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The November 17 installment of Monday Night Raw aired on Netflix featured Cena's final performance on the program as an active wrestler. It also experienced the reappearance and face-off between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns as they teamed up with their respective groups for the forthcoming 5-on-5 match at WarGames. Among the action were surprises like AJ Lee supporting Maxxine Dupri win the women's Intercontinental Championship, and Dolph Ziggler reappearing. In such a packed Madison Square Garden event, the focus was grabbed by Lil Yachty, when he showed off his silver PSP for the camera, demonstrating he was playing SmackDown! vs Raw 2006.

Viral Moment: The Rapper and His Handheld Device

Regardless of everything that transpired on this memorable Raw, it was Lil Yachty and his PSP that went viral. Might it be because of pop culture's undying love for Sony's handheld console? Is it because people fondly remember the brilliance of the SmackDown! vs. Raw franchise? Or is it, because WWE fans don't care for the more recent 2K games?

Exploring SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006: A Iconic Title

Uninitiated fans, SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006 represented the franchise's debut on the PSP and was the final entry in the SmackDown! vs. Raw line to remain PlayStation-exclusive. The game shifted the franchise toward increased realism and authenticity, departing from the arcade-style feel of earlier titles. It introduced a new momentum bar that governed the flow of a match, taking the place of the previous "clean/dirty" and "SmackDown!" meters. Players could opt to wrestle “clean” as a face or “dirty” as a heel, with a stamina system that decreased as matches grew more intense; more elaborate moves meant faster fatigue. SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006 finally became the most popular PlayStation 2 release in the entire series.

Development of the Franchise

The franchise commenced with WWF SmackDown! on the original PlayStation and continued as an yearly release, aside from in 2021. It remained a PlayStation exclusive until WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007, which brought the franchise to other platforms. In 2013, the series was renamed as WWE 2K, starting with WWE 2K14.

Features and Exclusive Elements

In the past, the SmackDown! vs. Raw games were top-tier and felt like an evolution of titles from the N64 era, due to upgraded graphics. When the franchise transitioned to PlayStation 2, that sensation only intensified as titles with crisp visuals, new gaming modes, and role-playing storylines were gradually introduced.

The PSP edition of SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006 adds modes not found on its PS2 version, including three unique mini-games available from the start. The first, "WWE Game Show," tests players with 500 wrestling questions including everything from music and finishers to history and feuds, sometimes using audio clips or video snippets. The other two minigames are a poker game and "Eugene’s Airplane," where players steer Eugene (whose gimmick is being an developmentally disabled wrestling savant) around the ring as quickly as possible.

Retro Appeal and Impact

The earlier SmackDown! vs. Raw games were very eccentric, even when they aimed for more realistic gameplay. The franchise shifted toward full-on simulations with the 2K games, missing the innovative ideas of their predecessors. But the older titles also served as time capsules of some of our favorite eras of wrestling.

Maybe fans are nostalgic for a comparable, more "fun-based" time in their wrestling games. It could be the pleasure of seeing a celebrity paying tribute to the brilliance of the PSP, like the rest of the internet does, is what made folks applaud Yachty. Otherwise SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006 was genuinely outstanding, and mirrors an equally great era of wrestling, one that was ruled by John Cena, who will retire from in-ring competition on the 13th of December, at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.