WWE WrestleMania X8 features a simple grappling system. Each wrestler has five front grapples, five rear grapples, and miscellaneous grapples, such as an evade and grapple in which a wrestler will dodge and then perform a hold or throw. There are meters based on color for the competitors in a match, and a pin is possible when the player's meter is fully red and their opponent's is fully blue.
A large portion of the gameplay revolves around counter moves, with different buttons countering different maneuvers and allow different responses, such as strike and grapple.[5] The game features a wide selection of signature moves used by wrestlers, and all wrestlers in the game have their unique entrances. There are a variety of weapons available, as well as the ability to perform a number of different grapples with them.[5]
The game features a variety of match types, including Standard, Hardcore, Table, Ladder, TLC, Battle Royal, Steel Cage, Hell in a Cell, and Ironman. The number of participants in the match can also be chosen, including a singles match, a tag team match, a handicap match, Triple Threat, Fatal Four-Way, Battle Royal, and Royal Rumble.[5] The Hell in a Cell match features the ability to utilize unique grapples on the walls of the cell, as well as the ability to climb to the roof of the cell and fight atop it, with the option of throwing an opponent through the roof to the mat below.[5]
The game marks the WWE video game debuts of former WCW and ECW wrestlers signed during the Invasion storyline such as Booker T, Rob Van Dam, The Hurricane, and Lance Storm (Diamond Dallas Page, another major figure in the WCW/ECW Alliance and the WWF European Champion entering the namesake pay-per-view, was not included in the game). It was also the first appearance of Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair on a WWF/WWE video game since the 16-bit WWF Royal Rumble game (Hogan was on the Genesis version, while Flair was on the SNES version), as well as the only appearance for Scott Hall as an active WWE wrestler under the nWo gimmick, as he was released from the company prior to the game's release and was thus removed from WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth.
In addition, the game features "Rollin'" as The Undertaker's entrance theme music although Fred Durst was not included in the game in contrast to the previous WWF games that featured the song, while some former WCW wrestlers (including the nWo) and The Hardy Boyz do not have their proper entrance music.
