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The 17th of November episode of Monday Night Raw broadcast on Netflix showcased Cena's final performance on the show as an competing wrestler. It also saw the reappearance and face-off between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns as they aligned with their individual groups for the approaching 5-on-5 match at WarGames. Amidst the thrills were shockers like AJ Lee helping Maxxine Dupri claim the women's Intercontinental Championship, and Dolph Ziggler returning. In such a jam-packed Madison Square Garden event, the spotlight was taken by Lil Yachty, when he showed off his silver PSP for the camera, revealing he was playing SmackDown! vs Raw 2006.

Trending Incident: Lil Yachty and His PSP

Regardless of everything that happened on this landmark Raw, it was Lil Yachty and his PSP that became a sensation. Could it be because of pop culture's undying love for Sony's handheld console? Could it be because people nostalgically recall the excellence of the SmackDown! vs. Raw franchise? Or is it, because WWE fans aren't interested in the latest 2K games?

Exploring SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006: A Iconic Game

Uninitiated fans, SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006 marked the franchise's first appearance on the PSP and was the ultimate entry in the SmackDown! vs. Raw line to remain PlayStation-exclusive. The game moved the franchise toward increased realism and authenticity, moving away from the arcade-like feel of earlier titles. It added a new momentum bar that controlled the flow of a match, replacing the previous "clean/dirty" and "SmackDown!" meters. Players could opt to wrestle “clean” as a face or “dirty” as a heel, with a endurance feature that decreased as matches grew more intense; showier moves meant faster fatigue. SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006 finally became the top-selling PlayStation 2 release in the entire series.

Evolution of the Line

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

Features and Exclusive Elements

Previously, the SmackDown! vs. Raw games reigned supreme and felt like an advancement of titles from the N64 era, thanks to improved graphics. When the franchise shifted to PlayStation 2, that impression only intensified as titles with crisp visuals, new gaming modes, and RPG storylines were consistently introduced.

The PSP version of SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006 features features not found on its PS2 counterpart, including three special side games available from the start. The first, "WWE Game Show," challenges players with 500 wrestling questions including everything from music and finishers to history and feuds, at times 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.

Sentiment and Heritage

The older SmackDown! vs. Raw games were very eccentric, even when they sought more realistic gameplay. The franchise transitioned toward total simulations with the 2K games, lacking the creative ideas of their predecessors. But the older titles also acted as reminders of some of our favorite eras of wrestling.

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