By Doug Radcliffe
Design by Katie Bush

Strap on your favorite WWE superstar's boots, join the Smackdown or RAW roster, and enter the squared circle. Begin a full season of wrestling, battle your rival in a hardcore match at the pay-per-view, get embroiled in a nasty feud with Brock Lesnar, or ask a gorgeous WWE Diva to become your manager. THQ's WWE Smackdown: Here Comes The Pain offers a new season mode in which you can assume the role of your favorite WWE superstar or create your own star and work up the ranks from jobber to World Champion.

This extensive GameSpot game guide to WWE Smackdown: Here Comes The Pain features:

Wrestler Guide: Check here for statistics for all selectable wrestlers, brief biographies, finishing moves, and stats for the unlockable Legends.

General Strategies: This section provides strategies applicable to all match types and season mode. Look for tips on mixing up the action, dirty tactics, increasing your Smackdown meter, and stealing your opponent's finisher.

Match Strategies: Look here for strategies covering specific match types, including Tag Team, Royal Rumble, Lumber Jack, Hardcore, and the Elimination Chamber.

Season Tips: Survive the WWE season with these strategies, including tips on choosing your wrestler, surviving as a created superstar, and navigating the plentiful storylines.

Create a Wrestler: This section offers tips on using WWE Smackdown: Here Comes The Pain's Create a Wrestler mode with Ultimate Warrior as an example.

ShopZone: This section details all available items in ShopZone and their prices.

Secrets: Look here for a compilation of secrets to uncover in the game.

GameSpot paid subscribers have the privilege of downloading a searchable and printable version of our game guides. Our guides are in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format, and they're laid out so you can print them out and have them at your fingertips as you're playing.