Match Types

This section profiles match types and details match-specific controls. Many match types can be played either as a one-man wrecking crew or as a tag team.

One-on-One Normal Match

This is the standard of fairness. The rules allow for this match to be won by pinfall, submission, countout, or disqualification. Rope breaks will break up pin or submission attempts. Your Superstar will be disqualified if you hit your opponent with an object, or if a Superstar on your side interferes. Irish whips into objects ringside are legal as long as you’re back in the ring before the 10-count elapses.

Extreme Rules

This is similar to a Normal Match except that there are no disqualifications, countouts, or rope breaks. You can win by pin or submission in the ring. Reach under the ring for objects to soften up your opponents quickly, and then Irish whip them back into the ring for the finish.

Steel Cage Match

In the Steel Cage Match, you must escape the cage to win. This can be done in two ways: climbing to the top of the cage and over the wall, or escaping through the door (see sidebar). The only weapon is the cage itself, and you can Irish whip your opponent into it. When it’s time to climb the cage, a mini-game will start. Press grapple when the arrow is all the way to “Max” to climb or crawl farther out of the cage, Repeat this a couple of times and you’re out. Careful, though—your opponent will attempt to stop you, and a fall from the cage wall hurts!

This triggers a “Crawl” mini-game in the same format as the “Climb” mini-game. You may have more success with this tactic earlier in a match, against tougher opponents, or at higher difficulty settings.

If you attempt to climb out of the cage and are pulled down by your opponent, often your Superstar will lay there helpless from the fall while your opponent then climbs out easily—try crawling instead.

If you fail in the “Crawl” mini-game, nothing is lost except that you are left in a grounded position while your opponent is standing in front of you. The important thing to note here is that your opponent is not immediately put into a position to win the match, which is what happens when you lose the “Climb” mini-game.

Action/Move	Xbox 360	PlayStation 3
Climb Cage
Cancel Climb
Pull down a climbing opponent	or	or

Hell in a Cell

This is similar to a Steel Cage Match (no disqualification, countouts, or rope breaks), but you can only win by pin or submission in the ring. It’s like an Extreme Rules Match with a steel cage dropped down over the ring area. Irish whip your opponent into the Cell to score big damage.

For extra fun, use an OMG! Moment to break through the Cell wall and climb to the top of the Cell. Toss your opponent off of the Cell and through the announcer table, and then follow them down with a diving attack (press strike).

Climb back up and slam them onto the Cell roof a couple times until they break through it and fall.

Inferno Match

There is only one way to win the Inferno Match: damage your opponent to the point where they stay down, and then press the Irish whip button to roll them into the flames. This will trigger a mini-game. The attacking Superstar will have to stop a slider in the red area, while the defensive Superstar must mash the face buttons to shrink the red area until it disappears.

Action/Move	Xbox 360	PlayStation 3
Roll opponent

Iron Man

This is a 15-minute match that keeps track of the number of countouts, in-ring pinfalls, and submissions each Superstar tallies. Once the time expires, the highest score wins. There are no disqualifications, and there are a bevy of objects under the ring to choose from. 10-count countouts will score a point, and a rope break will cancel a pin or submission attempt.

Ladder Match

In the ladder match, the goal is to bring a ladder to the center of the ring under the spotlight. Climb it and grab the prize above to win. Sometimes the prize is a championship title, but often it’s a briefcase of cash. There are no pins, submissions for victories, disqualifications, or countouts. The key to winning a Ladder Match is to damage your opponent so much that they can’t pull you off the ladder when you’re reaching for the prize. There are chairs under the apron if you want to do some serious damage to your opponent. Hit them with the ladder, too. (Might as well, as long as you’ve got it in your hands, right?)

Action/Move	Xbox 360	PlayStation 3
Grab ladder
Drop ladder
Strike with ladder
Set up ladder
Move upright ladder	From side of ladder, hold +	From side of ladder hold +
Climb ladder
Reach up
Grab prize
Pull opponent off ladder
Descend ladder
Up to top step	while on ladder	while on ladder
Dive attacks from ladder
Down from top step	on top step	L on top step
Wedge ladder in corner	In corner, to corner +	In corner, to corner +
Lean ladder against environment	From close, toward +	From close, toward +

TLC Match

A TLC Match is similar to a Ladder Match, except that there are tables and chairs thrown into the mix. Wedge tables into corners and Irish whip your opponent into them to score damage and give you time to climb up the ladder.

Last Man Standing

In a Last Man Standing Match, it’s all about sending your opponent to the mat for a 10-count—no pins or submissions, just a K.O. Grab objects from underneath the ring and go to work on your opponent. If you go down, the referee will start counting to 10 and you’ll have to play the pinfall mini-game for the duration of the count.

Submission Match

Only submissions are good here; no countouts and no pins. You can get disqualified if you try to soften up an opponent with an object. Use the limb targeting system to attack your opponent’s arms and legs, and then finish with a submission when the opponent has moderate or critical damage to the body part affected by the submission.

Table Match

A Table Match requires that you put your weakened opponent through a table to win the match. The table can be set up, leaning or laying flat. There’s no restriction where the table smashing can occur, so set it up on the ramp, ringside, or in the ring—it’s all legal. The quickest and simplest way to win is to weaken your opponent, lean a table in a corner of the ring, and then Hammer Throw your opponent into it. If they are worn down enough, they’ll go right through for the win.

