In just over a week, the rebranded WWE 12 will take to the shelves, replacing once and for all the now defunct Smackdown vs Raw title as Thq’s flagship wrestling property. While the developers are keen to promote WWE12 as an evolutionary, rather than revolutionary step, the list of developments and new features this year looks massive compared to the step-ups between earlier franchise additions, and it is perhaps better to think of WWE 12 as a new start entirely.

Fans will buy it, and those pre-disposed to snear at the “fake” sport (I suggest those nay-sayers try suplexing Mark Henry to test their philosophy properly) will probably stay away, but for the first time in a long while for a wrestling title, WWE 12 has a genuine broad appeal. Personally, I count myself as something of a lapsed fan – I cling to the classic eras, adding a rose-tinted gloss to the...