Barring a few calamities, with WWE 2K20 immediately springing to mind, WWE’s partnership with 2K Sports has been a resounding success. The newest installment in the franchise, WWE 2K23, will be released on March 17th, and wrestling fans the world over are already salivating at the prospect of being able to fully immerse themselves into the WWE Universe.
WWE is currently reaching the culmination of its ‘season’ so to speak. While the world’s number one professional wrestling organization doesn’t have an off-season, the period between the Royal Rumble – which takes place in late January – and WrestleMania – which takes place this year on April 1st and 2nd, is the most exciting time to be a wrestling fan. The period is known as the ‘Road to WrestleMania’, and it marks the perfect time to release a brand-new video game onto the market.
What’s currently happening in WWE?
This year’s Road to WrestleMania promises to be an interesting one. The returning Cody Rhodes has just won the Royal Rumble match punching his ticket to the main event of WrestleMania. His opponent at the Show of Shows is expected to be Roman Reigns, the current reigning and defending Undisputed WWE Universal Champion.
The Tribal Chief has run roughshod over the WWE for the last two-and-a-half years. He hasn’t been pinned or submitted in over three years, he’s held the Universal Championship for 889 days and counting, and he added the WWE Championship to his collection at last year’s WrestleMania with a victory over Brock Lesnar. But there is currently trouble brewing for the Head of the Table.
His Bloodline faction – which features cousins Jimmy and Jey Uso, Solo Sikoa, and perennial bad guy Paul Heyman – may have been betrayed from within by Sami Zayn. The Canadian underdog smashed Reigns with a Steel Chair at the culmination of the main event at the recent Royal Rumble pay-per-view, setting up a clash between the pair at Elimination Chamber, which takes place in Zayn’s hometown of Montreal.
Fan reaction to Zayn has been increasing week-on-week. As such, Triple H, the WWE’s head honcho and decision maker, must navigate the Road to WrestleMania, as if he was playing one of the numerous strategy games found here: https://www.ignitioncasino.eu/poker/strategy. Whether Zayn or Rhodes can somehow take the title from Reigns, or whether continues to reign supreme, remains to be seen.
In WWE 2K23, you will be able to make that decision yourself. But it’s highly likely that the reigning Undisputed WWE Universal Champion will be unhappy to see that 2K Sports decided to put John Cena on the cover of the upcoming game, rather than himself. But who else has been featured on the cover of the blockbuster franchise in recent years?
WWE 2K22 – Rey Mysterio
Rey Mysterio is one of the most beloved wrestlers of all time. He has been competing at the forefront of sports entertainment since the early 1990s, however, it has been some time since he was the WWE’s top star. As such, seeing the Master of the 619 on the cover of WWE 2K22 was a surprise to many, especially considering the fact that Roman Reigns was the undisputed top guy within the company.
WWE 2K20 – Becky Lynch and Roman Reigns
Due to global events 2K Sports never released WWE 2K21 and as such, we have to look further back to 2020 for the next installment of the franchise. WWE 2K20 featured Becky Lynch and Roman Reigns as the cover stars, and they were the two top stars in the company at the time.
The release of the game came prior to Reigns’ subsequent heel turn and ensuing dominance over the WWE. At this point in his career, he was still a polarizing figure whom fans loved to hate.
Lynch on the other hand was perhaps the biggest female star the company had ever seen. She had just defeated former UFC Icon Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair in the first-ever women’s WrestleMania main event, and her stock was on the rise. As such, it was no surprise to see her secure a spot on the cover of the video game.
WWE 2K19 – AJ Styles
AJ Styles was for a long time, the greatest superstar to never wrestle for the WWE. His talent saw him headline for TNA Wrestling and New Japan Pro Westling, but his talents never took him to Vince McMahon’s billion-dollar creation. That all changed in 2016 when he made his debut at that year’s Royal Rumble.
During his first two years with the company, Styles would defeat John Cena twice. He would also twice win the WWE Championship, a success that even he was taken aback by. The success of his WWE career was validated in 2019 when 2K Sports demanded that he be the cover star for WWE 2K19.
I'm a published author and proud US Army veteran who happens to be a gamer, so I decided to combine the two and love every minute of it! Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments and I'll be sure to get back to you.
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