?Reported by Mike Siciliano of WrestleView.com

On Thursday, April 21, 2005 at 5:19 PM EST

It was about two months ago when I was standing in a Gamestop store in Carle Place, New York when I saw the box for the first time. Wrestlemania 21 for XBox, coming soon. I was hyperventilating. Desperate for it.

Of course, I had Nintendo Gamecube, being the idiot I am, so I was screwed, or so I thought.

A week later, I exchanged all my Nintendo merch for XBox regalia, and on begins the wait till Wrestlemania 21 comes out.

The show happens, no game. It gets delayed once, twice, and then finally, today, the game arrives in the stores. I naturally had reserved it, and picked it up around noon time with a ton of vim and vigor, ready to take on the world.

This game sucks.

Are the graphics cutting edge? Yes, indeed. They are. Are the moves more detailed than ever? Yes. Indeed. Is it a online game to remember? I can't tell you, cause quite frankly, I can't afford X Box Live, and before anyone tells me different, let me just saw two words.

Three kids.

Now, the game play itself is promising, yes. But, it loads from menu to menu to ringside like absolute garbage. Skipping, almost stopping on occasion, not the typical smooth loads that you see from XBox materials.

Also, the commentary, because of these skips in the data, is being cut off, or skipping as well. It's kind of depressing when you finish a match, wait to hear about it, and next thing you know, you're staring at a menu asking if you want a rematch. Why have the commentators talk when they're going to be cut off?

Now, before anyone else says I have a faulty X Box, let me say this. Game Stop, where I bought the game, let me try a second disc, when I went back, and showed the clerk my issue. They even let me try a THIRD disc, from ANOTHER STORE, who said they had not received a single complaint about the quality of the game. Still having problems.

This is the first title I have ever purchased where the issues are significant enough to almost make me wish I didn't buy it.

I challenge anyone to tell me that the quality of the gameplay on this title isn't 100%. Is it perhaps because of the high quality of the graphics? Maybe. But, let's say this, there are games out there with killer graphics that run beautifully. MVP Baseball. Tiger Woods, just to name a few. Those games, I've played till my fingers bled, and they have been smooth as a baby's bottom.

Here's the best part. I tried calling THQ and Jakks. I got a machine at Jakks, who actually had an 800 number for customer service, and I got cut off from a recording after having to go to five different sites to find a number for THQ, and it's not even an 800 number!

Ladies and gentlemen, I have been a promising reviewer of all things WWE. But, this time, I can't do it. Just stay out of this one. You'll probably be better off.

Debate me at palace@wrestleview.com

Be advised as well that the views of this column represent me and myself alone, and not the administration of Wrestleview.com. I appreciate WV for letting me air this, as I am really upset about it, but please do not take up any grievances about what I write here with the WV administration. It is a matter solely to be discussed with the writer of this column, me.

Thank you all very much for your time and patience.