WWE 2K26 Review – Best in the World

WrestleMania season is in full swing as we are less than a month until the biggest wrestling event of the year for WWE, which typically means it’s also time for a brand new WWE 2K video game. Visual Concepts has been on quite a roll in recent years, so they are looking to keep that train going, albeit with a bit of controversy due to a new variation on the game’s post-launch DLC in WWE 2K26.

Gameplay Foundation

While there are a myriad of different game modes to keep you entertained and the largest roster of superstars to date, what keeps players truly coming back year-after-year is the gameplay. After the debacle that was WWE 2K20, Visual Concepts revamped everything for its grand return in WWE 2K22 and has been building on that gameplay foundation ever since. WWE 2K26 takes what has worked well in recent years and has continued to polish it, but also adds in some new mechanics like the updated reversal system.

In the past, it almost felt like you could spam reversals to get out of trouble in the ring. This year’s game changes that though by tying the reversals to the stamina bar for your wrestler. If you try to use too many reversals in a row, a new purple meter will show up that means you are basically a sitting duck as you cannot pull off any reversals. You are still able to attack back though, so trying to move to an offensive game if you can to counter the opponent is key here. Personally, the purple meter did get a little frustrating at times, to the point it almost felt like too much course correction in the other direction to avoid spamming of reversals. The good news is that you can adjust the slider for the Stamina Cost and Stamina Recovery Rate if it’s really causing issues for you.

As far as the rest of the gameplay, WWE 2K26 feels as smooth as ever as you control your wrestler in the ring. The different features of recent years are back like chain wrestling, different submission and pin games, and much more. With 400+ superstars available in the game, it is vital that they make different wrestler types feel different in the ring and they have continued to do this once again with the fluid gameplay we come to expect from the series since its return.

Beyond the actual gameplay mechanics, WWE 2K26 has also added four new match types that includes three that we have seen happen the last few years and one we haven’t seen in awhile. The first of the most common matches is the I Quit Match, where the match doesn’t end until someone verbally concedes by saying “I quit.” This one is quite funny, as some of the voices for this are almost comical to hear, but essentially is a submission match in the end.

The next match is one that really helped to elevate superstar Chelsea Green to the star she is today with the Dumpster Match. Her level of comedy paired perfectly with this match against Michin, which has also been done a number of times in the past as well. It also translates pretty well here too, similar to matches like the Ambulance and Casket ones.

Next, the most recent of the matches we’ve seen live in WWE to be added here is Three Stages of Hell, which most recently was showcased when Drew McIntyre defeated Cody Rhodes in January for the Undisputed WWE Championship in one of these. This is one of the most unique match types, as it consists of three back-to-back matches that you can choose from the list of other match-types in the game here and the goal is to win two out of three. I really enjoy picking this as a way of mixing and matching different match types and it works to have the best out of three setup.

The Inferno Match has only happened in WWE four times, all involving Kane in the late 90s to mid 2000s, where the goal is to set your opponent on fire. This is one of the most intriguing matches to play in this game, as it’s easily one of the most unique and has quite a spectacle to it with all of the fire surrounding the match. Watching the Inferno meter continually grow during the match gets pretty intense and I love how the flames just keep getting bigger and eventually culminates in you being able to throw your opponent into the flames for the victory when it reaches its peak.

It’s Showtime

As someone who only got into wrestling in a hardcore sense over the last decade or so, one of my favorite game modes each and every year is Showcase. Showcase is always based around a specific theme and serves as essentially a playable documentary series that teaches you about the past, while also having some unique wrinkles with what if scenarios mixed in there as well. at times.

For WWE 2K26, the focus is on the fan favorite “The Best In The World” CM Punk, who returned to the company a couple of years ago and is heading into WrestleMania 42 as RAW’s World Heavyweight Champion. This made him a perfect fit to follow in Showcase mode, as we not only get the early days of CM Punk, but the more recent matches as well. In fact, the what if scenarios work well as a way to fit in for the time he had left and was working for the rival company.

