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Showing posts with label pro wrestling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pro wrestling. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 3, 2026

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.
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Tuesday, December 16, 2025

The Bitter Pill 6: John Cena Gives Up


For more than two decades, WWE superstar John Cena lived by a pair of three-word mottos: “Hustle, loyalty, respect” and “Never give up.” Across nearly 25 years, he granted hundreds of Make-a-Wish requests, served as the undisputed face of WWE, and crafted a heroic legacy that spanned multiple generations of fans.

In July 2024, Cena announced that he would retire at the end of 2025, breaking the hearts of millions of wrestling fans. Yet the announcement also sparked immediate intrigue. Who would Cena face on his way out? Old rivals? Dream matches? A final spotlight on rising talent?

Few could have predicted what followed.

Cena’s 18-match retirement tour featured several notable moments: a second-place finish in the Royal Rumble, a victory inside the Elimination Chamber, and the most shocking development of all: his long-awaited heel turn. After years of fan speculation, Cena finally embraced the dark side, aligning himself with The Rock and Travis Scott, stunning the wrestling world by delivering a low blow to Cody Rhodes at the conclusion of Elimination Chamber.



For years, fans begged to see the company’s white knight bend the rules but Cena always resisted, determined to preserve his family-friendly image. When it finally happened, it felt historic - although the storyline ultimately lacked follow-through once Dwayne and Travis unexpectedly vanished from television.

Still, the heel turn opened the door for fresh matchups for a few months. Cena squared off against top babyfaces including Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, Sami Zayn, and longtime admirer R-Truth. Along the way, he broke Ric Flair’s long-standing world championship record, capturing a historic seventeenth title. But without meaningful direction, Cena’s villain run always felt temporary and quickly ran out of steam, not to mention that fans continued to cheer him despite his dastardly deeds. Entertaining as it was, it seemed inevitable that he would finish his career the way he started it - as a hero.

Eventually, he did pivot back to his old, righteous character. After a brief, almost abrupt redemption, the WWE Universe welcomed him back with open arms. Cena closed out his tour with strong performances with and against familiar foes like AJ Styles, Sheamus, and Rey Mysterio. He even defeated Dominik Mysterio to capture the Intercontinental Championship - the only major title that had eluded him - officially making Cena a Grand Slam Champion in the twilight of his career.



His final opponent was decided via a 16-man “Last Time Is Now” tournament featuring WWE and NXT talent, along surprise appearances from ex-WWE stars Zack Ryder and Dolph Ziggler. From early on, rumors pointed toward Gunther as the scripted winner. Gunther, who returned from an injury that kept him out of action for several months, had already established himself as a multi-time champion and recently retired Goldberg in the summer of 2025, and a probably “career ender” reputation wouldn’t be an unrealistic angle.

For some fans – myself included - that outcome felt potentially underwhelming. Cena’s final match seemed better suited for a long-standing rival like Randy Orton or The Miz, or even an impossible dream opponent like Edge, who is currently contracted by WWE’s main rival, AEW. But the rumors proved true. Gunther won the tournament and earned the right to face John Cena in his retirement match at Saturday Night’s Main Event in Washington, D.C.

The match itself was fine. It wasn’t a highlight-reel classic like Cena’s bout with AJ Styles, nor was it a one-sided demolition like his loss to Brock Lesnar. As the tour progressed, Cena showed signs of slowing down - precisely the reason he chose to retire while still capable. He wasn’t bad; he was simply no longer prime Cena. Against a methodical opponent like Gunther, that worked. The slower pace fit the moment.

The crowd was firmly in Cena’s corner, louder and more unified than perhaps any audience of Cena’s storied career. There seemed to be a genuine belief that he could pull off one last victory.

Industry tradition suggests otherwise. Retirement matches are often about passing the torch, and legends typically go out on their backs, looking up at the lights. Ric Flair did it. Kurt Angle did it. Batista did it. The Undertaker did it. Goldberg lost consciousness in his last match with Gunther. That’s just how wrestling works.

But John Cena felt different. It felt like maybe - just maybe - WWE would let us see Cena’s hand raised one last time.

In the episode or two preceding Saturday Night’s Main Event, Gunther promised he would make Cena go against everything he preached; he promised to make Cena give up.

That idea alone felt wrong. The man whose entire career was built on “Never Give Up” was not going to tap out. Not in his final match.

Throughout the bout, Cena delivered his signature offense - the Five Knuckle Shuffle, the “five moves of doom,” and multiple Attitude Adjustments, including one through the announce table and another from the middle ropes. Gunther kicked out every time. He fought back relentlessly, chopping Cena down and repeatedly locking in the sleeper hold - the same move that ended Goldberg’s career.



Surely they weren’t going to make John Cena submit.

…Right?

As the match wore on, Cena struggled to stay upright, narrowly escaping defeat multiple times. The crowd roared, chanting “Don’t give up!” and unleashing venom toward Gunther, urging their hero onward.

But time and time again, Gunther cinched in that sleeper hold, and Cena started to fade. Finally, in a moment that will be talked about and debated for years to come, John Cena smiled.

And then, softly, he tapped out.

John Cena gave up.

This just felt wrong. Cena didn’t look overpowered. He didn’t look completely out of gas. He just looked tired - disappointed, even. Sad. The moment felt symbolic, as if Cena were quietly acknowledging, “My time is over. The job is done.”

This week on his social media accounts, Cena posted a captionless image of Obi-Wan Kenobi smiling just before being struck down by Darth Vader. The comparison spoke for itself.

