WCW vs . nWo : World Tour WCW vs nWo : World Tour is a professional wrestling video game released in 1997 for the Nintendo 64 game console . Released at the peak of World Championship Wrestling ' s dominance in the Monday Night Wars , " World Tour " was THQ ' s first foray into the N64 wrestling scene and is a semi sequel to the lesser known " WCW vs . The World " for the PlayStation . It is considered the American counterpart to Japan ' s " Virtual Pro Wrestling 64 " and is the second best - selling wrestling game for the N64 console . Asmik Ace Entertainment and AKI approached the title by producing a wrestling game similar to Puroresu and fighting games . The resulting game was well received for its tight construction and ease of play , especially compared to Acclaim ' s comparatively more difficult and convoluted game , " WWF War Zone " . In fact , the playing style of " World Tour " , namely its revolutionary " grappling system , " set a standard for pro wrestling video games to be expanded in future THQ titles for many years following . " World Tour " served as a strong foundation for future THQ wrestling games . Its sequel , " WCW / nWo Revenge " , would built upon the engine tremendously by introducing ring entrances , improved graphics , more arenas , more signature moves , actual WCW championships , attire modification , and other improvements . Gameplay . " World Tour " introduced Asmik / AKI ' s critically acclaimed grappling system , in which all moves are started by holds . Choosing to either tap or hold the A button will subsequently produce either " weak " or " strong " results once the move is performed , while a similar system is used for strikes . Wrestlers can also perform their signature taunts to help elevate their Spirit gauge and perform " Special " front and rear finishing moves when their gauge peaks . In addition to single , tag team , handicap , and battle royal , match modes not seen in future releases include a WCW versus nWo tournament , round - robin tournament , and league tournaments more familiar to Japanese wrestling . Unlike today ' s wrestling games , " World Tour " features no create - a - wrestler mode , story mode , or ring entrances and has a limited amount of actual WCW wrestlers . It also makes no reference to championship belts and , upon the successful completion of a tournament , shows an illustration of a fist raising a gold trophy . A championship belt creation feature was touted prior to the game ' s release , but this was ultimately scrapped . Other features were apparently carried over from the style of the game ' s Japanese counterpart . This includes the enabling of bleeding despite the practice being forbidden on WCW television due to its more family - friendly presentation . Foreign objects can be retrieved from the audience and used outside the ring . Weapons include a steel chair , half a wooden folding table , a black baseball bat , and a barbed wire bat , the latter not being characteristic of WCW programming but rather Japanese hardcore wrestling . Roster . In addition to WCW and nWo leagues , Asmik Ace and THQ included fictional wrestling promotion s Dead or Alive Wrestling , a reference to Frontier Martial - Arts Wrestling , and Independent Union , a reference to International Wrestling Grand Prix . These factions consist of several " fictional " characters who are actually Japanese wrestlers that appeared in that country ' s version of the game , " Virtual Pro Wrestling 64 " . They appear in the American version with names changed due to copyright laws . These Japanese wrestlers include , among others FMW stars such as Hayabusa , who was renamed " Hannibal , " and Atsushi Onita , who was renamed " Puchtecha , " as well as future WWF stars such as Taka Michinoku , who goes by the moniker of " Black Belt . " These characters were also given extravagant profiles in the game ' s official strategy guide ; Abdullah the Butcher , renamed " Saladin , " is described as a former Afghan Secret service operative who refused orders to assassinate Mikhail Gorbachev . Reception . " WCW vs . nWo : World Tour " proved to be one of THQ ' s biggest hits and was awarded the title of " Fighting Game of the Year " by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . It gained Player ' s Choice status with over a million copies sold and its 1998 re - release was instrumental in THQ ' s 59 % revenue increase in the year ' s third quarter . " World Tour " eventually sold 1 . 3 million copies in the US , making it the second best - selling wrestling game for the N64 and ranking it amongst the console ' s all - time best selling titles . The game received generally positive reviews . Praise was given particularly to the simple yet comprehensive gameplay approach and variety of fun multiplayer modes ; IGN ' s Matt Casamassina went as far as to state , " If you even moderately enjoy wrestling but love multiplayer gaming , we don ' t see how you could go wrong with this game . " Its 3D polygonal engine , character animation , and dynamic camera movements were also considered refreshing to a genre that had not experienced such modern innovations . In IGN ' s 2008 " History of Wrestling Games " article , Rus McLaughlin reflected , " " World Tour " was just as revolutionary as the nWo storyline it borrowed , with all moves built off holds instead of happening out of nowhere . . . Suddenly , wrestling was all about the grapple again , and players loved it . "