It's tiiiiiime for another year of WWE 2K! In our opinion, the developers really righted the ship with WWE 2K22 last year, which was great - and even ended up being our top game of the year for 2022, with over 120 hours logged. Before the game launches at 10 PM Mountain Time tonight, we need to look over the roster for the new installment. But first of all, let's just talk for a second about what a weird year it was for the previous cast of characters.
WWE made a ton of budget cuts over the past two years, releasing a bunch of wrestlers - some of which were more deserving of being let go than others. This resulted, however, in a video game roster that was completely outdated on Day One. It was wild. By our count, there were 37 people included with last year's game that weren't with the company anymore - 11 of which were "new" characters who weren't with WWE anymore by the time the game launched. Wild.
The other weird thing was that Vince McMahon, being the weirdo that he is, became obsessed with changing wrestlers' names and he re-branded a ton of people, so even wrestlers who survived the budget cuts quickly became outdated in the video game. For instance, "Walter" became "Gunther" and "Pete Dunne" became "Butch." It made very little sense to us, but Vince was gonna Vince. It will be nice to have a game where players are actually referred to by their current TV names.
After reviewing the roster this year, we can confidently say that a much more up-to-date cast of characters will grace our flat-screens for 2023. Let's channel our inner D-Generation X and break it down:
Who's out?
- Legends and celebrities
- Machine Gun Kelly
- Mickie James
- Mr. T
- Papa Shango
- Ric Flair
- Road Dogg Jesse James
- William Regal
- Still with the company, not enough TV time
- A-Kid
- Sarray (Minutes before posting this blog, Sarray confirmed that she has officially left the company)
- Tegan Nox
- No longer with the company
- Alexander Wolf
- Arya Daivari
- Billie Kay
- Cesaro
- Danny Burch
- Ember Moon
- Fandango
- Gran Metalik
- Isaiah "Swerve" Scott
- John Morrison
- Kalisto
- Keith Lee
- Kushida
- Kyle O'Reilly
- Lana
- Lince Dorado
- Mandy Rose
- Murphy
- Oney Lorcan
- Peyton Royce
- Samoa Joe
- Sasha Banks
- Slapjack
- The Brian Kendrick
- Timothy Thatcher
- Toni Storm
- Trent Seven
- Tucker
- WWE status uncertain
- Naomi
- Nia Jax
- Head-scratchers
- Candice LeRae
- Mia Yim/Reckoning
- Roderick Strong
Editor's note, May 15, 2023: A patch coming up for the game later this week will make Candice LeRae and Mia Yim fully playable characters in the game. Also, Roderick Strong made a surprise debut with WWE's main competitor a couple weeks ago, so it's apparently a good thing he wasn't included in the game.
Who's in? (* denotes characters available via DLC)
- Main Roster
- Aliya
- Ashante Adonis*
- Bray Wyatt* (At the time of posting, rumors are circulating on Twitter that Wyatt might be quitting the company imminently, which would be shocking and a huge failure on the part of WWE)
- Cody Rhodes
- Ezekiel
- Karl Anderson*
- Luke Gallows*
- Madcap Moss
- Queen Zelina
- Reggie
- Ridge Holland
- Shanky
- Solo Sikoa
- Top Dolla*
- Valhalla*
- Veer Mahaan
- NXT
- Andre Chase*
- Blair Davenport*
- Bron Breakker
- Brutus Creed
- Carmelo Hayes
- Cora Jade
- Damon Kemp*
- Elton Prince*
- Gigi Dolin
- Grayson Waller
- Ivy Nile*
- Jacy Jayne*
- Joe Gacy*
- Julius Creed
- Kayden Carter
- Kit Wilson*
- Nathan Frazer*
- Nikkita Lyons
- Noam Dar
- Roxanne Perez
- Tiffany Stratton*
- Tony D'Angelo*
- Trick Williams*
- Wendy Choo*
- Zoey Stark
- Non-playable characters
- B-Fab*
- Legends/other
- Batista (Leviathan)*
- Bad Bunny
- Brie Bella
- Brock Lesnar '01*
- Bruno Sammartino
- Eve Torres*
- Harley Race*
- Jean-Paul Levesque
- John Cena alternate attires
- John Cena '02
- John Cena '03
- John Cena '06
- John Cena '08
- John Cena '09
- John Cena '12
- John Cena '14
- John Cena '16
- John Cena '18
- John Cena (Prototype)*
- "Super Cena"
- Kurt Angle
- Lita
- Mighty Molly
- Molly Holly
- Nikki Bella
- Randy Orton '02*
- Rick Steiner*
- Scott Steiner*
- Wade Barrett*
- Zeus*
Wrestlers with new names
- Alba Fyre (previously Kay Lee Ray)
- Butch (previously Pete Dunne)
- Cruz del Toro (previously Raul Mendoza)
- Giovanni Vinci (previously Fabian Aichner)
- Gunther (previously Walter)
- Iyo Sky (previously Io Shirai)
- JD McDonagh (previously Jordan Devlin)
- Katana Chance (previously Kacy Katanzaro)
- Ludwig Kaiser (previously Marcel Barthel)
- Ma.ce (previously MACE)
- Man.soor (previously Mansoor)
- Queen Zelina (previously Zelina Vega)
- Raquel Rodriguez (previously Raquel Gonzalez)
- Valhalla (previously Sarah Logan)
By the Numbers
- 199 unique, playable characters - including DLC but not including managers and alternate versions of superstars
- Up 30 from "WWE 2K22."