The crowd, meanwhile, was stunned into near silence as Gunther’s hand was raised. A smattering of applause followed - more out of appreciation for Cena than appreciation of the moment itself - but it hardly resembled the sendoff WWE likely envisioned. Wrestlers soon filed to the ring, led by WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque, who was met with loud boos and profanity-laced chants. The tonal shift was jarring: from Cena’s shocking defeat to Triple H laughing and grinning as he gestured toward the video board, where a triumphant highlight package of Cena’s career began to play.



Fans could do nothing but watch in disbelief as the curtain fell on an unrivaled career during a moment that should have felt triumphant but simply didn’t.

Yahoo! Sports journalist Ariel Helwani addressed Cena’s retirement on his podcast, The Ariel Helwani Show, pushing back against the familiar argument that this was “what wrestling tradition demands”:

“People will say, ‘This is what John wanted - he wanted to give back to the business.’ And to that I say that’s nonsense. That ideology belongs to wrestling in the ’70s and ’80s, not the era we’re living in now. Who wanted to see John Cena lose again and again in his final months? And not only does he lose his retirement match, but the guy who told us for over 20 years to never give up loses by submission. The match never should have been Cena vs. Gunther, and it sure as [expletive] never should have ended with Cena tapping out.”

Helwani also suggested that WWE may as well have told its audience, “You want this? Well, here’s the exact opposite.” During the match, fans loudly chanted “Super Cena,” a nickname once used mockingly by detractors who resented his seemingly invincible booking. On this night, however, the chant carried nostalgia and affection. The fans were trying to will him to victory. And what they received in return was a version of John Cena who abandoned the very mantra that defined his career, tapping out and exiting with a whimper.

Bleacher Report echoed that frustration, criticizing Cena’s retirement run as a whole and calling it a program that “largely missed the mark,” citing inconsistent storytelling, the failed heel turn, and a lack of meaningful payoff. What should have been a legacy-defining farewell instead became a wave of nostalgia filled with squandered opportunities.

The larger problem for WWE is that moments like this tend to linger with its audience. Last weekend, fans in Washington were taunting Gunther for having tapped out to Jey Uso at WrestleMania last April; there is little chance they’ll forget that he ended John Cena’s career via one of the most pathetic-looking tap-outs of all time.

WWE may be comfortable doubling down on the idea that this was “best for business,” and to Gunther’s credit, his character thrives in hostility. But Cena’s farewell wasn’t supposed to be about solidifying Gunther as a star. It was supposed to be about John Cena.

At a time when WWE is steadily pricing fans out of live events and television programming, the company had a chance to give its audience something simple and rare: a joyful goodbye. A victory lap. A final image worthy of the man who carried the brand for a generation.

The fans deserved better. John Cena deserved better. Instead, WWE chose an ending that undercut the very values its biggest star spent decades promoting.

I know it’s all part of the show - but for once, wouldn’t a happy ending have been enough?

Hustle, loyalty, respect. Never give up… unless it’s the final match of your career and the script says otherwise.



*****

The Bitter Pill is an ongoing series containing my thoughts on moments that make me wonder why I even watch sports (even the pre-determined ones) in the first place. For a nice jog down Pain Boulevard, read the other posts here. You can also try to find me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter (here and here), and explain why it's still real to you, dang it, in the comments section below.

Until next time.

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Thursday, March 6, 2025

WWE 2K25 Preview


We are mere hours away from early access for WWE 2K25! It's looking like we're in for another solid installment in the franchise, so I'm looking forward to logging on at 10 PM Mountain Time tonight for a little bit of late night gaming.

But before we get to that, let's break down the roster changes and some of the new features that we can expect from the new game!

Who's Out?

Legends/Other
  • AJ Hawk
  • Bad Bunny
  • Beth Phoenix
  • Big Boss Man
  • Boston Connor
  • Darius Butler
  • Jerry Lawler
  • Muhammad Ali
  • Post Malone
  • Robert Roode
  • Ronda Rousey
  • Sanga
  • Shane McMahon
  • Ted DiBiase
  • Ty Schmit

No longer with the company
  • Bobby Lashley
  • Cameron Grimes
  • Damon Kemp
  • Dijak
  • Drew Gulak
  • Jinder Mahal
  • MVP
  • Ricochet
  • SCRYPTS
  • Veer Mahaan
  • Xia Li

Current main roster superstars who didn't make the cut
  • Shockingly, I think that the DLC pretty much covers all of the recent additions to the main roster!

Notable missing NXT superstars
  • Hank Walker
  • Jazmyn Nyx
  • Karmen Petrovic
  • Luca Crusifino
  • Meiko Satomura
  • Ricky Saints
  • Tank Ledger
  • Zaria

Who's in? (* = DLC)

Main roster
  • Akam (no longer with company)
  • Alex Shelley*
  • Andrade
  • Chris Sabin*
  • Elektra Lopez (no longer with company)
  • Erick Rowan*
  • Finn Balor (Demon)
  • Jacob Fatu
  • Kiana James
  • Naomi
  • Penta*
  • Rezar (no longer with company)
  • Tama Tonga
  • Tonga Loa

NXT
  • Charlie Dempsey
  • Eddy Thorpe
  • Ethan Page
  • Giulia*
  • Jaida Parker
  • Jakara Jackson
  • Je'Von Evans
  • Jordynne Grace*
  • Kelani Jordan
  • Lash Legend
  • Lexis King
  • Lola Vice
  • Oba Femi
  • Oro Mensah
  • Shawn Spears
  • Sol Ruca
  • Stephanie Vaquer*
  • Tatum Paxley

Legends/Other
  • Abyss*
  • Afa
  • Alundra Blayze
  • Billy Gunn*
  • Bull Nakano
  • D'Lo Brown*
  • Great Khali*
  • Headshrinker Fatu
  • Headshrinker Samu
  • Hunter Hearst Helmsley
  • Islander Haku
  • Islander Tama
  • Jamal
  • Jesse Ventura*
  • Junk Yard Dog*
  • Mark Henry*
  • Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff*
  • New Jack*
  • Peter Maivia
  • Road Dogg*
  • Rocky Maivia
  • Rosey
  • Sid Justice*
  • Sika
  • Tito Santana*
  • Victoria*