Showcase is split into three types of matches this year, starting with classic matches from CM Punk’s career that you get to relive in the game. Not only do you get to play some of Punk’s best wins over his career, but also take part in rewriting some history by changing the outcomes of some major matches in his career, such as his match against The Rock at Elimination Chamber 2013 or Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam 2013. I always enjoy getting to play matches that span the person’s career, as it goes from the beginning all the way up until the most recent Triple Threat Match at WrestleMania last year between CM Punk, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins. These matches are a lot of fun as they are based entirely on real matches and seeing the recreation of the original spliced with the match is always a treat.

From there, there are two other types of matches that are not based on actual matches, but rather serve at what if scenarios in two separate ways. The next type of match are entirely what if matches that are against wrestlers prior to CM Punk’s time, or at least their prime was. These include some really fun matches against Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mick Foley, Eddie Guerrero, and even Shawn Michaels.

The last of these are matches that could have taken place during the time CM Punk had left the company for awhile, including some really fun matches from the 2014-2021 stretch that he was gone. These put him up against the likes of Triple H, AJ Styles, and even a really cool one against Bray Wyatt.

As always, Showcase lets you play through the matches as you choose with the goal of winning, though there are always optional objectives that you can complete that will actually push the flow of the match forward that will lead to a cutscene eventually near the end. Completing all of these optional objectives in the match and winning will result in you unlocking some special items related to that match.

Another unique twist that the developers added to Showcase mode this year is Gauntlet mode. In Gauntlet mode, you can select either CM Punk or his wife AJ Lee to take on 20 competitors in a row, which is a very tough challenge to take on. What’s pretty cool here is that it is introduced by CM Punk in the game as a way to give players that do not like the typical Showcase mode with objectives to complete to unlock everything an alternate option. If you manage to finish the entire gauntlet, you will unlock everything from Showcase mode in one go, giving you another option and real challenge to complete. Regardless of who you pick between CM Punk and AJ Lee, you’ll still face the lineup of Punk’s match opponents thanks to the return of intergender matches from last year, with the lineup being in a random order each time.

The development team really went for authenticity in Showcase to have CM Punk and his opponents look as they should have back at the time of the matches, while also going the next step by acquiring the rights to Punk’s original theme song “This Fire Burns,” which joins “Cult of Personality” in the game as theme songs for him. Details like this are what really matter in a game like this that releases annually.

The Archetype Returns

While Showcase has some what if elements to make it sort of a story mode, the true story mode in WWE 2K26 once again comes via MyRise mode. Last year’s game has the best iteration of MyRise to date thanks to its intriguing story with the mutiny of NXT and the rival factions surrounding both your created men and women superstars. This year’s is a bit of a downgrade overall storywise, but it’s still pretty fun. Regardless of whether you select to face off against Paul Heyman’s men’s or women’s champion, you start by creating your own MyRise superstar. There are preset Personas to choose from at the start, but you then get to edit them to your heart’s desire with their face, body, attire, and other details.

Between matches, you will get to interact with a number of different superstars and even Paul Heyman. This is where there dialogue often can get a bit cringy and it does at times here, but it fits for the whole WWE schtick enough to where it works here. You can choose to just run through MyRise’s story mode as quick as possible or do extra matches and stories to work towards building up your superstar. Improving your superstar’s attributes is very important here as you start off with a base 1/10 at all attributes. These attributes include Striking, Grappling, Aerial/Running, Submission, Defense, and Resiliance. By using points that you earn, you can increase each of these stats to help improve the OVR of your superstar.

The main story in MyRise is that your created character known as the Archetype has been away from the game for 10+ years and is just now returning to action, similar to AJ Lee’s recent return. However, in this case you are put up against Paul Heyman’s latest champion in this game’s universe, Jordynne Grace for the women’s side and Bron Breakker for the men’s side. Others in the locker room aren’t exactly happy that you received a title shot as soon as you returned either, so this sets up some tension moving forward. No matter what you do, you get squashed in your first match back and have to work your way back up the ladder to become the champion yourself.

