The show never stops with WWE 2K26, and it appears the company is intent on making you want to play this game all the way up to the release of 2K27.
Today, the final cover for WWE 2K26 was revealed as none other than current World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk. In addition to gracing the cover of the standard version of this year’s game, Punk will also be the centerpiece of this year’s Showcase mode.
So let’s not waste any time and let’s dive into what you can expect from CM Punk’s Showcase mode in 2K26.
2K Showcase – Punked:
CM Punk’s 2K Showcase will span multiple decades of WWE history, and just like in years past, the mode is narrated by the cover star. However, unlike previous Showcases, 2K thought a bit outside the box this year for Punk.
This year’s Showcase will include the following types of matches:
- Historical: These matches will allow players to experience CM Punk’s most prominent and favorite matches throughout his career.
- What If: These matches will offer an exciting twist, guiding players through an alternate timeline of CM Punk’s career had he never left WWE in 2014.
- Fantasy Matches: Players will be able to experience CM Punk’s dream matches that never were, crossing the boundaries of time.
Specific matches featured in CM Punk’s Showcase will be unveiled in the weeks ahead.
Four new match types:
While it’s unknown if any of these new match types will find their way into this year’s Showcase mode, you’ll be able to take part in multiple returning match types from years past, along with one making its WWE Games debut.
- The Dumpster Match: A match where your goal is to wear your opponent down enough that you’re able to get them inside the dumpster, close the lid, and take home the victory. This sounds like a new take on previously implemented match types, such as the casket and ambulance match.
- The I Quit Match: Making its return to WWE Games for the first time since WWE 13 (which also featured CM Punk on the cover), is a one-on-one stipulation match with the goal to force your opponent to say “I Quit” to win the match.
- The Inferno Match: Making its return to WWE Games for the first time since WWE 2K15, will see the ring apron ablaze, with the objective to set your opponent on fire. Major impacts near the flames stoke them even further.
- Three Stages of Hell: Also making its return to WWE Games for the first time since WWE 2K15, is a best 2 out of 3 falls series that features up to three different match types that you decide on. We got a taste of this match on WWE programming earlier this month between Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre.
During the WWE 2K26 Developer Roundtable, it was made pretty clear that any one-on-one match type already in the game can be utilized in the Three Stages of Hell match. The match will also not include loading screens, and the falls will transition seamlessly from one fall to the next.
The biggest roster… EVER!
While the complete roster of WWE 2K26 is currently being kept under wraps, we do know that the on-disc roster boasts more than 400 playable characters, representing Superstars and Legends throughout the history of the company.
Names currently announced include:
- CM Punk
- John Cena
- “Macho Man” Randy Savage
- Rhea Ripley
- Cody Rhodes
- Roman Reigns
- IYO SKY
- Andre the Giant
- Drew McIntyre
- Bron Breakker
- “Rowdy” Roddy Piper
- Seth Rollins
- Logan Paul
- Stephanie Vaquer
- Eddie Guerrero
- Liv Morgan
- Bret Hart
- Penta
- Charlotte Flair
- Randy Orton
- Rey Fenix
- Rusev
- Blake Monroe
WWE Games on social media teased involvement from AAA this week when they posted a picture of an Iguana in the midst of teases over the week. With AAA already being heavily implemented into WWE SuperCard, it appears to be a safe bet that we will see a great deal of AAA talent represented in 2K26 this year.
As far as the pre-order bonus? All you’ll have to do is say his name… Joe Hendry is your pre-order bonus this year. Here is what’s included in the Joe Hendry pre-order pack:
- Playable Superstar JoeHendry
- A Joe Hendry shirt cosmetic item
- Joe Hendry MyFACTION EVO card
- Joe Hendry Spin Island Emote
Time to get hardcore…
If you’re a fan of hardcore wrestling, you’re going to love the additions to the gameplay in WWE 2K26. New gameplay features that will be available in matches include:
- Thumbtacks
- Stackable tables
- A shopping cart
- Brawling ontop of barricades
- Improvements to crowd combat
- Weapon physics this year have gone through an overhaul and are said to be comparable to SmackDown vs. RAW 2011
Take that number and double it!