Managers/Non-playable Characters
  • Afa
  • Armando Estrada
  • Ava
  • Brother Love*
  • Captain Lou Albano
  • Mr. Fuji
  • Nick Aldis
  • Paul Ellering (no longer with company)

By the numbers

According to The Smackdown Hotel, this is the biggest roster ever for a WWE video game, boasting "383 characters," which is a bit inflated because of "persona" characters (alternate versions of wrestlers, like "Masked CM Punk") and throwback versions of wrestlers (like "Becky Lynch," "Becky Lynch '17" and "Becky Lynch '18," which they're counting as three different people). The website says that there are 69 new characters this year, which seems like a lot.

Roster take-aways

This actually feels pretty good. The only really significant wrestler that didn't make the base roster or DLC is NXT's Zaria, which is probably a lot more important to hardcore NXT watchers than it is to me. I'm sure that's nothing that a quick Community Creations download can't solve. The roster would have been looking really great about a month ago, before a handful of surprising releases, including Baron Corbin, the Authors of Pain and Paul Ellering, Blair Davenport, and (most shockingly) Sonya DeVille, among a few others. But their inclusion in the game doesn't feel nearly as egregious as what happened a few years back when the game launched with a significantly outdated roster on Day 1.

THANK GOODNESS that Pat McAfee's dumb friends aren't in the game anymore. Man, what a waste of DLC last year. I lowered the stats for all of those fools and beat them up so many times. They had such punchable faces. This year, we're getting a few surprise celebrity wrestlers and a couple yet-to-be-announced NBA stars, who I assume will be WWE superfans Tyrese Halliburton, Jalen Brunson and somebody else. Maybe Shaq or something? Not really excited about any of those, but maybe we'll get a few more punchable faces before all is said and done.

What else is new?

  • The biggest addition this year is WWE 2K25's "The Island" mode, which is basically a wrestling version of NBA 2K's "The City," which I've never really cared for. It will be fun for people who like to play online against other people.
  • Intergender matches. I have absolutely zero desire to beat up a woman with a male character, so the only time I can see myself doing an intergender match would be to have Rhea Ripley beat up Dominik Mysterio.
  • New backstage areas. You can even fight on the old SmackDown! fist.
  • Underground matches. Yeah, that weird gimmick from the COVID era that has shown up in NXT from time to time over the past few years will be in the game this year.
  • "Bloodline Rules" matches. Just like on -the TV shows, I have absolutely no idea what that even means, unless there are, like, five scheduled run-ins per fighter. For real, though, what is the difference between "Bloodline Rules" and "No Holds Barred"?? Somebody explain this to me.
    • I just confirmed it - it's a No-DQ match in which you can schedule up to three run-ins per side. Man, that's hilarious.
  • New match types for Special Referee stipulations. You can now do a special ref in 30 different match types, as opposed to it only being for 1-on-1 matches, like last year. That's cool.
  • New weapons! Trash can lid (my personal specialty!), safety cone, Undertaker urn, juggling pin, clown horn, clown shoe, "sugar rush," "Damian's Chair" and carnival hammer. I assume there is maybe some kind of amusement park tie-in for MyRise mode or something, because that's a lot of random clown crap.
  • Showcase Mode: "Bloodline Dynasty." We'll get a full helping of Roman Reigns and family this year, which is not probably the most enticing option for me, personally, but whatever.
  • New MyGM Mode features. You can play online now (I won't), there are new Premium Live Event features (PLEs are now shared across shows instead of each brand doing their own full show - I'm not sure that I like that, despite it being more similar to real life), nine new GM character options, and a few other things. Although the newly introduced mid-card women's titles are not an option (yet?), there is now a feature to have women's tag champions, which will be a nice improvement.

WWE 2K Q&A with A-Town

  • Who will you play with first?
    • I mean, heel John Cena is sounding pretty good right now, considering what happened at Elimination Chamber last weekend...
    • I'm really looking forward to getting Penta and Jordynne Grace on DLC in the next few months.
  • Who don't you want to play with at all?
    • Probably 95% of NXT and the legends. Probably as few "Bloodline" characters as possible; I simply don't have any interest in playing with any Samoans that pre-date The Rock.
  • What is your go-to match type?
    • Last year, I probably played more standard 1-on-1 matches than anything, and I tried to take the action outside of the ring as little as possible. I just wanted to hit a couple special moves and pin or submit my opponents as quickly as possible.
  • What is your favorite game mode?
    • I really love GM Mode, but like I said last year, I wish there was more incentive to play that mode a lot. I thought that the WrestleMania showcase was really well-done last year (if not a bit too lengthy), but the replayability is extremely low for that mode.
  • Is there anything you wish you could change or improve about these games?
    • There absolutely needs to be about 150% fewer ladder matches this year. When I was playing MyFaction last year, it was like 66% ladder matches, and most of those were tag team matches, so they were truly aggravating. MyFaction was better last year than it probably ever has been, but it was such a chore to do those tasks that I never switched up my roster and I simply played it because I had to, not because I actually wanted to.
    • I think they might have patched it eventually, but I remember when I first started playing 2K24, the ref would take their sweet time getting to the three-count. It was ridiculously slow. Like I said, I think it got better, but that was horrendous.
    • They've got to got to got to fix the "Statistics" feature on these games. I have no idea what stats they're tracking, but I can tell you that they are completely inaccurate. Please, for the love, just track all of my play stats, regardless of what mode I'm in.
    • I think that the logic used in GM Mode that penalizes you for putting, say, Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns in a match together is totally stupid. "The fans don't like to see this." Excuse me???? That's a great match. I get that it's not the same as Rey Mysterio fighting the Great Khali or something, but don't tell me that fans don't like two powerhouses going at it. That's crap.
  • Make up a new tag team that does not currently exist:
    • I mean... Drew McIntyre and Bronson Reed? They would absolutely WRECK. (I actually really liked Bronson teaming up with the New Bloodline for War Games. Thought he fit in well with them. Too bad he busted his ankle for the love of the game.)
  • Give us brand new champions for every single main roster belt:
    • RAW:
      • Men's Title: CM Punk
      • Women's Title: Move Jordynne Grace up to the main roster and give her the belt
      • Men's IC: Chad Gable
      • Women's IC: Dakota Kai is the obvious choice, but it should stay Lyra Valkyria
      • Men's Tag: Heel New Day would get nuclear heat if they won
    • SmackDown:
      • Men's Title: Heel John Cena
      • Women's Title: Jade Cargill
      • Men's US: Jacob Fatu
      • Women's US: I refuse to pick anyone other than Chelsea Green
      • Men's Tag: Motor City Machine Guns shouldn't have lost the titles so quickly
    • Inter-brand Women's Tag Team Champions: Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross
  • Who are you most looking forward to beating up?
    • Dominik Mysterio, Liv Morgan, Carmelo Hayes, maybe even Bianca Belair

