from a classic template or build from scratch. Save him and he shows up on the select screen. Share codes and links let you send wrestlers to friends, and you can back up your whole roster to a file.

STARTER TEMPLATES

Pick a classic look, then change anything. It loads as a new wrestler, so your roster stays untouched until you save.

FABRIC STARTERS

Pick a material and it sets his trunks or tights (and his top, if he wears one) to that fabric with matching colors.

ROSTER

SHARE CODE

BACKUP YOUR ROSTER

Save every wrestler you made (with photos) to one file, or load a file a friend sent. Handy before you clear your browser or switch devices.

CONTROLLER

Move: Left stick or D-pad
Grapple: A tap: quick lock-up. Hold: heavy grapple
Strike: X tap: jab combo. Hold: big strike
Run: B (back on menus)
Reverse: LB or RB as he attacks. Hold to guard
Taunt / Special: Y, LT or flick the right stick
Low kick: RT
Start / pause: Menu
Move Lab: LB/RB pick a setting, stick up/down changes it, left/right picks the keyframe, LT held scrubs, A plays, Y pauses, hold RT to reset, B done. In the move list LB/RB jump between groups.

With a controller plugged in, every on-screen prompt shows the Xbox buttons. Options > Controls shows the full map.

PLAYER 1 KEYBOARD

Move: W A S D
Grapple: K tap or hold
Strike: J tap or hold
Run: L
Reverse: U or O (hold to guard)
Taunt / Special: H
Low kick: I
Start: Enter

1-player only: arrows with X grapple, Z strike, C run, B/N reverse, right Shift special.

PLAYER 2 KEYBOARD

Move: Arrow keys
Grapple: . or Num 2
Strike: , or Num 1
Run: / or Num 3
Reverse: ;, P, Num 4 or Num 6
Taunt / Special: ] or Num 0
Low kick: ' or Num 5

HOW A MATCH GOES

Game modes. Press Start on the title screen to open the menu. Singles is one on one. Tag Team is two on two: stand in your corner near your partner and taunt to tag him in. Tag in a healthy partner while your man is hurting for a HOT TAG. Partners on the apron break up pins, and heel partners take cheap shots when the ref looks away. Last Man Standing is one on one under hardcore rules (no disqualifications, no count-outs, chairs, kendo sticks, trash cans and tables everywhere) with no pins or submissions: run a man out of energy and he is knocked out cold, and the referee counts to ten. Mash any button to get back up before ten; every time you go down it gets harder. Backstage Brawl takes the fight out of the arena: pick the loading dock, the parking garage or the catering room, all full of weapons, with no ring and no ropes, and pins count anywhere. In the Scaffold Match both men climb up to the scaffold during their entrances; stand at either end and grab to climb the tower to the diving platform, but the more you dive off it the more likely you are to miss and sail right off the scaffold. In the Ladder Match the title (or a briefcase) hangs high above the ring and pins do not count: grab a ladder, carry it to the middle and grab again to set it up, then grab at its foot to climb and mash to pull the prize down. If he is climbing, grab at the foot to tip the ladder over, hold up and grab to climb after him, or strike to pull him off; two men at the top slug it out, and from the top you can dive onto a man lying in the ring. Every match type also turns up in Career Mode and Booker Mode, and in Championships you choose the match type for the title match. In a Tables Match pins do not count; the only way to win is to put him through a table. The Death Match is a Japanese-style hardcore war: the ropes are barbed wire (every whip, rope run and trip over the top cuts him up), light tubes shatter into glass on every shot, barbed wire boards and barbed wire tables wait at ringside, and there are no rules at all. Championships shows every champion; pick a belt to challenge for it, and if the challenger wins, the title changes hands for good (it is saved on this device). In a Singles or Hardcore match, if either wrestler is a champion you get a WHAT'S ON THE LINE? choice after picking: a non-title match, any one belt, or WINNER TAKES ALL (when two champions meet, every belt goes to the winner). A wrestler who holds more than one belt carries them all: one around his waist, one over his shoulder and the rest in his hand. Before every title match the referee takes the gold and holds it up for the crowd. Career Mode is a full storyline: debut, the Television title, a manager who wants to sign you, a betrayal, the Hardcore and United States titles, a Tables Match at SlamFest, the Tag titles with your rival, and the road to the World title at Monday Night Mayhem. Your choices make you a babyface or a heel, and it saves your progress. After every match you can pick Rematch, a new match, or go back to the main menu. The main menu also has a switch to turn blood on or off.

