Good though WWE RAW on the Xbox was, any claims that it beats out the latest edition of SmackDown will fall on deaf ears around here. Yuke’s masterful realisation of everything that makes WWE entertaining is due in PS 2 owners’ sights very shortly, and we fancy that Shut Your Mouth will remain a reasonable response to Xbox owners’ protestations about RAW.

Still, there was plenty of promise in RAW, and THQ seems to know that much, having already paraded the contents of WWE RAW 2: Ruthless Aggression across newswires in anticipation of the game’s speedy April 2003 release.

Developed by Anchor, RAW 2 features 45 of the WWE’s superstars (compared to more than 50 in SYM), including The Rock, Hollywood Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker. There will be multiple match types including Triple Threat, Fatal 4 Way (oo-err), Battle Royal, King of the Ring and Tables, Ladders and Chairs, with a brutal multiplayer mode to help extend the game’s life. In actual fact, the game’s primary season mode will be playable for up to four players keen on tag-team shenanigans.

Early screenshots demonstrate plenty of character detail on Triple H, The Rock and The Undertaker’s worryingly rippling torsos, although the proof is in the pudding, and we haven’t had a slice of gameplay just yet. We’ll have to wait and see if Anchor can match Yuke’s glib interpretation.