Action/Move	Xbox 360	PlayStation 3
Grab table
Strike with table
Set up table
Wedge table in corner	In corner, to corner +	In corner, to corner +
Lean table against environment	From close, toward +	From close, toward +

I Quit Match

This match will have you press the “Ask” button when your opponent is down and you’ve done enough damage to them to start the mini-game. The defending player must stop the cursor in the red area to survive (similar to a pinfall attempt). If you apply a submission hold, the mini-game will trigger (a very cool way to do it). The offensive player can taunt during the mini-game to cause the meter to shake, making it more difficult for the defender to stop the cursor in the red.

Action/Move	Xbox 360	PlayStation 3
Grab table

Tag Team

In the “Attitude Era”, WWE Universe, and other play modes, you can team up with other Superstars and control them as Tag Team partners. There are some basic controls that exist for these scenarios, both for tagging in your partner and for teaming up with your partner in a two-on-one situation within the match. Involving your partner from the apron can be a very successful strategy that allows you to quickly take control of the match. Prior to the start of an 1P match, you can choose to control partners or not. If you choose not to, or if you’re playing a 2P game, you can play from the apron if you tag out.

Action/Move	Xbox 360	PlayStation 3
Tag in partner	near partner	near partner
Tag in partner (multiple)	near partner, to partner +	near partner, to partner +
Hot tag	+	+
Double team grapples	Irish whip to team corner +	Irish whip to team corner +
Double team Finisher	With stored “F”, Irish whip to team corner +	With stored “F”, Irish whip to team corner +
Strike from apron
Grab opponent or referee
Force tag in	Near partner,	Near partner,
Request tag
Pull down top rope on an Irish whip
Switch partner control

Tornado Tag Team

This type of Tag Team Match has both teams in the ring, battling it out two-on-two at the same time. Other rules can be in effect as well. For example, if it is a Steel Cage Match or TLC Match, those rules also apply. The first to defeat one of the Superstars on the opposing tag team is the winner.

Elimination Tag Team

In this Tag Team format, all members of an opposing team must be eliminated by whatever rules are selected in a given match. If it’s a Table Match, for instance, you have to put each member of the opposing team through a table. If it’s a Normal Match, all of the Normal Match rules apply. Work your way through an entire team to secure a victory.

Mixed Gender Tag

Rule #1: Superstars cannot hit Divas. It’s an automatic disqualification. You can’t even assist from the apron with a grab! However, Divas can hit Superstars, so wail away. All other rules of Tag Team Matches apply.

Triple Threat

This is a three-man battle with every man for himself. Whatever rules are in place beyond that (Ladder, Table, etc.) apply just as they would in a one-on-one match.

Battle Royal

In this format, you are aiming to be the last one left in the ring after everyone else has been tossed over the top rope. Make your opponent groggy against the ropes or in the corner, and then press grapple to start a mini-game.

A button will appear on-screen, and the first one to press it gains the advantage. If the groggy Superstar wins, he fights his way back into the match. If the attacking Superstar wins, he dumps his opponent over the top rope.

You can double-team these events, too. Just press grapple to join in on a mini-game.

There’s a bottom rope mini-game, too, for opponents who are down on the apron. Press grapple to activate the game. If you’re the attacker, press grapple when the slider is in the red. The red area will grow and fill the bar; if that happens, you’ve won. If you’re defending, mash the face buttons to shrink the red area until it disappears.

Royal Rumble

The Royal Rumble is simply a Battle Royal with the options for 10, 20, 30, or 40 Superstars to battle it out for top-rope elimination. The match starts with the first two Superstars in the ring. A new Superstar will be introduced every minute and will enter the ring fresh.

Armageddon Hell in a Cell

The first person to pin or submit someone in this 6-man Hell in a Cell wins the match. All the other rules for Hell in a Cell apply.

Elimination Chamber

This is a 6-man match. Two Superstars start off in the ring, and one more is released from a pod outside the corners of the ring each minute. Pins and submissions eliminate Superstars, and the last one left in the ring is the winner.

Irish whip opponents into the pods and the surrounding cage to score vicious damage and weaken them quickly. Often, being outside of the ring allows you to go one-on-one with an opponent with less fear of an attack from your rear. If there are three of you, team up on the odd man out to make the elimination happen more quickly.

Gauntlet

A Gauntlet Match is a one-on-three Normal Match that has one Superstar working through an elimination of all three to win—essentially, it’s three one-on-one matches with no rest between them. You’ll battle each opponent one-on-one, but you’ll be facing fresh Superstars after eliminating them.

Special Referee

In a Special Referee Match, you can play either as one of the competing Superstars or as the referee. As the referee, you can taunt to build momentum and rock Superstars with Finishers. If you intervene in the match, your momentum will drop. If your momentum drops all the way, you will be replaced with the actual referee.

If you get hit by a competing Superstar, you have the option to disqualify them from the match.

Championship Scramble

Put your championship on the line! This is a five-minute, five-man match where every in-ring pin or submission that occurs wins the championship. When a Superstar scores a pin or submission, they become the champion. If another pin or submission occurs, that Superstar becomes the new champion. Since all of the AI Superstars run around breaking up pins and submission attempts, a good strategy is to work on their bodies with the Limb Targeting System, and then try a submission in a corner. This can be a very interesting scramble against human opponents!

Backstage Brawl

Fighting in the locker room area is nothing new to fans of last year’s WWE ‘12. This year, the environment is even more interactive, and you can work up to a Finisher that changes environmental grapple animations and results in a K.O.

Toss your opponent through the window with a Finisher.

Or, finish them off with a K.O against the soda machine.

King of the Ring

This tournament mode allows the user to create a bracket and choose all of the Superstars and types of matches involved. Play all of the matches, or work your way through the brackets as one Superstar and simulate the rest—it’s your choice. Tournaments can host 4-16 Superstars.