WWE 2K26 review

I am a huge wrestling fan, I love this sport, and I frequently rewatch matches, but I haven’t always been a fan of the video games for various reasons. WWE 2K26 surprised me in the best ways possible. Don’t get me wrong, the game is far from perfect, but it is a load of fun to play.

WWE 2K26 has the biggest roster to date; every single one of my favorite wrestlers made the cut, such as Rhea Ripley and Sol Ruca. The best part of this roster is seeing all of the faces that I have never seen before, as well as coming up with fun combinations for the intergender matches. Speaking of matches, I have been having a great time with ambulance matches and running the Wargames. 

MyRise 

This section will not contain spoilers.

MyRise is the weakest mode out of all of the offerings, which didn’t surprise me because I haven’t liked a MyRise storyline in quite some time. I won’t lie, though, I was a little disappointed because I had loved everything that was shown in the Ringside Report. 

MyRise has some truly awful writing that ranges from bland to cringeworthy. Which would be fine if the animations didn’t look so bad. Something that becomes apparent in this game is that the character's speaking animations don’t look quite right. A lot of the reason it looks awkward to me is because of the way the jaw moves on your character. The lighting in some scenes made my character look truly creepy as well, but the worst offense committed in MyRise goes to the long, drawn-out dialogue scenes that were honestly boring enough to make me start falling asleep. 

I ended up creating a character and taking them through Universe mode to get an enjoyable experience. With that said, the comeback story that MyRise is trying to tell is actually somewhat interesting. You can choose how your character will come back to the WWE after taking a year off. You can also choose why your character took a year off when it comes time to answer the question. You’ll be able to go about things in an honorable way, or you can take the dishonorable path. What does that look like? I have no idea because after the first match, this mode could not hold my interest.

Showcase Mode 

Showcase Mode was one of my biggest disappointments in the game. I don’t follow CM Punk, and I don’t always like watching him wrestle, though I won’t deny he can be pretty entertaining. But without knowing the history well, it felt like I couldn’t get into this mode. 

In Showcase Mode, you play as CM Punk, and you’ll wrestle through historical recreations for some matches and fantasy matchups for other matches. Think of this mode like a what-if mode, and in that way, it succeeds at its goal. As you play through the mode, you’ll have CM Punk adding his commentary in, proving context for each match. I love this, and I really did like hearing his thoughts about his history. 

The reason I even bothered with Showcase Mode was that I wanted to get my hands on the rewards. I didn’t care much for the history, but for those who like CM Punk and like experiencing the history, they did a really good job setting up each match. 

The real bread and butter of Showcase Mode is the Gauntlet, which I adore and has taken up a lot of my time in the game. Gauntlet takes you right into the action and fast-tracks the rewards you earn. You face 20 opponents back to back, and you can choose between CM Punk or AK Lee. Complete the run, and you can get all of the unlockables at once. This mode is extremely fast-paced and a lot of fun. I appreciate that they didn’t lock you into having to play the whole showcase. 

Universe Mode 

Universe Mode has always been one of my favorite game modes, but the enhancements take it up a notch. They added a new Universe Wizard, which will allow you to choose which weekly shows will be featured as PLEs. This wizard takes over a large chunk of the setup, but don’t worry, it smooths out a large part of the process. 

Diving into the nitty-gritty of the game mode has never felt better. The menus load faster, and clicking around is smoother. Making adjustments to the rosters is as fast as it has ever been. There is a real smoothness that I couldn’t ignore. Because of how smooth this experience was, I found myself taking more time to dive into things like titles and properly utilizing the creation suit. Each show supports up to 8 titles, and I did make use of all 8 title spots for the men’s and women’s divisions. 

The addition of the WWE Draft is by far my favorite new addition this year. During the draft, you can trade Superstars. You’ll be able to create, edit, or remove Drafts from your Universe, but I keep Drafts on because it adds a level of management to the game mode that I have been craving. There are so many different settings, too. However, prepare accordingly because a round of the draft takes up a match card, which I didn’t even notice the first time I did it.

Universe also feels more interactive to me than it did in the last few WWE games I played. For example, you can cash in the Money In The Bank briefcases during any eligible title in a given show, and this is done smoothly because target championships have been removed. MITB feels less like a hindrance in WWE 2K26 because the cash-ins have a better flow to them. It also makes cash-ins feel way more exciting. 

Some touchups are needed… 

First and foremost, some of the facial scans for various Superstars don’t look quite right. Some look to have low resolution. It is especially noticeable when you’re trying to take your time and set up a match. It’s a shame because it makes a few Superstars look like they’re made out of Play-Doh. 

When you're creating your character, and you finally get around to giving them a move set, the process is lacking in a few areas. For starters, there are more options than ever before, which is a good thing. The flipside of that is that scrolling through these options is quite cumbersome. 

I also noticed a bit of latency when running Ambulance and Dumpster matches. Specifically, when you're trying to get your opponent into the ambulance or dumpster. That latency carries into other matches, too. It felt like it required a second button press to interact with anything, whether it be the ladder or putting your opponent on a table.

Final Thoughts 

There have been so many good changes. The improved character creation suit is the first one that comes to mind. For starters, we now have 200 creation slots, which is awesome. Though I’ll admit that I am not someone who normally creates a Superstar, there are noticeable improvements in the creation process. The addition of two-tone blending is interesting, and while I couldn’t make anything using the feature that looked too good, I just know that the community will make something cool. What I like to do when it comes to creating involves making custom arenas. 

I haven’t gotten to try The Island yet, but I have to talk about how much I appreciate the Ringside Pass. See, the Ringside Pass never expires, and you can finish it at your own pace. It has a free and premium track, and the rewards are just alright. There is at least one Superstar, a few customization options for your custom characters, and new moves, just to name a few of the rewards. The reason that I think these rewards are just alright is that I don’t think WWE 2K26 needed a battle pass-like feature to begin with. The reason I like this take on the battle pass, though, is that it's yours to keep forever, which is how they should all be.