WWE 2K26 Preview

Tick tock, pro wrestling fans. Tick tock! We are only a few days out from the early access release of WWE 2K26, and we've got a slew of new superstars, updated features, and new game modes coming at us!

With the help of The SmackDown Hotel, we've got a roundup of what's new, who's in, who's out, and what we're looking forward to in this year's installment, so let's not waste another second and just jump right in with the roster breakdown.

Who's out?

Legends/Other

• Bruno Sammartino
• George "The Animal" Steele
• Harley Race
• Headshrinker Fatu
• Headshrinker Samu
• Jake "The Snake" Roberts
• Jalen Brunson
• KSI
• Peter Maivia
• Ricky Steamboat
• Shaquille O'Neal
• Tyrese Haliburton

No longer with the company

• Akam
• Andrade
• Ashante Thee Adonis
• Baron Corbin
• Blair Davenport
• Braun Strowman
• Carlito
• Carmella
• Cedric Alexander
• Cora Jade
• Dakota Kai
• Duke Hudson
• Eddy Thorpe
• Elektra Lopez
• Gigi Dolin
• Giovanni Vinci
• Indi Hartwell
• Isla Dawn
• Jakara Jackson
• Joe Koffey
• Karl Anderson
• Karrion Kross
• Katana Chance
• Kayden Carter
• Luke Gallows
• Mark Coffey
• Oro Mensah
• Paul Ellering
• Rezar
• Scarlett
• Shayna Baszler
• Shotzi
• Sonya DeVille
• Tamina
• Tegan Nox
• Valhalla
• Wes Lee
• Wolfgang

Notable missing Main Roster superstars

• Bravo Americano
• Brie Bella
• Danhausen
• Matt Cardona
• Rayo Americano
• Royce Keys

Notable missing NXT superstars

• Adriana Rizzo
• Arianna Grace
• DarkState (Cutler James, Dion Lennox, Osiris Griffin, Saquon Shugars)
• Kendal Grey
• Lainey Reid
• Luca Crusifino
• Vanity Project (Brad Baylor, Jackson Drake, Ricky Smokes)

Who's in? (* = DLC)

Main roster

• AJ Lee
• JC Mateo
• Rey Fenix
• Rusev
• Talla Tonga

NXT

• Blake Monroe
• Hank Walker
• Izzi Dame
• Jazmyn Nyx
• Joe Hendry
• Karmen Petrovic
• Myles Borne
• Ricky Saints
• Tank Ledger
• Tavion Heights
• Wren Sinclair
• Yoshiki Inamura
• Zaria

Lucha Libre AAA

• El Hijo Del Vikingo*
• Flammer*
• Lady Shani*
• Mr. Iguana*
• Pagano*
• Psycho Clown*

Legends/Other

• Ax*
• Crush*
• Jelly Roll*
• Smash*
• Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley

Managers/Non-playable Characters

• Booker T (commentator)
• Wade Barrett (Commentator)

By the numbers

As was the case last year, The SmackDown Hotel says that this will be the largest roster in the history of WWE video games, with "over 400 playable characters." Of course, this also comes with the yearly caveat that "AJ Lee" and "AJ Lee '15" count as two different playable characters, and we're getting (as far as I can see, so far) - nine different versions of CM Punk, so let's not get too excited.

Roster take-aways

My first reaction is, dang, look how many people got cut this year! That feels like a ton. But other than that, uh, hey - we're getting AAA stars, so Mr. Iguana should be interesting! I'm just learning right now that the feature that previously granted all superstars and unlockables immediately may not be in 2K26, and many of the wrestlers on the roster will need to be obtained through the new "ringside pass" system, which I think I'm going to hate... but more on that later.

AJ Lee is back, Adam Pierce and Nick Aldis are playable this year, we're getting both versions of El Grande Americano... There is a character named "Bronze Breakker"? Man, that's hilarious.

I also see that they're counting a bunch of "MyRise" characters as official members of the roster, which is lame because I will never use any of them.

What else is new?

• Interactive superstar entrances
• Manual gestures, taunts, and pyro sequences
• Start of Match Actions
• Play to the crowd, offer a handshake, trade blows, surprise attack, chain wrestling
• New match types
• Dumpster Match
• I Quit Match
• Inferno Match
• Three Stages of Hell
• Showcase Mode: CM Punk
• New weapons
• Shopping cart
• Thumbtacks
• Stackable tables
• Championship pedestal
• Upgrades to GM Mode
• Intergender matches
• 5-, 6- and 8-wrestler matches
• Handicap matches
• Default 50-week seasons
• Double booking
• "Invasion" promos
• Three new GMs
• Upgrades to Universe Mode
• WWE Draft
• Universe wizard tool
• The Island
• New storyline and environment
• Faction system
• MyFaction Mode
• Intergender lineups and matches
• Ringside Pass
• Now, you don't just have to pay for DLC expansions - you have to grind out the characters you bought, too! (This sounds terrible.)

