All Elite Wrestling (AEW) has been touted as the second-biggest wrestling promotion right behind the WWE. After nearly four years in the business, the company released its first video game AEW Fight Forever. It features genre standards like create-a-wrestler and a story mode called Road to Elite, while also including AEW-exclusive matches, such as Stadium Stampede.

The release of AEW Fight Forever back in June was met with a mixed reception from wrestling enthusiasts. Some gamers loved the WWF No Mercy-style approach because of its simplistic wrestling mechanics. However, AEW Fight Forever also received criticism for its outdated elements, which ranged from the roster to the graphics. One of the most glaring flaws is that AEW Fight Forever is still missing some classic match types, some of which the game should add in the future.

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#1 Handicap Match

A Handicap Match in pro wrestling is normally composed of one wrestler against two allied wrestlers. Some matches also pit two wrestlers against three. This is a common match type across all wrestling promotions, including AEW. Recently, Maxwell Jacob Friedman, aka MJF, successfully defended the Ring of Honor (ROH) World Tag Team Championships against The Righteous in a handicap match at AEW WrestleDream.

Although Handicap Match is available in AEW Fight Forever's Road to Elite, it's not included in Arcade Mode. So, players aren't able to recreate their favorite handicap matches from AEW on their own time.

#2 Steel Cage Match

AEW is no stranger to a Steel Cage Match. The traditional type requires wrestlers to either pin or make their opponent tap out, or escape the cage in order to win. AEW has also innovated this with matches like MMA Rules Match and Blood & Guts, which is the company's answer to WWE's War Games.

Steel Cage Match is one of the most requested modes to be included in AEW Fight Forever. Several wrestling games, from WWE 2K to WrestleQuest, have a Steel Cage Match mode, so many players were confused as to why AEW excluded it.

#3 Tornado Tag Match

Tornado Tag is essentially a free-for-all tag team match. Wrestlers don't have to tag in their partners, they just have to face their opponents in the ring together. AEW has hosted a number of Tornado Tag matches, such as Darby Allin and Sting versus Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara in AEW Dynamite last June.

Unfortunately, AEW Fight Forever doesn't have a Tornado Tag match yet despite having multi-man tag matches. It might be difficult for players to set up their own Tornado Tag matches because only the legal wrestlers can execute a pin or submission.

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#4 Iron Man Match

In an Iron Man Match, wrestlers have to score as many pin falls or submissions against their opponent within a set time limit. One of AEW's best bouts to date was an Iron Man match between MJF versus Bryan Danielson for the AEW World Championship during AEW Revolution last May. There's also no disqualifications in this type of match, so wrestlers can use any means to get their opponent down.

The only time-based match AEW Fight Forever has is the Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match, where an explosion would trigger in the ring after several minutes. However, the standard Iron Man Match wasn't included at all. It would have been a good opportunity, especially with AEW Fight Forever's wide range of weapons.

#5 Hardcore Match with Backstage Brawl

AEW Fight Forever has a number of compelling hardcore matches, such as Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match, Lights Out Match, and the classic Falls Count Anywhere. But what's noticeably missing is the ability to engage in a backstage brawl during a hardcore match, with the main reason being that there's no option to go backstage in the middle of a match.

In the WWE 2K series, players have the chance to interact with items backstage in any hardcore match. So, the fact that AEW Fight Forever doesn't give wrestlers access to the backstage area was questioned by avid fans of the genre. A backstage area could definitely provide a change of scenery for any hardcore match, and would be especially useful in a Falls Count Anywhere scenario.

AEW Fight Forever

Platform(s)

PC , PS5 , PS4 , Switch , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , Xbox One

Released

June 29, 2023

Developer(s)

Yuke's

Publisher(s)

THQ Nordic

Genre(s)

Wrestling

Metascore

64

Split Screen Orientation

N/A (Shared Screen)

Number of Players

1-2

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