Players compete exclusively on the show they are drafted to for the first few months of year one, consisting of four Raw or SmackDown!

Eventually, the player will be booked on the two major television shows, appearing on two Raw and two SmackDown!

One of the featured storylines is based on the WWE debut of the nWo of early 2002, which in-game, includes Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and X-Pac (who replaced the released Scott Hall).

It also offers over 58 move sets from a combination of superstars in WWE not featured in the game or working in different promotions.

[citation needed] This is the first WWE game to feature superstars on different brands, Raw and SmackDown!.

This also marks the first WWE video game appearances of Billy Kidman, Brock Lesnar, Chuck Palumbo, Diamond Dallas Page, Jazz, Maven, Randy Orton, Rico, Stacy Keibler, Lance Storm, Kevin Nash and Torrie Wilson.

Shut Your Mouth received a major graphical overhaul during its development, with superstar models being updated to include realistic facial features.

[citation needed] For superstar entrances, most of the themes used in the televised and house shows were incorporated into the game.

Along with the in-house music from Jim Johnston, remakes of Johnston's originals from bands such as Breaking Point (for Rob Van Dam), Boy Hits Car (for Lita), Cypress Hill (for Tazz), Our Lady Peace (for Chris Benoit), and Saliva (for The Dudley Boyz) were also featured.

Next Generation ranked it as the 44th highest-selling game launched for the PlayStation 2, Xbox or GameCube between January 2003 and July 2006 in that country.