The Bottom Line

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how things are shaping up. I was kind of surprised to see that we aren't swapping out any match types, so we are getting new stipulations and keeping the casket and ambulance matches from last year. The roster is solid, we're keeping the Judgment Day's old entrance theme (which was such a banger) and I can immediately change John Cena's alignment to "Crowd Reaction: Boo," which is still so crazy to think about. Let's get to it!

And now, if you've got a couple minutes, let us know what you're thinking about the current state of WWE in the comments section, on Twitter (here and here) or on Facebook, if you can find us.

Let's get ready to rumble!

Until next time.
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Location: Saratoga Springs, UT, USA

Friday, April 5, 2024

WrestleMania 40 Preview: What We Think Should Happen


For years now, we've been incorrectly predicting the results for upcoming WWE WrestleManias. Last year, for instance, we infamously spent 30 minutes talking about how every single title should change hands, only to be surprised (but should we have been??) when Roman Reigns cheated (yet again) to ruin Cody Rhodes' championship dreams. Here we are, a full year later, and Roman still has his title and will be squaring off against Cody in a rematch that lit social media on fire for the past few months.

If you're not up-to-date with the current WWE product, first of all, that's a shame, and second of all, we're not going to spend much time trying to catch you up before WrestleMania Night 1 graces our TV screens tomorrow night. Suffice it to say, "pro wrestling is cool again," as "The Final Boss" Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson has been saying for the last several weeks.

Here's what we'd like to happen at WrestleMania XL:

LA Knight shines on the big stage

Ideally, we would have wanted The Megastar to have had a title opportunity, perhaps against Logan Paul for the United States championship, but WWE had other plans and simply put LA Knight up against AJ Styles in a 1-on-1 match. Not the best way to reward the hottest good guy that the company had to offer for the majority of the year, but it is what it is. Give LA Knight the win, then put him up against whoever walks away with the US title this weekend.

Randy Orton's last big run?

When Randy Orton takes on Kevin Owens and Logan Paul for the United States championship, there is a great likelihood that Logan will drop the belt after completing his service as the celebrity attraction for the year. Honestly, Logan has turned himself into a really impressive part-time talent, so good for him. Hate him, but congrats. We don't have too much of a preference between Orton and Owens (they're both great), so if those are the options we've got to choose from, why not give Randy another good title reign before he rides off into the sunset?

Karrion Cross finally gets a big win

Karrion Cross and his Final Testament need to defeat Bobby Lashley and the Street Profits in the upcoming Six-Man Tag Team Philadelphia Street Fight. Cross hasn't had a big break since rejoining the company and a victory at WrestleMania would add some credibility to his villainous faction, which hasn't legitimately struck fear into their opponents during their brief time together.

Dirty Dom initiates the downfall of the Judgment Day

The seeds of distrust have been planted amongst the Judgment Day - and we're not too sure what, exactly, is going on with Dominik's sudden friendship with Legado del Fantasma. We imagine that the uncertainty will only deepen when Dom teams up with Santos Escobar to face Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee. We would love for this to signal the impending breakup of Judgment Day, but, whatever happens, as long as we get to see Rey put a whooping on his eternally irritating son, we're all right with it.

Jimmy and Jey Uso beat the heck out of each other

It isn't a secret that Jimmy and Jey Uso have wanted to face each other in a singles match at WrestleMania for their entire lives. We grew sick of the Usos about a year ago with all the cheating to win by the Bloodline, so we're kind of over this and don't really care what happens. Most likely, especially since this match will most likely come before The Rock and Roman take on Cody and Seth, we assume that Jimmy will beat Jey and possibly even put him out of the picture as a potential ally for Cody on Night 2. We just want the twins to punish each other.

Gunther (unfortunately) retains

The hallmark of WWE over the past three years has been giving people unprecedented title reign lengths. Gunther is one such beneficiary, now having held the Intercontinental championship longer than anyone else in the history of the company. We love Sami Zayn (most of the time), but putting Sami in the match over Chad Gable felt like a mistake and, if anybody's going to beat Gunther, maybe it doesn't have to be Sami. Also, some bad guys are going to win this weekend. When we look at all of the championships being defended this weekend, it seems most likely that Gunther be one of the wrestlers who gets to keep their belt.

