Most of the abilities in WWE ’12 carry over from prior years, but the incredibly fun and dramatic Comeback ability was added this year to replace, and tune up, the old Kip-Up and Fired Up abilities.
Dirty Pin
Add leverage to your pin attempt by placing your feet on the ropes.
How to do it: Pin your opponents when they are grounded near the ropes.
Move Thief
Steal your opponent’s Finisher and use it against them.
How to do it: When you have a Finisher, hold + or R and press the D-pad up to enter the Move Thief state. The clock is now ticking! You have 20 seconds to use it.
Hammer Throw
A powerful version of the standard Irish Whip.
How to do it: Hold the Irish Whip button and use the left stick to direct the throw. You’ll see your Superstar really bear down and put a little extra mustard on the Irish Whip. If you’re near the ropes, you’ll toss your opponent right out of the ring to the ground.
Resiliency
Increase the size of the target zone during a pin attempt. This can only be used once per match.
How to do it: If your opponent attempts to pin you, a slider bar mini-game will show up on screen. Hold P or L and you’ll see the target zone grow.
Comeback
Perform a dramatic comeback after getting injured. Comebacks cannot be used if you have a Finisher or Signature move available.
How to do it: Press the Finisher button when prompted on-screen to activate the Comeback. This launches a button-race mini-game. If you press the buttons that appear on-screen before the AI or your human opponent, the Comeback will continue and you’ll be awarded control and a Signature move.
Outside Dives
This ability allows you to perform dive attacks from the ring to an opponent standing outside the ring, with no need to climb the turnbuckle.
How to do it: When your opponent is outside the ring, move the left analog stick toward them and press the strike button. You can do this on the run for a quick attack. This is a great way to take control when your opponent is thinking of reaching under the ring to get a object.
Springboard Dives
Spring off the ropes to perform an aerial dive attack.
How to do it: Move or run toward the ropes and press strike. Your Superstar will slingshot back to the opponent with a dive.
Leverage Pin
Reverse groggy grapples and running attacks into powerful leverage pins in one quick move.
How to do it: Press the reversal button to reverse an attack from a heavily damaged opponent. This ability will be engaged organically in gameplay—you should attempt to reverse every move.
Ring Escape
With this ability, you can escape ringside when grounded near the ropes. This ability can be used up to three times per match.
How to do it: When grounded near the ropes, press P or L to slide out of the ring when prompted. Immediately taunt to build momentum, before your opponent can react.