WWE 2K Q&A with A-Town

• Who will you play with first?
• Depends. Who will be available to play with and who will I have to play for hours to unlock? Joe Hendry is a fun pre-order bonus, though. Might have to check him out. Maybe a tag match between Chad Gabe and the original El Grande Americano vs. Ludwig Kaiser and El Grande Americano. I love LA Knight and Penta, too. Heck, maybe it will be Chelsea Green. She's hilarious.
• Who won't you play with at all?
• Any of the MyRise characters. Pretty much everybody from the Bloodline that isn't currently on the main roster. Most wrestlers from NXT.
• What is your go-to match type?
• Extreme Rules, baby! Anything with no DQ.
• What is your favorite game mode?
• I like GM Mode. I wish that I played it more instead of having to grind out MyFaction and play through MyRise. Having to play through MyRise multiple times last year was not my favorite chore.
• Is there anything you wish you could change or improve about these games?
• Dude, I hated ambulance and casket matches in 2K25. I would literally have to beat my opponent within an inch of their life before I could close the door on them. It was horrible and I will not likely ever willingly choose to play either of those match types ever again.
• There were some really weird trophies last year - particularly in GM Mode. I wish that I could just play this game the way I wanted to play it instead of having to do these random things like having Kyle Slickman win the main event of WrestleMania.
• I've begged about it for years now, but I want the "Statistics" feature to count all of my matches, not just the ones where I'm in Play Mode vs the computer. Count my MyFaction wins and everything else, too. We live in the modern age. I'm not asking for much.
• I still have gripes about GM Mode like I did last year. The penalties for having two powerhouses fight each other are stupid. You shouldn't have to use exclusively cruiserweights against Drew McIntyre or Brock Lesnar. The other thing that drove me nuts about GM Mode was that when you tell the computer to book a show for you, it would put the most random matches together. I wish it was a bit more intelligent with its decision making.
• I don't like The Island. I played that thing as briefly as I had to last year, but I fear that it's going to continue to be a big part of these games moving forward, and I just don't care whatsoever about the online aspect of these games. Just let me enjoy myself without having to get online with strangers.
• Make up a new tag team that does not currently exist.
• The way that Danhausen debuted at Elimination Chamber over the weekend was about as weird as I could possibly have ever fathomed, but I went down the rabbit hole and watched some clips and I think I want to like him. His first appearance on Raw cost Dominik Mysterio the Intercontinental championship, so that was lovely. If Danhausen teamed up with R-Truth and Mr. Iguana, that would be comedy gold. Maybe even an odd couple tag team of Danhausen and The Miz? But Danhausen isn't in the game this year (yet), so I'll come up with something else...
• I mean, it's got to be Tiffany Stratton and Blake Monroe, right? Give Blake the call-up after WrestleMania and give them a shot.
• Give us brand new champions for every single main roster belt:
• RAW:
• Men's Title: Finn Balor
• Women's Title: Naomi was going to be great before she got pregnant
• Men's IC: Penta literally just won it tonight, but if you had asked me 24 hours ago, I might have said him.
• Women's IC: Nikki Bella
• Men's Tag: LA Knight and Sheamus
• SmackDown:
• Men's Title: Randy Orton
• Women's Title: Break up the Judgment Day and move Raquel Rodriguez to SmackDown
• Men's US: Joe Hendry after a main roster call-up
• Women's US: I pledge allegiance to Chelsea Green
• Men's Tag: Shinsuke Nakamura and Kevin Owens would be fun if they could stay healthy
• Inter-brand Women's Tag Team Champions: Bayley and Lyra Valkyria
• Who are you looking forward to beating up?
• Always Dominik Mysterio and Liv Morgan. Triple H probably deserves a beating for some of his odd booking decisions, too.

The Bottom Line

The race to cross the finish line for WWE 2K25 was absolutely brutal. Some of the matches I had to play in order to beat all of the World Tour locations were completely insane. I hated it. Having to play and simulate literally 17 seasons of GM Mode with CM Punk as the GM of NXT Mutiny just to finally win the main event of Backlash was moronic. Hated it.

But I'll be danged if I'm not looking forward to this Thursday night when I can boot up some WWE 2K26. I'm getting the Monday Night Wars edition, so I might have to relive a bit of the old WCW glory days for a bit.

Honestly, the new game looks good. It looks fun. I mean, is it just a shiny new roster update? Maybe! But it's about time we got real versions of some of these new characters. I think I'll just basically need to get in and download community creations of Matt Cardona and Danhausen, but then we'll be good to go!

Another year, another 11 months of WWE action on the PlayStation. Can't wait for the weekend.

*****

The road to WrestleMania is upon us! Hit us up in the comments section to let us know if you're still clinging onto dear life or if WWE has priced you out completely! While you're at it, check us out on Twitter (here and here) or chat with us on Facebook.

Ready to rumble yet again.

Until next time.