WWE 2K23 Officially Revealed

Well, there might be four covers this year, but it is impossible to see who’s taken the honor of being featured. Rumors last week were circling that John Cena would take up the cover slot and presumably take up the Showcase mode with several thousand matches with Randy Orton. I’ve got a feeling about now my non-wrestling fan editor is questioning the references, so let me clear it up, Cena is indeed on the cover but it might be difficult to see him since I’ve been told by Peacemaker himself that we can’t see him.

Announced ahead of last night’s “RAW is XXX,” which I suggest you don’t look up on the internet, the invisible champ with his spinning US title was confirmed to be this year’s cover star. Alongside that announcement came further details such as the editions, the date, the platforms, and some DLC-based add-ons, including a whole-new old match to the franchise to boot. Out the gate, PS4 and Xbox One are included alongside Steam and current-generation consoles, releasing on the 17th of March.

Releasing a couple of weeks ahead of WrestleMania 39 this April, you’ll have the option between the Standard Edition, the Cross-gen Edition, and two latter editions. You’ll get three-day early access to this year’s edition of the franchise via the Deluxe and Icon editions. The “Standard Edition” will set you back $59.99 on PS4, XBO (£59.99), and PC (£49.99), but $69.99 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The Cross-Gen edition also costs $69.99. The Deluxe Edition for all platforms will cost $99.99 (89.99) for all post-launch DLC and the character bonus pack. Then finally the Icon Edition is priced at $119.99 (£104.99) including all of the above, an original cover by Rob Schamberger, and the Ruthless Aggression pack.

In both the Deluxe and Icon Editions of WWE 2K23, you’ll also get several MyFaction cards with various tiers for John Cena, Edge, Bianca Belair, Asuka, and three basic premium launch packs too. I mentioned one of the other typical pre-order bonuses of the 2K release. This year your pre-order bonus character is the baddest of rabbits, Bad Bunny. The Puerto Rican rapper and often purported mega-star has made a couple of appearances for Titan Towers’ tower of terror, including appearing as part of the final five of last year’s Royal Rumble.

The Ruthless Aggression pack will include similar exclusives, this time in connection to “Big Match” John’s early career under the tutelage of Jim Cornette’s creative. This includes John’s formative character of The Prototype, a Non-blue/green-ish “Leviathan” Batista, an early slightly less “bear in a human suit”-like Brock Lesner, as well a young Randy Orton. Sadly there is no inclusion of the Minnesota Stretching Crew with fellow OVW alum Shelton Benjamin. However, to make up for that we get John’s spinny variant of the WWE Championship from WrestleMania 22.

Of course with John’s career being featured in the Showcase mode this year, I’m sure we’ll get a bit more than just his good OVW friends and better enemies. In the trailer that was shown during RAW last night, we’re getting a snapshot of the sanitized take on the hostile ECW One Night Stand crowd from the Hammerstein Ballroom. I can’t wait for the “Press Y to throw T-Shirt back into crowd” moment, or having to press B to act shocked that one time Vince McMahon said the N-word because John was doing an Eminem cosplay.

Joking aside, 20 years of the 16-time world champion as well as 5-time US champ, 4-time tag Champ, and 2-time Rumble winner shall be interesting, but no one will blow him a kiss in Illinois. There is plenty to pull from and plenty to offer further options in the creation suite, which is where my heart lies. As is often the case, special sets or venues featured can sometimes be available when creating your own shows: Everyone loves the fist!

“What would a wrestling game be without its multitude of modes and abilities to edit and create your own shows, wrestlers, and even career both in the ring and backstage” I hear you ask. As is standard for any wrestling game, the creation suite will offer the ability to create move sets, superstars, GMs, arenas, entrances, championships, “and more.” The big thing this year is the ability to play your custom arenas online with that one friend you have that likes wrestling and is age appropriate.

This year you’ll have the ability to play opposites day in the house of the grapples with Universe Mode, featuring a “reworked story system and more.” Also reportedly reworked in place (keeping a similar tone) is the MyRise mode. This mode will offer players the ability to import their create-a-superstar wrestlers and raise them through the ranks to go from being some kid called Craig Johnson to becoming one of the most electrifying personalities in the world of professional wrestling, yeah. As already alluded to, the online-focused and card-based MyFaction also returns for a more “casual” experience.

Expanding the role of GM (and Tajiri), the team over at Visual Concepts seems to have taken on the criticism of the MyGM mode and will offer “additional show options, multiple seasons, expanded match cards, and more match types for up to four players.” Once again you’ll draft free agents, manage the budget, pool talent to create the best possible shows, and do what Survivor Series has failed to do for a few years, prove true brand supremacy. Hopefully, the new take on GM mode can work towards challenging the 2007 classic that was WWE SmackDown Vs Raw 2008, but we’ll have to wait to see.

Speaking of the Thanksgiving tradition of Survivor Series, this year’s edition of the “Teams of Five Strive to Survive” featured a WCW classic. War Games will make its 2K debut as two side-by-side rings encased in one big cage will house the mayhem set out by 3-on-3 or 4-on-4 single and multiplayer chaos. This is the first licensed title since WCW Backstage Assault (I believe) to feature a variant of the match, presumably this time without the roof and dim lighting making the Dusty-classic difficult to go back to.

“Even Stronger” is seemingly this year’s tagline, which is saying something when the cover star has been described as Deadpool in his healing abilities. WWE 2K23 will release on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam on the 17th of March for general release and the 14th for Deluxe and Icon editions. With a roster featuring the “American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes since his return to the company and many other big names, this could be an interesting year, especially with everyone’s favorite corpse filmographer Logan Paul featured so heavily in the trailers.