Jade Cargill makes an impression

Jade Cargill was a huge name in AEW (WWE's top competitor) before she jumped ship a few months ago. It's a near absolute certainty that she, Naomi and Bianca Belair pick up the W against Damage CTRL this weekend. WWE will use Jade to draw curious eyes to the product, then make her look really good in her match. It's going to happen. All we can hope is that she ends up making AEW regret letting her walk.

R-Truth beats Damien Priest and Finn Balor and the tag titles get separated

It's probably time for the Judgment Day to let go of their tag team titles. If it were ever going to happen, this would be the time. And we heard a rumor that both sets of championships will be defended in the match - like, one team will climb the ladder and grab one set of belts, then another team will have the chance to climb up and grab the other pair. We're not 100% sure that this is really happening, but that would be so glorious. The RAW and SmackDown! tag titles were unified last year by the Usos (which was stupid), and they've inexplicably remained unified ever since. It's time to split them back up and send them back to their respective shows... and there is no better person to take the titles away from Finn and Damien than R-Truth himself. Yes, he who was repeatedly beaten by those who he mistakenly, confusedly thought were his teammates. It's got to be R-Truth and The Miz. That would be hilarious and the fans would go bananas for it.

The other titles should probably be won by Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne or even Austin Theory and Grayson Waller (if they want to keep the titles on a pair of bad guys).

Drew McIntyre wins a championship in front of actual human beings

Drew McIntyre arguably carried WWE through the ThunderDome era during COVID-19. Unfortunately for him, that meant that we won a world championship in 2020 in an empty arena. We've always felt bad for him about that. Drew has been doing great stuff as a heel lately, including some absolutely brilliant work on the microphone. ("I prayed for this... and it happened.") Seth "Freakin'" Rollins has admitted to legitimate injuries and probably should have dropped his belt a few months ago, but he's medically cleared now and will be fighting in two matches. There's a great chance that Seth could get beat up so badly against Roman and The Rock in Night 1 that he's barely able to compete on Night 2. It would be very, very surprising if Seth was still the champion, come Monday morning.

Damien Priest unsuccessfully cashes in his MITB contract

With Dom potentially screwing things up in his match against his deadbeat dad and Finn and Damien possibly losing their tag team championships in the massive ladder match, Damien could be feeling some pressure to get momentum swinging back in his favor. What a better way to do that than to try to cash in his Money in the Bank contract in the aftermath of Seth vs Drew? And what a better way to throw the Judgment Day into chaos than for Damien to cash in and lose? We'd love to see it.

Bayley gets the ultimate revenge

As the winner of the 2024 Women's Royal Rumble, Bayley got the opportunity to face the champion of her choice at WrestleMania. One of the highlights of the Road to WrestleMania was Bayley picking to face her former ally, Iyo Sky. Bayley was great as a heel - she made us actually like her as a heel - but we'd love to see the confetti rain down on Good Guy Bayley after picking up what would arguably be the biggest win of her career.

Mami defeats The Man and leaves Judgment Day

Fans can't help but love Rhea Ripley, despite her alignment with a generally disliked faction. Yes, Rhea has arguably become one of the biggest stars in wrestling today. In the other corner, we have "Box-Checker" Becky Lynch, who seems to win just about everything, from the Elimination Chamber all the way down to the NXT Women's championship, simply to say that she's done it all. There is no obvious reason for Becky to win a belt right now. Plus, having Rhea retain while the rest of Judgment Day fails around her would be a great reason for her to break away from those bozos for good.

The Final Boss sets up an epic finale in Night 2

Having Dwayne Johnson come and presumably announce that he was stealing the main event title match of WrestleMania, completely out of nowhere, was a major swing and miss by the company. Thankfully, they acknowledged (no pun intended) the mistake and allowed the #WeWantCody phenomenon to right the ship. At first, we were thrilled to think that Seth and Cody would beat Roman and The Rock on Night 1, FINALLY (no pun intended) leading to a match where Roman couldn't get bailed out by his cousins. But the more we thought about it, we realized that that's probably not going to happen. First of all, if you've got The Rock for one or two nights this weekend, why wouldn't you use him both nights? He'll be involved during Night 2 in some fashion - and it will probably end with him handing a bloody weight belt to Mama Rhodes.

The other great thing about this outcome is that Cody Rhodes will have to overcome every single obstacle in his path, literally beating his way through every member of the Bloodline, to take the title off of Roman.

Cody finishes the story

And that's what we're hoping happens during the last match of the weekend. Cody has got to finish the story. And it will be so, so sweet when he gets that three-count after potentially single-handedly taking out every member of Roman's posse.

But hey, we've been wrong before. So when Roman's music hits as the screen fades to black, we will just put our faces in our hands and cry our salty little Cody Crybaby tears and we'll plan on regrouping in another year.

Ugh.

*****

Will you be watching WrestleMania this weekend? Do you have any predictions or thoughts on what is about to come to pass? Let us know by leaving a comment below, finding us on Facebook or following us on Twitter (here and here). And don't give us any Night 2 spoilers because we're going out of town and may not be able to watch it live. Lovely.

Until next time.
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Friday, March 1, 2024

WWE 2K24 Preview: Time to Finish the Story


As professional wrestling fans all know, we have officially entered the Road to WrestleMania - and we are also just days away from another entry in the "WWE 2K" video game series. After surpassing expectations two consecutive years (a sadly impressive accomplishment for annual sports games these days), WWE 2K24 looks to be bigger and better than ever.

The roster looks to be pretty up-to-date, despite the initial, pre-DLC exclusion of a couple characters that returned to or debuted in the company within the last couple of months, but, overall, it's looking pretty decent. Thankfully, as far as the roster breakdown is concerned, the amazingly helpful website The Smackdown Hotel has done almost all of the hard work for us, which is great. We'll run through who's in and out this year, for posterity's sake, then get to a few questions about what we'd like to see in this year's game and beyond. Let's get to it.

