Backyard Wrestling 2 : There Goes the Neighborhood

Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes the Neighborhood for PlayStation 2 is a 2004 wrestling and fighting game developed by Paradox Development and published by Eidos Interactive. It is the sequel to 2003's Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This at Home, returning to the deliberately unruly world of underground, no-ring brawls. Rather than presenting licensed mainstream professional wrestling, the game turns its matches into one-on-one contests staged in destructible everyday locations, where grappling, striking, weapons, and the surroundings all compete for the player's attention.

The central match system combines arcade-style attacks with wrestling techniques. Players move with the analog stick or directional buttons, use separate attack buttons, initiate grapples, and choose throws, slams, or submissions from grapple positions. Blocking, timed reversals, counters, and escapes offer defensive options, while a replenishing Turbo Meter powers dashes, guard breaks, attack counters, and character-specific super moves. Pins and ground attacks remain part of the action, but the emphasis is on keeping an opponent vulnerable long enough to capitalize on the stage.

Its standout mechanic is the use of the environment. Objects can be smashed by attacks, slams, and Irish whips, leaving usable debris behind. Players can pick up weapons, hurl opponents toward hazards, and trigger context-sensitive Enviro-Mental throws when grappling in the right position. Stages also include platforms for diving attacks and ledges for throws or slams. Some hazards can add damage, and spectators around an arena may shove or hold an opponent after an environmental collision, creating a brief opening for further offense.

Backyard Wrestling 2 offers Exhibition and Career modes on PS2, with two players supported through the console's controller ports. Exhibition lets players select combatants and locations for individual matches. Career mode begins with either a selected Backyard Brawler or a newly created wrestler. The create-a-wrestler tools cover such details as body type, outfit styling and colors, tattoos, logos, and other appearance choices; wins supply money for accessories in the career shop. The manual also allows up to ten career saves and five custom wrestlers on a memory card.

The career campaign frames its progress around local wrestling tiers. Players complete missions that introduce or test systems such as blocking, then clear the required objectives to open tournaments. Winning the three belts in each local federation leads to a final tournament and the game's $1 million prize. Mission completion is recorded separately from defeating the opponent, and optional challenge missions can add rewards. This structure gives the campaign a sequence of mechanical objectives alongside its championship pursuit, instead of relying only on standalone matches.

The roster draws from the alternative wrestling scene and other personalities rather than a conventional company lineup. Hardcore wrestlers including New Jack, Vic Grimes, Sandman, Sick Nick Mondo, Mad Man Pondo, Vampiro, and Ruckus appear alongside Insane Clown Posse members Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope. Andrew W.K. is also playable, as are Tera Patrick, Sunrise Adams, and Tylene Buck. Contemporary coverage described more than 20 fighters, while the game also includes unlockable Backyard Wrestling brawlers.

The PlayStation 2 release arrived in North America on November 16, 2004; an Xbox version was released as well. As a sequel, There Goes the Neighborhood expanded on the first game's brawling premise with a revised grappling system, submissions, counters, blocking, a more extensive custom-wrestler feature, and interactive locations. Its unusual mixture of wrestling moves, street-fight weapon play, licensed personalities, and suburban combat spaces places it firmly among the more offbeat wrestling games of the PS2 era.