WWE.com has a really interesting article up which looks at a “lost” game called “WWE Brawl.” It was a fighting game that went into development in 2009 and looked similar to “WWE All-Stars” but was made in the spirit of “Super Smash Bros.” The fighting in the game was done in more of an arcade style, as opposed to the simulation style commonly seen in games like the “WWE 2K” series. The slogan for the game was “No ref. No ring. No rules.”

The characters were made to look like fictionalized cartoon versions of themselves and in the game the WWE Superstars and Divas lived in a place called Brawl City.

Within Brawl City players could interact with the environment as they fought in different locations. Some of the locations in the game included a graveyard to represent The Undertaker, a burning venue for Kane, and a garage for John Cena. The idea was that almost everything in the environment could be used as a weapon.

“It was all going to be fast, very destructive. Like all environments get completely smashed to pieces while you were playing the game.” said artist Drew Morrow who worked on the game.

The story within “WWE Brawl” was referred to as a “Street Fighter-like plot.” It featured WWE stars such as John Cena, Kelly Kelly and Triple H battling through a conspiracy with Vince McMahon as the fictional big boss of the game. It was also hinted that Vince may have been working with a villainous version of Edge.

“In short, the WWE Universe would be transplanted into its own fictional world focused around [Brawl City], its own fictional metropolis. The Superstars would have their own identity and life in that city (in line with their WWE personas) — jobs, histories and all that. Conflicts would arise and there would be fights.” Rushbrook said via email.

According to WWE, the game was canceled due to “Bad timing, an unsteady global economy and the sheer difficulty in producing a game of this magnitude.”

You can check out concept art by clicking here as well as some footage from “WWE Brawl” below.