Most wrestling fans who owned a Nintendo 64 also owned WWF WrestleMania 2000. At the time of the game's release, in 1999, the WWE was firmly in control of the Monday Night Wars. All WWE needed was a great wrestling game to dethrone WCW in the video game wars between the two companies.
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WWF WrestleMania 2000 ended up being that game. It was a better version of WCW/nWo Revenge, which was often regarded as the best wrestling game at the time. It featured virtually every asset of Revenge but added enough to the game to stand on its own as a classic. This list will examine 10 things fans should know about WWF WrestleMania 2000.
10 Allowed Players To Edit Superstars
Although this may seem like a trivial feature in 2022, the ability to change the outfits of a wrestler was a massive feature that WWF WrestleMania 2000 had. The game was released during the Attitude Era, which was full of different outfits that helped wrestlers stand out.
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Having the ability to change a wrestler's attire made the game feel limitless. Even today, fans can cut off Triple H's hair and make him look like "2022 Triple H." It also made WWF WrestleMania 2000 feel like players were in full control of every aspect of the game.
9 Featured Create A Championship Mode
Create-a-Championship mode was a feature way ahead of its time. Although it's become commonplace in WWE video games now, the ability to create a custom championship was something that fans always wanted, but never had access to on WWE video games.
There were not a ton of customized belts in this era but wrestling was clearly headed in that direction. Although there were limited options to choose from, Create-a-Championship mode was another feature that allowed players the ability to customize their entire wrestling world on the game.
8 Character Selection Scene With Title Belts
Since wrestling belts are one of the most important aspects of wrestling, WWF WrestleMania 2000 added the ability to show wrestlers with the belts on. Although they weren't able to enter the ring holding the belt, (that addition would come much later) they were given the ability to have the belt on during the character selection screen.
It's another one of those things that feels like absolutely nothing in 2022 but at the time the ability to put a title on a rising star like Edge was a huge deal for WWE fans. It was also the first time a belt could be placed on anyone in a WWE game.
7 The First WWE Game To Feature Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho is still an active wrestler in 2022. Although he's become one of the biggest names at AEW, most wrestling fans know him for his time in the WWE. Before arriving to the WWE, Jericho spent years at WCW where he was mostly underutilized.
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WWF WrestleMania 2000 was released after Jericho's WWE debut and ended up being the first WWE game to feature him as an active wrestler. He would be playable on many more WWE games after WWF WrestleMania 2000.
6 Featured Simulated Matches That Could Last Up To An Hour
WWF WrestleMania 2000 featured a Road To WrestleMania mode that was not necessarily a high point of the video game. The entire purpose of the story was to try to make a created wrestler hold every championship.
It mostly ends up being a bunch of matches that have to be fought over and over again. one interesting aspect of the story mode is that fans can watch every match on the card that featured the created wrestler. Some of those simulated matches can actually go on for an hour, proving that this game cut no corners.
5 First Game To Feature The Hardys
The Hardys famously did the motion capture for the video game WWF Attitude, which preceded WWF WrestleMania 2000. Jeff and Matt were not playable characters in WWF Attitude. The brothers made their video game debut on WWF WrestleMania 2000.
For fans looking to Swanton their opponent with Jeff Hardy, unfortunately, the Twist of Fate, which looked more like a stunner, was the finisher for both Hardy's on this video game.
4 Wrestlers Can Grab Weapons From the Crowd
Anyone who owned WWF WrestleMania 2000 loved the crowd involvement in this video game. Along with cheering and booing that felt like it mattered (since the quality of the audio overall was so bad), wrestlers were also able to grab weapons from the crowd and use them on their opponents.
It's a ridiculous addition that honestly didn't happen in the WWE that often, but it was an awesome feature.
3 First Video Game To Feature Vince McMahon
By the time WWF WrestleMania 2000 was released, Vince McMahon was a huge part of WWE television. His feud with Steve Austin was major and everyone knew he was the hated owner of the WWE.
The game featured access to Mr. McMahon as a playable wrestler. WWF WrestleMania 2000 was the first video game to ever feature Mr. McMahon. It was smart since fans were able to live their fantasy of making Stone Cold stun him over and over again.
2 Edge Is The Only Wrestler On the Active WWF WrestleMania 2000 Roster and The WWE 2K22 Roster
Edge had one of the biggest returns in the history of the WWE. He's been around for so long and has competed at such a high level that many fans forget he's one of the few wrestlers still on the roster from the Attitude Era.
Interestingly, Edge is also the only wrestler to be featured on the active roster of WWF WrestleMania 2000 and the active roster of WWE 2K22. Most of the wrestlers on WWF WrestleMania 2000 that are still active today compete in AEW including Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, Billy Gunn, Christian Cage, and Chris Jericho.
1 First Video Game Released After SmackDown's Premier
Many younger fans do not remember the WWE before SmackDown was on TV. WWE's b-show began in 1999 during the Attitude Era. WWF WrestleMania 2000 is the first WWE video game to be released after SmackDown became a weekly television series. SmackDown debuted in August of 1999 and WWF WrestleMania 2000 was released in the autumn of 1999.
Although there are no mentions of SmackDown in the game (since it was developed before SmackDown premiered), it would be the last video game to make no major references to the brand. The next video game the WWE produced was even called WWF SmackDown!
