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The 17th of November installment of Monday Night Raw broadcast on Netflix featured Cena's ultimate performance on the program as an active wrestler. It also witnessed the comeback and face-off between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns as they joined their respective groups for the approaching 5-on-5 match at WarGames. Wedged in between the excitement were shockers like AJ Lee assisting Maxxine Dupri claim the women's Intercontinental Championship, and Dolph Ziggler making a comeback. In such a packed Madison Square Garden spectacle, the attention was stolen by Lil Yachty, when he displayed his silver PSP for the camera, demonstrating he was playing SmackDown! vs Raw 2006.

Popular Moment: The Rapper and His Portable Console

Regardless of everything that happened on this landmark Raw, it was Lil Yachty and his PSP that became a sensation. Might it be because of the public's enduring love for Sony's portable system? Is it because people cherish the memory of the greatness of the SmackDown! vs. Raw franchise? Or is it, because WWE fans aren't interested in the latest 2K games?

Examining SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006: A Classic Title

Uninitiated fans, SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006 marked the franchise's introduction on the PSP and was the final entry in the SmackDown! vs. Raw line to remain exclusive to PlayStation. The game moved the franchise toward greater realism and authenticity, steering clear of the arcade-like feel of earlier titles. It introduced a new momentum gauge that governed the flow of a match, replacing the previous "clean/dirty" and "SmackDown!" meters. Players could decide to wrestle “clean” as a face or “dirty” as a heel, with a endurance feature that drained as matches grew more intense; showier moves meant faster fatigue. SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006 eventually became the top-selling PlayStation 2 entry in the entire series.

Development of the Line

The line started with WWF SmackDown! on the original PlayStation and carried on as an annual release, excluding in 2021. It remained a only on PlayStation until WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007, which brought the franchise to other platforms. In 2013, the series was relabeled as WWE 2K, starting with WWE 2K14.

Innovations and Exclusive Content

In the past, the SmackDown! vs. Raw games were top-tier and felt like an progression of titles from the N64 era, because of upgraded graphics. When the franchise transitioned to PlayStation 2, that feeling only heightened as titles with crisp visuals, new gaming modes, and story-driven storylines were gradually introduced.

The PSP version of SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006 includes elements not found on its PS2 version, including three special side games available from the start. The first, "WWE Game Show," quizzes 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 direct Eugene (whose persona is being an developmentally disabled wrestling savant) around the ring as quickly as possible.

Retro Appeal and Heritage

The older SmackDown! vs. Raw games were very eccentric, even when they targeted more realistic gameplay. The franchise transitioned toward total simulations with the 2K games, missing the out-of-the-box ideas of their predecessors. But the older titles also functioned as snapshots of some of our favorite eras of wrestling.

Maybe fans are longing for a comparable, more "fun-based" time in their wrestling games. Perhaps the pleasure of seeing a celebrity honoring the excellence of the PSP, like the rest of the internet does, is what made folks applaud Yachty. Alternatively SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006 was really that great, and represents an similarly great era of wrestling, one that was ruled by John Cena, who will bow out from in-ring competition on the 13th of December, at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.