Player or CPU. On the select screen, press up or down to set each side to Player or CPU. Press Taunt there to set the CPU to Easy, Normal or Hard (it remembers your choice). Set both to CPU to sit back and watch a simulated match. CPU vs CPU matches are booked for drama: they run longer, build to big near-falls and 2.9 kickouts, someone may kick out of a finisher, and you will see whips, corner spots, top-rope dives and the occasional table. The losing wrestler fights harder, so expect comebacks and near-falls.

Roster, managers and belts. 37 wrestlers and six tag teams, each with his own style, moves, entrance, music, catchphrase and celebration. Some come to the ring with a manager. Heel managers distract the referee, trip you when you run the ropes, pull the referee out of a pinfall, slide weapons in and hit you with a briefcase, cane or lantern when you brawl near them at ringside (if the ref catches them, they get thrown out). Coach Hank rallies the crowd for his babyfaces and yanks heel managers off the apron. Champions carry their belt to the ring and get introduced as champions.

Fighting outside. Hold a direction into the side ropes to roll out to the floor, and hold toward the ring to roll back in. Run in a grapple toward the ropes when he is near them to throw him over the top rope, and heavy blows near the ropes can send him flying over. On the floor, whips send him into the steel barricade or the ring apron. Run at the ropes when he is on the floor for a dive through them. The ref counts to ten when one man is outside (no count in Hardcore), pins only count in the ring (except Hardcore), and tapping Grapple on a downed man outside rolls him back in.

Tag team rules. On the tag team select screen press Low to pick the rules: Normal, Hardcore, Tables or Death Match. In the no-DQ rules weapons and tables are out, and partners can jump in any time.

Double teams. In a tag match, grapple him near your own corner and press Taunt: your partner jumps in and you hit a double-team move together (double suplex, double chokeslam, double powerbomb and more). With your special meter full it becomes your team's own tag team finisher, and your partner cuts off the save, so it almost always ends it. In no-DQ rules you can double team anywhere, and a double powerbomb onto a set-up table goes right through it.

Smart tag partners. The CPU tags out when it is hurt, makes quick tags while it is in control, cuts the ring off so you cannot reach your partner, whips you into its own corner for a double team, breaks up pins and submissions, and heel partners distract the referee from the apron.

Pins. Splash-style dives (splash, frog splash, moonsault, shooting star press, 450, senton) roll straight into the cover. Grapple a doubled-over or staggered man while holding away from him for a roll-up (heels grab the tights). Some grapple reversals turn into a small package, catching a man off the ropes can become a sunset flip, and late in the match suplexes end with a leg-hook cover. Cocky heels sometimes cover with a foot on the chest. That one rarely gets the three.

Finishers end matches. A regular move rarely gets the three count. Big top-rope moves, roll-ups and above all finishers do. The CPU saves its finisher for the end of the match, once or twice at most.

Facing the crowd. Wrestlers turn toward the camera when they walk toward you, show their backs (and the name on their jacket) when they walk away, face the crowd for entrance poses, taunts, the introductions and celebrations, and turn smoothly back to the side when the fighting starts. The referee turns to the crowd to raise the gold before a title match.

Tag brawls. When a partner breaks up a pin, the other partner may storm in too and the two of them brawl until the referee orders them out, sometimes tossing one to the floor. A hot tag often knocks the other partner off the apron. Partners on the apron rally the crowd and beg for the tag.