During MyRise, there are important decisions that you have to make that will cause branches in the story of your superstar, with the options listed with a green or red icon. This makes MyRise worth playing multiple times to see the different ways that the story can play out, especially if you take the route of more of a face or a heel in decisions. You will also have the opportunity to choose your matches along the way too, as you can either pick the selected Rise matches or Rebook them if you have that option available. The menu also lets you look at your story progress and where you made certain decisions to cause the current story path.

MyFaction returns again in WWE 2K26 as the card building mode that you come to expect in pretty much any sports-adjacent title. For this year, you get to choose from the four starter superstars of Jade Cargill, Roxanne Perez, Oba Femi, and Dragon Lee. I thought this was a solid and pretty good mix to choose from to start from. A new feature this year is the introduction of a Team Chemistry system, which adds a level of strategy to picking your team with various traits and categories that can affect the chemistry. There is also the ability to have intergender lineups and matches within MyFaction, which was not available prior.

The best new feature added to MyFaction though is known as Quick Swap, which essentially makes the mode feel more like a team-based fighter than a typical WWE game. By pressing a button within the match, you can swap between superstars on your team on the fly, complete with them teleporting in and out of the ring. This is a really cool feature that makes the mode feel a bit more worthwhile to dive into. However, it’s still entirely reliant on your card roster that you have to build by opening packs and such, which is one of the ways VC is utilized in the game. As a result, MyFaction usually isn’t my favorite part of the series, but I did really appreciate that they included CM Punk and AJ Lee’s dog Larry who recently passed as a manager card that you can use.

Universe mode also returns and once again is like the franchise mode of WWE 2K where you can choose to either play the career of a specific superstar or play head of creative control essentially across all of the WWE brands. As the latter, you basically have complete control of all WWE programing, including setting up the schedule, rosters, title holders and title changes, rivalries, and more. A brand new feature here is that of the draft, which you can setup and hold on a certain week of the schedule. Based on your decisions, you can then either watch or play each show from beginning to end, which is consistently a lot of fun. Sometimes it’s nice to just play a simulation style mode where you are watching everything unfold in front of you while others its fun to take over and play the matches yourselves.

Similar to Universe in some ways, MyGM lets you take control of a specific brand within WWE and compete against the other brands to become the best of the best. You are not stuck with only the current GMs like Adam Pierce and Nick Aldis either, as you can pick from a lineup of different GMs for each brand, including Shawn Michaels, Stephanie McMahon, Mick Foley, and even older ones like Miss Elizabeth and Mr. Fuji. Some newer options are available too like CM Punk, Xavier Woods, and Tyler Breeze, as well as mysterious anonymous GM or a custom Superstar as GM. Each GM has a special perk that can make trying out different ones well worth it. The brands also once again include RAW, Smackdown, NXT, NXT 2.0, WCW, ECW, and the faction from the MYRise story last year titled NXT Mutiny.

MyGM mode can be done either locally against a friend or the computer, as well as online against others, though the latter limits some custom features. Once again, this mode is easily one of the most addictive modes in the entire game as you strive to become the best brand of the bunch. The fast-paced draft at the start is always exciting considering a budget is involved this time. From there, you have milestones in the form of PLEs that you have to build towards and must setup each week’s show match by match, as well as promos in-between them. This is one of the most competitive parts of the game and I still love it, though I do hope we can see some revamps next year since it’s mostly the same here.

The Island of Relevancy

Easily the most disappointing aspect of last year’s game was the introduction of The Island of Relevancy due to how much of a letdown it was with trying to be a little too similar to the NBA 2K’s City. There was something to build on from last year’s and WWE 2K26 does that with the new faction-based The Island. This time around, you must pick from one of three orders to join that are lead by CM Punk, Rhea Ripley, and Cody Rhodes. These are the Order of Anarchy, Order of Shadows, and Order of Tradition respectively. Not only that, but you must select between the women’s and men’s division without each order.

Just like last year, you have to create your own superstar to use in The Island, which unfortunately still cannot be a previously created superstar for MyRise or another mode. This is where the worst part about The Island comes into play, where you have to spend VC to train your superstar and raise their stats beyond the embarrassing floor they are at. With VC already being used in other modes like MyFaction and even for gear in The Island separately, you really have to weight what is most important for you in WWE 2K26 when it comes to spending VC. At the start, it look me about 40,000 VC to upgrade my character to the max it allowed at the time with all stats to become an 85 OVR, so take that for what it’s worth. That isn’t even close to enough though, as you must prestige once you reach certain levels and keep spending more VC each time to continue building.