Who's out?

  • Legends
    • Brie Bella
    • Brock Lesnar
    • Goldberg
    • Mr. McMahon
    • Nikki Bella
    • Zeus
  • No longer with the company
    • Aliyah
    • Commander Azeez
    • Dana Brooke
    • Dolph Ziggler
    • Edge
    • Elias / Ezekiel
    • Lacey Evans
    • Mace
    • Madcap Moss
    • Mansoor
    • Matt Riddle
    • Mustafa Ali
    • Rick Boogs
    • Shanky
    • Shelton Benjamin
    • Titus O'Neil
    • Top Dolla

Current main roster superstars who didn't make the cut

  • Authors of Pain - Akam & Rezar (recently returned)
  • Andrade El Idolo (recently returned)
  • Elektra Lopez
  • Naomi (recently returned)

Notable missing NXT superstars

  • Ava
  • Charlie Dempsey
  • Gable Steveson
  • Kelani Jordan
  • Kiana James
  • Lash Legend
  • Lexis King
  • Lola Vice
  • Meiko Satomura
  • Oba Femi (current NXT North American Champion)
  • Oro Mensah
  • Sol Ruca
  • Tatum Paxley
  • Xyon Quinn

Who's in? (* = DLC)

  • Main Roster
    • Bronson Reed
    • Carlito*
    • Chelsea Green
    • CM Punk*
    • Isla Dawn
    • Jade Cargill*
    • Kairi Sane*
    • Maxxine Dupri
    • Nia Jax*
    • Pat McAfee*
    • Tegan Nox
  • NXT
    • Brooks Jensen
    • Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo
    • Dragon Lee*
    • Duke Hudson
    • Fallon Henley
    • Joe Coffey
    • Josh Briggs
    • Lyra Valkyria*
    • Mark Coffey
    • Sanga
    • Thea Hail
    • Wolfgang
  • Legends/Other
    • Bubba Ray Dudley*
    • D-Von Dudley*
    • DDP*
    • Dude Love
    • Dusty Rhodes
    • George "The Animal" Steele
    • Headbanger Mosh*
    • Headbanger Thrasher*
    • Honky Tonk Man*
    • Ken Shamrock
    • Lex Luger*
    • Mankind
    • Michelle McCool*
    • Mr. Perfect*
    • Muhammad Ali
    • Post Malone*
    • Ravishing Rick Rude
    • Ricky Steamboat
    • Sandman*
    • Sensational Sherri*
    • Stardust
    • Superstar Billy Graham
    • Terry Funk*
    • The Fiend Bray Wyatt
    • The Great Muta*
    • The Iron Sheik*
    • Theodore Long (Manager)
    • William Regal
  • Managers/Non-playable characters
    • Cathy Kelley
    • Jimmy Hart*
    • Mick Foley
    • Miss Elizabeth
    • Paul Bearer

By the Numbers

At the time of posting, The Smackdown Hotel hasn't posted updated roster comparisons and, to be honest, we don't really feel like doing the math ourselves.

Roster take-aways

Overall, things are looking pretty good this year. It's a bummer that a few wrestlers debuted or rejoined the roster too late to make the cut, but we're sure some creative nerd out there will make a great Create-A-Wrestler to fill any serious gaps. There are a couple of the legends that we don't really care about, but it is nice to see a few old faces like the Dudley Boyz and Lex Luger. Also... Teddy Long!! Holla holla holla!!

What else is new?

A LOT. We'll hit you with some highlights and stuff that's getting us excited:
  • One of the most hyped aspects of this year's game is a handful of new (or returning) match types: special guest referee, ambulance, casket and gauntlet matches.
  • Showcase of the Immortals - 21 historic WrestleMania matches
  • Throwable weapons!
  • Facepaint gradually fades during matches? Awesome. Love that level of detail.
  • Seven real WWE referees will appear in the game. Charles "Little Naitch" Robinson better be there!
  • Super finishers (three stacked finishers) are new and, allegedly, nullify an opponent's "Resiliency" ability, which will be amazing. Always hated having some jabroni kick out of multiple finishers at 2 1/2.
  • GM Mode:
    • Four new GMs: Teddy Long, Paul Heyman, William Regal and Ted DiBiase
    • A new playable brand: ECW
    • The ability to trade superstars between brands mid-season (nice!)
    • New promo types: Tag team call-out (AMAZING), Class change, Training
  • Two new MyRISE stories
  • Universe Mode:
    • Double title matches and "Loser Leaves Town" matches? What?!?
  • Create a Sign?!?!?