Mash meter. When you are down, pinned or caught in a hold, a fist pounds an arcade button in your corner of the screen (GET UP!, KICK OUT!, BREAK FREE!) and flashes red each time you press. In tag matches a red arrow bounces over your partner when you can tag. Powerhouses walk the man around overhead before a gorilla press slam, and the camera rises to follow big lifts and dives off the top rope.

Instant replay. After the bell the TV truck plays back the finish in slow motion. Press any button to skip it.

Title matches. Before a title match the referee holds the gold up in the middle of the ring and the screen shows what is on the line.

Blood. Weapon shots, table spots, big finishers and the ten-punch count can bust a man open. He bleeds on the mat for the rest of the match. Turn it on or off from the main menu.

Personality. Every wrestler has a fighting style that changes how the CPU wrestles him (brawler, powerhouse, high-flyer, technician, showman or cheater), his own stance, a catchphrase, and his own victory celebration after the referee raises his hand. Set all three for your own wrestlers in the creator.

Heels and babyfaces. Babyfaces get cheered, heels get booed and pelted with trash. Heels fight dirty: when the ref is distracted (watch for the orange warning), a low kick becomes a low blow that doubles him over. Babyfaces get one comeback per match: taunt while under 35% health to get fired up, with extra momentum and harder hits.

Momentum. Landing offense, taunting and reversals slowly fill the special meter under your health. Taking a beating barely fills it, so you have to earn it.

Signature. Every wrestler has his own signature: it is his heavy grapple with no direction. Hold Grapple to lock him up, then press Grapple again.

Finisher. When the meter is full it flashes SPECIAL for about 16 seconds. Grapple him (quick or heavy) and press Special to hit your finisher, or climb the ropes while he is down and press Special for your top-rope finisher. Using it empties the meter.

Reversals. Press Reverse just as he attacks. It reads what he is doing: grab reversals steal the hold, move reversals turn his move back on him, and strike reversals block and fire back. Finishers and signatures cannot be reversed. Hold Reverse to guard; heavy strikes break the guard.

Grapples. Like No Mercy: tap Grapple for a quick collar-and-elbow lock-up, hold it for a heavy grapple that doubles him over in a front facelock. Then press Grapple or Strike, with or without a direction, for one of your 20 moves. Every wrestler has his own moveset (pick one in the move list below). The menu on screen shows what each button will do.

Whips. Press Run in a grapple to Irish whip him. Left or right sends him into the ropes; up or down sends him into a corner. On the rebound, tap Strike or hold Strike for your style's counter (clothesline, big boot or dropkick), or tap or hold Grapple to catch him with a slam. Each style has its own whip moves.

Corners. When he is stunned in the corner, tap Grapple for your style's corner attack (chops, shoulder thrusts, the ten-punch count or a choke on the ropes) or hold Grapple for a heavy one, like a superplex off the top. Running at him hits a corner splash. Hold up or down as you grapple him in the corner to sit him on the top turnbuckle for a move off the top: a superplex, top-rope frankensteiner, avalanche powerbomb or top-rope belly to belly, depending on your style (tap or hold Grapple for the two choices).

Seated opponent. A hurt man often sits up dazed before he gets to his feet. Tap Strike to kick him in the back (or the chest if he faces you); three kicks put him flat. Hold Strike for your style's big shot (soccer kick, jumping elbow or basement dropkick), hold up for a jumping elbow or down for a basement dropkick. Press Low for an elbow to the head, run at him and strike for a running knee (hold for a basement dropkick), or grapple to haul him up.

Chain suplexes. During a regular, vertical, German, belly-to-belly or exploder suplex, press Grapple again to keep hold, roll through and haul him up for another one, up to three in a row: the Three Amigos, Rolling Germans. He can still reverse each one.

Strikes. Tap Strike for punch, punch, kick. Hold Strike for a haymaker, big boot (toward), uppercut (up) or leg sweep (down). Low kick trips runners, and heels turn it into a low blow when the ref is distracted.

