WWE 2K18 roster preview: Who's out? Who's in?

Everybody's got a hobby. Believe it or not, I have several. These hobbies include blogging, playing the trumpet, binge-watching TV shows, playing video games and (as I've previously blogged about... before... several times) casually keeping up with pro wrestling.

Occasionally, these hobbies converge, such as, for instance, each October when a new WWE video game is released. Although these are not my favorite video games, they do come in handy when you want to virtually beat the crap out of somebody with a garbage can or senselessly pummel their face with your Playstation fists.

Who's out?

With "WWE 2K18" coming out (early release) on October 13, I was curious to see which wrestlers from "2K17" didn't make the cut for the new game. Generally, they'll cut a few characters that haven't been on TV in a while or who have left the company for one reason or another. Today, I did the proverbial math and have come up with a list, since I couldn't find it spelled out anywhere else. Here are the wrestlers who aren't making the jump from last year's edition:

• Alberto del Rio - no longer with the company; spent some time on "Lucha Underground" in 2015 as "Alberto El Patron" ("Lucha Underground" is on Netflix and is worth a binge-watch if you're a big wrestling fan with nothing else going on in your life.)
• Arn Anderson - "The Enforcer" and a former member of "The Four Horsemen"; likely just not a popular enough character to justify bringing along
• Austin Aries - left WWE on his own terms earlier this year after a stint as a wrestler and commentator on "NXT" and "205 Live"
• Big Show (1999) - included as part of the "Hall of Fame Showcase" DLC for "2K17"; probably the worst possible version of Big Show; there will still be a current model and a "2000" model of Big Show in "2K18," so this is not a big loss
• Billy Gunn and "Road Dogg" Jesse James - I've got two words for these members of D-Generation X: SEE YA!
• Blake and Murphy - two NXT stars that never made the jump to the main roster; they will not be missed
• Brian Pillman - I'm always confused by the decision to include Pillman in so many of these games; he was probably just before my time and I don't understand the nostalgia of it all
• Bubba and D-Von Dudley - the Dudley Boyz made a comeback in WWE from 2015-2016 (which I missed), but that run has come to an end, and so has their time in the 2K video games
• Diego and Fernando - Los Matadores were the casualties of a stupid gimmick and, thankfully, they will not be appearing as their masked personas in "2K18"; they will, however, be appearing as their current, low-mileage characters, Epico and Primo Colon (who notably have not been on TV in quite some time)
• Eva Marie - she of "all red everything" is bidding a fond farewell to the video game series; she was recently released by the company on reportedly questionable terms
• Jack Swagger - let us all take a moment to place a hand over our hearts and say, in a loud, clear voice, "WE, THE PEOPLE!"
• Simon Gotch - I missed the "Vaudevillains" era of WWE (it all seemed very odd to me), but Gotch hasn't been with the company for a while, so there is no sense in including him in this year's game
• Stardust - I also missed most of the Stardust era, but it was a terrible way for Cody Rhodes to leave the company; he is doing very well for himself in New Japan Pro Wrestling, however, so good for him

So there you have it. I won't particularly be missing anyone on that list. There's nobody that's completely irreplaceable - and even if I really did need any of them, they're just a quick Create-a-Wrestler away.

Who's in?

Now, who are the new additions for "WWE 2K18"? Let's break it down quickly - and there are a lot of names to cover. We'll do it in groups:

• Main Roster: Bobby Roode, Curt Hawkins, Elias, Jinder Mahal, Maryse, Mickie James, Primo Colon and Epico Colon, Rhyno
• NXT: Akam and Rezar with Paul Ellering ("The Authors of Pain"); Alexander Wolfe, Eric Young, Killian Dain and Nikki Cross ("SAnitY"); Billie Kay and Peyton Royce ("The Iconic Duo"), Ember Moon, Johnny Gargano, Kassius Ohno, Nick Miller, No Way Jose, Roderick Strong, Sawyer Fulton, Shane Thorne, Tommaso Ciampa
• 205 Live: Akira Tozawa, Cedric Alexander, Gran Metalik, Jack Gallagher, Noam Dar, Rich Swann, The Brian Kendrick, TJ Perkins
• Legends: Rick Martel
• DLC: Aleister Black, Beth Phoenix, Drew McIntyre, Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy, Lars Sullivan, Ricky Morton, Robert Gibson, Ruby Riot
• Deluxe and Pre-order bonuses: Batista, Kurt Angle (2001), Kurt Angle (2006), Rob Van Dam

By the Numbers

Huge credit to TheSmackdownHotel.com for helping me figure this all out. See their full "2K18" roster here. They also include the following interesting statistics:

The "WWE 2K18" roster includes:

• 174 unique playable characters on-disc (record)
• 203 playable characters on-disc, including alternate versions of Superstars (record)
• 184 unique playable characters, including DLC (record)
• 213 playable characters, including DLC and alternate versions of Superstars (record)
• 32 playable women, including DLC (record)
• 220 total characters, also including managers (record)

Take-aways

• There are a whole lot of new NXT characters that I don't give a crap about. WWE is making huge strides with their developmental show, but I don't watch it, so a lot of these new characters are meaningless to me. I'll likely just use them for easy wins and squash matches, where I can light a dude up with chair shots and get that 1-2-3.
• I'm glad that they aren't dropping any of my favorite retro characters like Goldberg, Sting and pretty much anybody from the old mid-'90s WCW.
• Why is Tyson Kidd still in the game? And Tatsumi Fujinami (who even is he??). I don't need pre-Stone Cold Stone Cold. I definitely don't need three versions of Triple H. Not sure why Albert is in there again, and I don't want two versions of Big Boss Man. BUT - I am eternally grateful that they didn't include James Ellsworth because he is currently the worst.
• Kurt Angle pre-order bonus! It's true! It's dang true!
• I'm excited to have actual, legitimate versions of Bobby Roode, Jinder Mahal and the Hardys. That women's division is pretty stacked now, too, although I don't usually play much with the ladies. Overall, this is a really impressive roster.

Should be a pretty fun game. Check out IGN.com's hands-on preview here. The graphics certainly look better than last year's (which were good, but some of those faces... yikes.) Is anybody else picking up "2K18," or was this a total waste of a blog? Let me know in the comments below. Or not.