WWE: Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth was game developed by Yuke’s and published by THQ for the PlayStation 2 back in 2002. One of the reasons why Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth was such a big deal was because it was the game that preceded the legendary “Here Comes The Pain” video game from 2003. WWE Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth was also one of the first pro wresting video games to have an in depth season mode aside from WWF No Mercy for the N64. WWE Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth was also the first game ever to include the brand split which also started in 2002 and marked a new era in World Wrestling Entertainment. Everyone knows that 2002 was the year that the Ruthless Aggression era started and it was also a time period were WWE had a star studded roster of popular superstars from the 90’s along with young talent. The Exhibition mode in Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth offered players a variety of match options including: Singles, Tag-Team, Triple Threat, Fatal 4 Way, Six Man Tag, Ladder, TLC, Tables Cage, Falls Count Anywhere, Hardcore, Iron Man and Hell in a Cell matches. Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth also had one of the best season modes that one could ask for in a pro wrestling game.

The Season Mode in Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth allowed players to choose almost any superstar with new storyline taking place almost every other month. It should also be noted that the roaming mode that was present in the ’01 Smackdown: Just Bring It prequel made a return in Here Comes The Pain except players had more options in terms of where they wanted to travel. Players could also interact with other superstars in the backstage in Season Mode which could lead to impromptu matches or altercations depending how the conversation goes. One of the best features of Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth was the fact that players had dialogue options when interacting with other superstars which made the game feel like an RPG to some extent. Players also had the ability to challenge for what ever title they wanted to including IC,European, Hardcore or the Tag-Team titles depending on how many superstar points they had. Superstars who had over 85 superstar points were generally placed in a storyline for the Undisputed Championship and were often in main event matches in the PPV’s. The Season Mode for Smackdown: Here Comes The Pain featured many big events that occurred in 2002 including the WWE Draft along with the returns of the nWo, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Triple H and Shawn Michaels. WWE Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth is arguably one of the best pro wresting games from the 2000’s mainly because of its arcade style of gameplay coupled with its heavily story driven Season Mode. WWE Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth also featured hidden characters, items and attires that could be unlocked throughout Season Mode which force players to go through the whole thing more than once. WWW Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth had almost everything one could ask for in a pro wrestling game and is one that often gets overshadowed by Smackdown: HCTP along with other installments within the Smackdown vs Raw series from the 2000’s.