WWE 2K Q&A with A-Town

  • Who will you play with first?
    • Probably Cody Rhodes or John Cena. Maybe both. LA Knight is awesome, too.
  • Who don't you want to play with at all?
    • The less I see Roman Reigns, the happier I will be. I also won't ever willingly play as the Viking Raiders or most of Judgment Day. Eww. Definitely not Damian Priest.
  • What is your go-to match type?
    • Extreme Rules. Sometimes, I don't even need the weapons. It's just a nice safety net if things get crazy.
  • What is your favorite game mode?
    • I love GM Mode. I wish that there was more incentive to spend lots of time there, but there's really not quite yet. I spend most of my time in MyFaction, but that's such a grind. I hope to the high heavens that there's not another trophy for winning 100 Faction Wars matches. Please, please no.
  • What is your least favorite game mode?
    • I'll just come right out and say it: I hate MyRise. You get to do some goofy things sometimes, which can be interesting, but story mode is always the weak point of any 2K sports game.
  • Is there anything you wish you could change or improve about these games?
    • I was playing a lot of GM Mode in 2K23 recently and there were a few things that were bugging me. I really wish that you could do a triple-threat or four-way tag team match. I wish that injuries weren't quite so frequent. I hate that you get penalized for putting two big wrestlers in a match together - like, if you did Drew McIntyre vs Roman Reigns, it would say the fans don't want to see that, which is completely false. In MyFaction, I wish you weren't basically encouraged to play with one really good wrestler and three chumps. Why should I spend my time trying to get good "cards," only to never use them? There's just not a whole lot of incentive to have a stacked faction from top to bottom, sadly. Like I said, I hope hope hope that they don't make me grind out 100 wins in Faction Wars again because I've done that two years in a row now and it's one of the most tedious, repetitive things you could ever dream of doing. Oh, here's something - I wish that the "Statistics" feature on the main menu actually kept an accurate track of my wins/losses and superstar usage, because (I think I finally figured it out) I believe it's only tracking online games, which I rarely ever do. That would be nice.
  • Make up a new tag team that does not currently exist:
    • I think The Miz and Grayson Waller would be an amazing real-life tag team.
  • Give us brand new champions for every single main roster belt:
    • RAW:
      • Men's Heavyweight Champion: Drew McIntyre (and he wins it in front of a packed stadium of actual fans)
      • Women's Champion: Raquel Rodriguez (as a heel)
      • Intercontinental Champion: Karrion Cross
      • RAW Tag Team Champions: #DIY
    • Smackdown:
      • Men's Heavyweight Champion: Cody Rhodes
      • Women's Champion: Tiffany Stratton
      • United States Champion: LA Knight
      • Smackdown Tag Team Champions: Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne
    • Inter-brand Women's Tag Team Champions: Zoey Stark and Shayna Baszler
  • Who are you most looking forward to beating up?
    • Dominik Mysterio (always), Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso

The Bottom Line

We're looking forward to it. It's going to be fun. As we were attending Smackdown! in Salt Lake City a couple weeks ago, we realized that it was about time for a roster update, so it will be nice to slap a fresh coat of paint on the game and take it for a spin around the block. It's just nice to have a multi-year stretch where we're actually excited about getting a new game, which can't be said about most other sports franchises.

While we've got you here, you might as well take a look at our other WWE content by clicking here. You can also leave a comment on this post, follow us on Twitter (here and here) or find us on Facebook... if you smell... what The Underground is cooking.

Until next time.
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Tuesday, August 8, 2023

Love to See It: WWE edition


Believe it or not - and this may shock you - we're not going to have AI write this blog. Yeah, we hope you were sitting down for that. As our collective think tank was hard at work last night, we had an idea and we wanted to give it a shot. The new idea is called "Love to See It." We're going to make a couple lists of things we love to see, things we don't love to see and things that we would love to see. If the sparks catch fire, we may come back and do this again with different topics, from time to time. We'll see how it goes.

Today, we're going to take stock of the current state of World Wrestling Entertainment and talk about things we love to see in WWE.


Love to See It:


LA Knight:

We love LA Knight right now. Basically anything he does lately has been great. The man is arguably the best superstar on the mic and has garnered a massive wave of fan support in the past few months. Check out his glorious promo with The Miz on last night's Monday Night RAW:



Get LA Knight a belt, and make it happen soon.

Iyo Sky's Money in the Bank cash-in:

SummerSlam 2023 had its ups and downs, but one of the best moments of the night came when Iyo Sky successfully cashed in her Money in the Bank briefcase. This came hot on the heels of Bianca Belair surprisingly pinned then-champion Asuka after limping her way back to the ring following an apparent, brutal injury.

Bianca smiled through her (kayfabe) pain as she was crowned the new women's champion, but her joy was short-lived. Sky's ominous entrance music hit and she and Bayley bolted to the ring. At that point, it was all over but the crying. Bayley provided back-up by fending off Asuka and Charlotte Flair (who also competed in the triple threat match), and Io took to the skies with a colossal moonsault to pin Belair and win her first women's title on the main roster.

There's nothing more thrilling than a successful MITB cash-in, and this provided a momentary glimpse of joy before Roman Reigns successfully retained his heavyweight title over Jey Uso in the lackluster conclusion to last weekend's Premium Live Event.

Surging popularity of the Alpha Academy:

It took us a while, but we finally came around on Chad Gable. His "Shoosh" gimmick was hilarious as soon as he started doing it. His smarter-than-you schtick grew on us months and months ago, and his recruitment and mentorship of Otis has been an odd couple routine that we never before knew that we needed. (If you've ever seen Otis at a live event, the dude is absolutely hysterical.)

It seems that the Alpha Academy, with new recruit Maxxine Dupri, has finally won over the rest of the WWE audience, with Gable picking up a huge hometown win to earn the number one contendership for the Intercontinental championship on Monday night. Of course, we know that there is no way Gable will beat the seemingly invincible Gunther for the belt, but it was fun to see the crowd fully behind the Academy, at long last.

uh-THANK YEWWWWWW!

Don't Love to See It:


The Bloodline:

We acknowledged Roman Reigns as Tribal Chief and Head of the Table for a good long while. He was truly at the top of his game and became someone we couldn't help but love to hate. Things have changed, however.

We're sick of the five-minute walk to the ring. The "Acknowledge Me" promos have grown stale. His matches are boring and always end in him cheating to retain. Yeah, we get it - that's his character. The guy has so much family support that somebody will always be there to help him get the W. But it has gone on way too long, at this point. WWE had the perfect opportunity to let Roman drop the strap and head off on a well-deserved year-and-a-half-long vacation when he faced Cody Rhodes at Wrestlemania, but they had him win there (much, much, much to our utter dismay). The next logical time for him to lose would have been at SummerSlam, but we knew there was no way that Jey Uso, of all people, would be the guy to beat him for the championship. There was no way that was going to happen.

