If you find a copy, don't play it online (you can't, the servers are dust). Don't expect smooth animations. Do expect to hear the absolute best menu theme song in franchise history ("You Can't Escape" by Downstait). And do expect to spend four hours building a rivalry between William Regal and a CAW of "Macho Man" Randy Savage that ends in a 60-minute Iron Man match.

Why is searching for this game so interesting? Because it’s the ultimate "failure that succeeded."

WWE '12 isn't the best wrestling game ever made. But searching for it? That’s how you find the soul of the fandom.

Modern WWE 2K games have lost this grit. Searching for WWE '12 is searching for the last time a wrestling game felt like a simulation of pain rather than a choreography contest.