- We counted Elias and Ezekiel separately because we're 97.2% positive that they are, in fact, not the same person.
- 237 playable characters, including alternate versions of superstars
- Up 42 from "WWE 2K22."
- 52 unique, playable women
- Up 11 from "WWE 2K22."
- 245 total characters, including managers and alternate versions of superstars
- Up 44 from "WWE 2K22."
Roster take-aways
We are actually really happy about how this year's roster turned out. The people who are gone (for the most part) don't deserve to be there anymore. The "head scratchers" we listed are truly that - people who don't have any apparent reason for not being included - particularly Mendoza, whose entire stable is in the game, and LeRae, who you'd think would have been a package deal with real-life husband Johnny Gargano. Oh well. We'll snag somebody's created versions of them and act like they're the real deal.
A couple other highlights include the fact that Elias and Ezekiel are both in the game together, Wade Barrett appearing as a WWE Legend, and the triumphant return of the American Hero, Kurt Angle, who won a gold medal with a broken freakin' neck.
The fact that several of last year's DLC characters are not returning (Machine Gun Kelly, A-Kid, Sarray) shows how weak last year's crop of paid content bundles was.
Speaking of DLC, there are some hefty batches coming this year, on a monthly basis. There are going to be some pretty good wrestlers being made available throughout the summer. We copped the Icon version of the game, which includes the season pass, so we'll be looking forward to those additional content drops.
We're also happy to see the return of a lot of female legends that were inexplicably cut from last year's game. Welcome back.
What else is new?
- The biggest bomb dropped for "2K23" is the virtual arrival of War Games, a "premium live event" match gimmick which has become an NXT staple and even made its main roster a few months ago. If you're unfamiliar with the concept, think this: a double-ring cage match. It should provide for some pretty crazy 3v3 and 4v4 tag team matchups for gamers this year.
- "WWE 2K22" re-introduced "GM Mode," which was fun, albeit very brief. I didn't spend nearly as much time as a General Manager as I anticipated, due to limited match options and somewhat limited gameplay options. From the sound of it, they've bolstered this mode for the upcoming game, encouraging players to spend multiple seasons with the same GM, which was not really the case last year. Last time, you pretty much ran through a calendar year and that was it. A multi-year lifespan with improved match and title capabilities and an expanded roster of available GMs should make "2K23" a step up from its predecessor.
- "Showcase Mode" returns this year with the spotlight on our good friend, John Cena.
- "Universe" mode is listed as a new feature on the 2K website. It's probably a retread of a feature that appeared in many past games but seems to have been revamped as "the ultimate sandbox," which should give players some variety if they want to step away from similar modes like My GM or MyFaction.
WWE 2K Q&A with A-Town
- Who will be the first wrestlers you play with in "2K23"?
- Cody Rhodes will be one of my first choices, for sure.
- Are there any superstars that you are more excited to play with in "2K23" than you have been in the past?
- I hardly used Cena last year, for whatever reason, but I'm sure I'll use him a ton this year. Sami Zayn has had the year of his life. Elias/Ezekiel will be fun. Raquel Rodriguez would be fun on the women's roster. Rhea Ripley has been a beast, too.
- Are there any superstars that you are less excited to play with in "2K23" than you have been in the past?
- Toward the end of my time with "2K22," I was almost exclusively using Roman Reigns and Charlotte Flair in MyFaction because I could win matches in about 30 seconds if I hit their submission moves right off the bad. If I could, you know... not have to play like that again this year, that would be awesome.
- Are there any superstars that you have no intention of playing with in "2K23"?
- The Usos. Sick of them. Dominik Mysterio, who is universally hated by everyone, at this point. I probably won't touch any male characters from NXT, with the possible exception of Bron Breakker. There's a good deal of women on the main roster that I'll never use, either (Aliyah, Doudrop, Nikki A.S.H., etc.)
- Who are you most looking forward to beating up?
- I don't really know the dude but Grayson Waller seems like a real idiot down on NXT. Dominik Mysterio is definitely going to get the crap kicked out of him, too.
- What is your weapon of choice?
- I used a lot of chairs last year. I wish they didn't break after four hits. Kendo sticks, as always, and baseball bats are nice, too.
- What feature are you most looking forward to?
- The new My GM mode should be a big step in the right direction. I'll hop into War Games but I don't expect to constantly be playing with that stipulation. I spent nearly 100 hours in MyFaction last year due to the trophy that required 500 matches played. What a nightmare. After scanning the trophy list this morning, I don't think I'll have to do that again, thankfully, so I'm hoping for a much less tedious experience in that mode for "2K23."
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