UofMUSCLE.com – M.U.S.C.L.E. Figures from Mattel

The M.U.S.C.L.E. NES video game, Tag Team Match M.U.S.C.L.E., has not yet been added to History 200. The delay has been creating and capturing new pictures and game-play footage.

As efforts have increased to add the Tag Team Match M.U.S.C.L.E. to History 200 some editing of the original write-up has also begun. Through that editing a curious topic arose, “What was the actual release date for the game?”

Many websites have the game’s release date as Fall 1986, most often October of 1986. This would make it one of the Nintendo Entertainment System’s first games. It would not be one of the launch titles, but clearly one of the first in a long line of games.

The release date of another video game is also important – Tag Team Wrestling. Its release date appears to generally be 1986, without much specificity.

Mudding the waters even further, Pro Wrestling. Its release date seems less consistent; ranging from 1986 to the first quarter (often March) of 1987. Strangely it is this game that is most often credited as the first wrestling game for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).

In the comments sections below, or in emails to the University of M.U.S.C.L.E., please share any information (i.e., pictures, websites, Nintendo promotional materials, etc.) that can solidify the release dates of these three games. It is possible that as a M.U.S.C.L.E. community we may discover that Tag Team Match M.U.S.C.L.E. was the first wrestling game for the NES system.