For years, fans have been practically begging 2K to expand the limit of created superstar slots, and this year, they finally came through.
WWE 2K26 will not only boast 200 create-a-superstar slots, but it will also double the image slots to 2,000. Giving fans a lot more freedom to build their in-game roster, however they see fit.
This year’s Create a Superstar mode will also see the following improvements:
- Deeper body and face morphing tools
- Two-toned hair color blending
Your Universe… your world…
A number of improvements have been added to Universe mode this year. Not only has a Draft mode been added to Universe, but you’ll also get a Universe creation wizard to develop your world as you see it.
Other additions to Universe mode this year include:
- Watch Show Mode
- Improved Money in the Bank cash-ins
- Additional promo types
The Island returns and makes its PC debut
The Island, which returns in WWE 2K26 will make its PC debut this year. The story builds on the final chapter of 2K25’s story. Roman Reigns is no longer the Tribal Chief of the Island of Relevancy, and now, there is a power vacuum among three factions competing for control:
- Order of Tradition
- Order of Anarchy
- Order of Shadows
This mode will also feature a scrapyard brawl environment. Your characters will also look better than ever as you’ll be able to use the face photo importing feature. A feature that was highly requested for last year’s mode.
Despite The Island debuting on PC, it doesn’t sound like the walls of Community Creation between consoles and PC will improve this year. When I asked the team about this during the Developer Roundtable, Lynell Jinks of Visual Concepts didn’t sound overly optimistic about the compatibility between consoles and PC returning, stating:
“We’re still looking into it,” Lynell Jinks said. “Like, there’s definitely some gotchas there, and the way that we’re handling, like, just the PC versus the main SKUs. But, yeah, it’s something that we know that the fans want. But we just got to do the due diligence on our end to make sure that whatever happens on the PC side, because it is so customizable, doesn’t ruin the rest of the SKUs. Because there’s some stuff that could potentially — we know could just really mess up the people’s experience on consoles.”
Goodbye Season Pass, hello Battle Pass
For the first time in recent memory, 2K is abandoning the WWE Season Pass in favor of multiple battle passes throughout the life cycle of this game.
Based on what was said during the WWE 2K26 Developer Roundtable, this sounds like it’s going to be a grind of sorts to unlock everything you want in the game instead of being able to instantly unlock things through a supercharger or playing through a mode one time.
Here are the official details on the Ringside Pass courtesy of the WWE 2K26 press release:
“Ringside Passes – DLC Gets an Upgrade with More Post-Launch Content Than Ever Before: The all-new Ringside Pass offers players additional incentive to play, earning XP across all game modes, excluding online lobbies.
“60 free tiers and 40 premium tiers will be available to reward gameplay, with players who can reach tier 40 of the Ringside Pass Premium Season able to unlock Superstars, cosmetic and customization items, VC, MyFACTION, and The Island content, and more.
“The Ringside Pass Premium replaces the previous DLC model, rewarding players with all-new playable characters unavailable on the base game roster, including current Superstars, Legends, Personas, and some unexpected names.
“Six Ringside Pass Seasons are planned to roll out throughout the year, with Ringside Pass Season 1 available at launch and featuring unlockable Superstars and Legends, previously available in the WWE 2K Supercharger, on the free tier.”
As someone who doesn’t have nearly the time to game like I used to, I can’t say I’m thrilled with this decision, and I don’t like the idea of having to grind across various game modes to unlock the content that I want to use.
Perhaps it will work better than they made it sound on the call, but for now, I’m not optimistic about this change.
The Nintendo Switch 2 version sees a massive upgrade from last year
The WWE 2K26 press release unveiled the following information about the Switch 2 version of this year’s game:
“WWE 2K26 on Nintendo Switch 2 will offer several additional features made possible through Nintendo Switch 2’s unique hardware, including touchscreen and mouse support, Game Share and Game Chat, support for single Joy-Con gameplay, and the ability to use mouse controls in Creation Suite for face and body painting. The Nintendo Switch 2 version of the game will also now support Image Uploader and cross-platform Community Creations.”
Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty…
Here is everything else I can tell you about WWE 2K26 at the moment:
- The reversal system change this year will essentially go back to limiting how many reversals you can do based on your stamina. If you didn’t like this before, I doubt you’re going to like it now.
- Intergender matches will return in 2K26 and will now also be featured in the MyFACTION match type.
- Interactive entrances come to WWE 2K26. The details regarding what this entails are kinda sketchy at the moment, but it sounds like another promising step in the right direction of presentation, emulating what we see on TV.
- Speaking of emulating what we see on TV, Wade Barrett and Booker T will join the commentary teams of WWE 2K26. It wasn’t clarified if there are multiple teams depending on the show or if they are the new three-man booth alongside Michael Cole. Stay tuned!
- MyRISE returns in 2K26 and can continue to be played after the main stories are complete to earn more unlocks and achievements. Two new division-based storylines where your choices will greatly impact your path.
- MyGM this year adds 5, 6, and 8-man (and intergender) matchtypes to help flesh out the mode.
- Royal Rumble matches this year will feature “Picture in Picture.” I’m assuming this will be something similar to what we saw in WrestleFest back in the day, but that’s just me speculating based on what was said.
- Trick Williams fans will be disappointed to hear that the “Whoop That Trick” crowd chant still isn’t in WWE 2K26. The team implied they were told to stay away from it.
- 2K26 is on current-generation consoles only, allowing the company to unleash the true power of these systems instead of worrying about last-gen technology.
What does each edition include?
Here are the details of what each edition of the game includes beyond the standard edition, courtesy of the WWE 2K26 press release:
King of Kings Edition will be available for $99.99. King of Kings Edition includes the Standard Edition, Joe Hendry Pack, Ringside Pass Premium Season 1, and 32,500 VC, plus the King of Kings Pack, which includes playable Superstars Triple H ‘98 and Stephanie McMahon ‘00, and a “Triple H Signature Taunt” Emote for The Island.
Attitude Era Edition will be available for $129.99. In addition to all content included in the King of Kings Edition, Attitude Era Edition includes access to Ringside Pass Premium Seasons 1-4, plus the Attitude Era Edition Pack, which features playable Superstars The Rock ‘99, Kane ‘98, and Chyna ‘97, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin “Rattlesnake” and The Rock “People’s Champ” MyFACTION EVO cards, the Raw is War ‘98 Arena, and Undertaker “Thumb Across the Neck” and Shawn Michaels “DX Crotch Chop” Emotes for The Island. The Superstar Mega-Boost is also included, which grants 200 MySUPERSTAR attribute points for MyRISE plus 100,000 VC.
Monday Night War Edition will be available for $149.99. In addition to all content included in the Attitude Era Edition, Monday Night War Edition includes access to Ringside Pass Premium Seasons 1-6, plus the Monday Night War Edition Pack, which features playable Superstars Shawn Michaels DX, Macho Man Randy Savage ‘98, Rowdy Roddy Piper ‘98, the WCW Thunder ‘98 Arena, and a Diamond Dallas Page “Bang!” Emote for The Island. Monday Night War Edition also grants entitlement for the WrestleMania 42 Pack, which includes the WrestleMania 42 Arena and three WrestleMania 42 Superstar Persona Cards to be automatically entitled post-launch.
Pre-Order now!
WWE 2K26 King of Kings, Attitude Era, and Monday Night War editions release on Friday, March 6, whereas the standard version drops on Friday, March 13. You can pre-order right now.
Players who pre-order Attitude Era Edition or Monday Night War Edition on PlayStation or Xbox between January 30 and February 23 at 8 AM PT will receive 15,000 VC in WWE 2K26 and 67,500 VC in WWE 2K25.
Stay tuned to WrestleZone for more information on WWE 2K26 as it becomes available.
READ MORE: WWE 2K26 King Of Kings Edition Announced
What do you make of this WWE 2K26 news? Are you excited for this year’s game? Let us know your overall thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