What happened on Saturday night, though, was probably the most illogical, stupid thing they possibly could have come up with. Why on earth would Jimmy Uso (who we knew was going to show up, in some capacity) return to betray Jey and help Roman win? If you've been following the three-year Bloodline saga, especially recently, that makes absolutely ZERO sense.

Anyway, whatever. It happened and I guess they're running with it. But now, we don't think Roman's going to lose until next Wrestlemania (if even then!). It's ridiculous, it's boring, and it's gone on way, way, way too long. Please, Triple H, PLEASE just end this storyline.

Charlotte Flair jumping the line:

Charlotte Flair taking months off and returning to work for an immediate title shot - name a more iconic duo. You can't. They go legitimately hand in hand. There's a reason why Charlotte has won so many championships: because she wins the belt, holds it for like two months, loses, goes on vacation and comes back to immediately win the title back. It's stupid. And she even acknowledged it a few weeks ago when she most recently returned! She knows it and we all know it. She says that she doesn't wait in line, that she is the line and that she basically deserves title shots whenever she feels like it. Ridiculous.

We couldn't have been happier that Charlotte (and Bianca, for that matter) didn't leave SummerSlam as champion, because we've seen those two face and defeat basically every other woman on the roster. Thankfully, with Io Sky as champion, we'll get some completely fresh rivalries, so that will be nice.

The Viking Raiders:

Like, is anybody even remotely threatened by these guys? They're good for a potty break, if you need one. You can pretty much fast forward through anything that involves them. For as intimidating as they should be (especially with freaky Valhalla by their side), it's just silly how much they lose. We wouldn't mind it if they disappeared from the main roster sometime soon. Go wreak havoc down on NXT or something. Just get them off our screens on Mondays and Fridays. We've had enough.


Would Love to See It:


A team-up of The Miz and Grayson Waller:

We respect The Miz. He worked his butt off to get where he is and has settled in as a solid, dependable guy to take on any celebrity matches. He's great on the mic and thrives on the hatred of the WWE Universe.

We hate Grayson Waller. Can't stand the guy, honestly.

But please, for the love of it, put those two together as a tag team. They would be hilarious and, if the SummerSlam battle royal was any indication, could probably work together pretty well in the ring. They'd instantly be a top heel tag team and would pose an actual threat to Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens' current title reign.

Finn Balor turning on the Judgment Day:

It's got to happen. It's got to happen soon.

We liked the Judgment Day when they first started out. Edge, Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley... that was good stuff. Then they added Finn Balor and kicked out Edge, and that was ok. Things started heading south when they added Dominic Mysterio (BOOOOOOOO), who literally just sucks at everything and is, by a long shot, the most hated WWE superstar in recent memory. The fans still love Rhea, but Finn has looked weak for months (he should never fight Seth Rollins ever again, by the way) and Priest was a disappointing MITB winner.

What would have been great would have been for Finn to have beaten Seth Rollins at SummerSlam, then have Priest cash in on Finn. That would have been juicy. That would have been spicy. But they didn't do that and, instead, just had Finn and Priest kind of awkwardly fumble around the briefcase and stare seethingly at each other.

They planted more seeds of a Judgment Day break-up on Monday night, even going so far as having JD McDonagh say that Priest should get rid of his briefcase, which has been the root of so much inner turmoil lately. Having Finn turn face and leave the Judgment Day would be the best possible outcome, in our opinion. Rhea should also break away from Dom, who has largely watered down what should have otherwise been an absurdly dominant women's title reign. We mean, what does Rhea actually do these days, other than whisper in Dom's ear and threaten to beat up men?

Break 'em up.

Johnny Gargano doing... anything?:

We were excited when Johnny Wrestling got called up to the main roster. But since then, what has he done? Almost nothing, right? He was sort of involved with the Dexter Lumis stalker storyline that ended up being some spin-off of The Miz trying to hire a bodyguard or something, but that's really about it. He went down and had a fight on NXT for a second. Give him a main roster title shot. Reunite him with Tommaso Ciampa, who has also had a disappointing run on RAW. Just have Gargano do something. We'd love to see it.

*****

What do you think about the current state of WWE? What's good? What's bad? Let us know in the comments below, on Twitter (here and here) or on Facebook. Also, keep an eye out for us at Monday Night RAW in Salt Lake City in September. We'll have a sign and we'll be right in the "TV Zone." Mama, we're gonna be on TV again!

Until next time.
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Monday, March 13, 2023

WWE 2K23 preview: Ready for War (Games)


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

"WWE 2K23" includes:
  • 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."

The Bottom Line

We're really looking forward to stepping between the ropes with "WWE 2K23." Last year's installment was a massive, massive improvement over the abomination that was "2K20," so if they can keep that momentum going, it should be a great time.

We should thank The Smackdown Hotel for their help with the updated roster. They're always on top of this stuff and they do a great job.

If you've got nothing else going on right now, take a look at our other WWE content by clicking here. You can also leave a comment on this post, follow us on Twitter (here and here) or find us on Facebook if you feel like talking shop.

C U in the ring.
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Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Our top tweets from Wrestlemania 38


Wrestlemania 38 was last weekend. We watched it. We tweeted about it. And because we didn't do one of our traditional preview or recap blogs, we thought we'd highlight some of our top tweets from what we thought was a very fun, highly entertaining, surprisingly good two-night event. Enjoy:


WRESTLEMANIA SATURDAY TWEETS












WRESTLEMANIA SUNDAY TWEETS


















*****

So there you go. If you want to chat about pro wrestling, feel free to go ahead and leave your thoughts in the comments section below, follow us on Twitter (here and here) or find us on Facebook. That will be all for now.

Until next time.
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