Ground. Opponent down: tap Strike to stomp, hold Strike for an elbow drop, tap Grapple to pin him (you lie across him for the cover), hold Grapple to pick him up. Hold a direction and tap Grapple for a ground move: stand at his head for mounted punches or a chinlock, at his legs for a knee drop, leg drop or Boston crab. Submissions drain him every second; mash to escape or crawl to the ropes for a rope break, or he taps out.

Top rope. Tap Grapple in a corner to climb. On the top rope, if he is down, tap or hold Strike for your style's dives (splash, elbow, frog splash, headbutt, leg drop, moonsault, shooting star press, somersault leg drop, senton bomb, 450). Hold Strike for the bigger flipping dives. If he is standing, tap or hold Strike to fly at him: flying crossbody (which rolls into a cover), missile dropkick, double axe handle, flying clothesline, flying shoulder block or a flying hurricanrana onto his shoulders. A big man who sees it coming can catch you in mid-air and anybody can step aside, so press Reverse when someone flies at you. The prompt on screen names the dive.

Weapons. Walk up to a weapon and press Grapple to pick it up, press Grapple again to drop it. Tap Strike to swing it, hold Strike for a big overhead shot (it also hits him while he is down). At the ropes with nobody near, tap Grapple to pull a chair, kendo stick or trash can from under the ring. Outside Hardcore it is a disqualification if the ref sees you hit him, so wait until he is distracted, and he takes it away if you hold it too long. Getting hit makes you drop it.

Tables. At the ropes, hold Grapple to slide a table into the ring. When he is down near the table, hold Grapple to lay him on it, then drop an elbow or dive off the top rope to send him through it. Slams and powerbombs on top of the table break it too, and so does missing a dive onto it. Tables are legal in every match.

Setting up tables. In Hardcore, Tables and Death matches, walk up to a standing table and tap Grapple to pick it up. Tap Grapple again to set it up in front of you. Do it in a corner to wedge the table upright against the turnbuckles, then whip him into that corner (Run in a grapple, up or down) or run at him while he is stunned there to send him THROUGH THE CORNER TABLE. Strike while carrying it for a table shot.

Finishers. Every wrestler has his own finisher, nobody shares one: spears, stunners, superkicks, Samoan drops, hurricanranas, blockbusters, running lariats, gutwrench and sit-out powerbombs, piledrivers, chokeslams and more. Two of them are submissions (a sharpshooter and a sleeper) that lock straight on after the takedown and can make him tap. Pick any of them for your own wrestlers in the creator.

CREDITS

Game. Monday Night Madness, developed by Tom.

Motion capture. Walking, running, climbing, limping and get-up motions come from the Carnegie Mellon University Graphics Lab Motion Capture Database (mocap.cs.cmu.edu, free for any use) and the Quaternius Universal Animation Library (CC0).

Sound effects. Kenney Impact Sounds, Voiceover Pack, Voiceover Pack: Fighter and Music Jingles (kenney.nl, CC0); The Motion Monkey Retro Arcade Sounds (CC0); the 100 CC0 SFX, 75 CC0 breaking/falling/hit SFX, 25 CC0 bang SFX and 50 CC0 retro synth SFX packs, collected at github.com/lavenderdotpet/CC0-Public-Domain-Sounds.

Crowd. Stadium crowd by FunWithSound and applause by SamuelGremaud on Freesound, from the SoundSafari CC0-1.0-Music collection.

Music. Menu theme (Ultimate Metal) and metal and rock entrance tracks by Loyalty Freak Music; 8-bit entrance tracks by Komiku. Both released as CC0 on the Free Music Archive.

Font. Press Start 2P by CodeMan38 and Chakra Petch by Cadson Demak (SIL Open Font License).

CREATE-A-WRESTLER

STARTER TEMPLATES

FABRIC STARTERS

ROSTER

SHARE CODE

BACKUP YOUR ROSTER

CONTROLLER

PLAYER 1 KEYBOARD

PLAYER 2 KEYBOARD

HOW A MATCH GOES

MOVE LIST

CREDITS