Like The City in NBA 2K, The Island is the game’s attempt to be a bit of an MMORPG where you are playing real-time in an area with other players from around the world. You can choose to interact with others and end up having matches or play it completely solo if you so choose. The goal is to build up your character not only attribute wise, but also with some other things like badges, perks, and boosts that can elevate your superstar to the next level. You have to be careful with boosts thought, as they are one-time consumables that you need to save for when you really need them.

The Island has a main story to play through, which is actually much more enjoyable this year, even if there is still plenty of cringy dialogue and moments throughout. You also have ongoing events that you can participate in, as well as daily, weekly, and Hall of Fame challenges for you to complete. Overall, The Island is still very much a work in progress, but is much closer to being a great mode than it was a year ago and hopefully will continue to grow going forward.

Each and every year, it never ceases to amaze me the level of creativity that people have when it comes to Community Creations in WWE 2K and that is no different with the creations section of the game. This allows you to create and upload your custom superstars, signs, championships, MITB briefcases, and more, which can then be downloaded by anybody under Community Creations. This is obviously a way to not only get wrestlers that haven’t been added to the game or work for rival companies like Chris Jericho or Kenny Omega, but also have wacky inclusions like Spider-Man. It’s also a great way to get those in the lower levels that haven’t made the game yet like Kendal Grey or alternate costumes for different people, such as Kit Wilson’s latest look with his singles run.

As far as bugs go, hair physics are still an issue this year at times. This was most apparent during MyRise, where having long hair often had it just clip through arms like it wasn’t there. You can see if during the animations while talking to others backstage as well as during the interview segments too, so it’s not just a one time issue as it’s pretty continuous. One other glitch I noticed was that during the WWE draft in Universe, it would occasionally bring up a Draft Complete screen after multiple picks when the draft wasn’t over yet.

It’s very rare that you find a 2K game release that doesn’t have some sort of controversial element, be that VC or other predatory elements. The source of the controversy this year is the addition of the Ringside Pass, which replaces the original season pass and DLC from past years. In the past, you could just pay for either individual packs or a season pass and get the content for each pass as it releases. The Ringside Pass on the other hand works like a battle pass such as what you’d see in something like Fortnite or Marvel Rivals.

For each of the seasons that will be released in the game, including five specific DLC seasons, there is a Free path and a Premium path in the Ringside Pass that you can unlock items through by earning RXP in the game. There is uproar that you’re having to pay just to be able to unlock things here, but I actually don’t mind it as someone who has always enjoyed having to unlock things in games rather than being thrown everything my way from the start. I also am very much against the inclusion of buyable Tier skips to unlock the stuff quicker, as these either shouldn’t be available at all or should be free things that you unlock in the game that can help you get along the path faster.

The DLC is also not going to be really any different than last year except for the fact that you have to work to unlock it now. To me, that adds more replayability to the DLC as before I’d probably jump back on and try to play as one of the new superstars and then jump back to another game, while here I will definitely be going back to unlock everything each season. If the grind could be lessened, we’d really be into business. And the seasons don’t expire either, so you can keep working towards each season whenever you like. Also, even if you don’t buy the passes you can still get all of the stuff from the free path throughout the year for nothing, which is a great addition.

The Verdict

WWE 2K26 continues the trend of well-designed and enjoyable games from the last few iterations, once again continuing to build on the growing foundation year-after-year. There is still plenty to do as always here, whether that is Showcase, MyRise, MyGM, or even the improved The Island, but you do still have the heel on the roster to deal with in the form of microtransactions through VC and now the new Ringside Pass. Even so, with the array of different game modes, the massive roster or superstars and arenas, and fantastic gameplay, WWE 2K26 proves once again to be a face that has gone over with the crowd.

WWE 2K26 was provided by the publisher. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.

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