Every year the WWE 2K games adjust their ratings for all the WWE superstars that are on the roster. While it can’t be taken granted how difficult of a job this must for the developers, a lot of fans definitely get a little upset when they see their favorite superstars and classic legends have been underrated compared to the bigger or modern stars in the game.
Just like in a real sports game you can’t please everyone when it comes to athlete ratings and with the accelerator, you can adjust the wrestler’s rating to your liking. Yet, that doesn’t take away from some of the most convoluted and ridiculous logic that the developer’s at 2K have used to score a wrestler’s ability.
You have performers that have lost over 80% of their matches over the course of the year getting higher scores that more successful and active stars like Shinsuke Nakamura. Or worse you get complete non-wrestlers being gifted with ridiculously higher ratings than season performers.
In addition, WWE 2K19 may contain some of the worst scores for the Legends roster in years with some performers past work potentially being undervalued by the developers when compared to today’s WWE Superstars. With that in mind, take a look at 25 of the most ridiculous ratings in a WWE 2K game ever seen.
25 Overrated: The Rock - 93
Now that Dwayne “The Rock Johnson” is one of Hollywood’s highest-earning megastars it’s easy to forget that he’s a third generation wrestling superstar. He was also an excellent performer in the ring and one of the most athletic and hard working wrestlers on the WWE roster during the Attitude Era.
In his prime, The Rock was the top guy in the company and had classic matches against the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker, Mankind, and Kurt Angle. Yet, bafflingly, the Attitude Era Rock has a lower rating than his modern Hollywood version and at 93 he’s higher than Roman Reigns, Rick Flair and the Mach Man.
24 Underrated: Kurt Angle ‘01 - 86
Kurt Angle is regularly referred to as one of the best performers of all time. He’sc worked endless classics against the likes of the Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Brock Lesnar, and AJ Styles in TNA.
So to see his rating as low 86 in 2001 when he had one of the best debuts WWE history as the obnoxious and near unbeatable Olympic wrestling machine is a nothing short of a travesty. This means 2K rate him as only slightly better than Baron Corbin and Matt Hardy.
23 Overrated: Matt Hardy – 84
Matt Hardy is a solid worker but even when he was teamed with his brother Jeff as one half of the Hardy Boys tag team he was viewed as the Mart Jannety of the duo. Many fans have taken to his Woken and Broken gimmicks and enjoy him as an entertainer.
However, his actual matches have been forgettable at best and he's found himself in yet another tag team but with Bray Wyatt instead of finding his own path. As a singles wrestler he shouldn’t be rated as almost on par with Kurt Angle, DDP, and certainly not higher than Mr. Perfect.
22 Underrated: Dolph Ziggler - Rating 84
Dolph Ziggler is one of the most talented performers in the WWE. Yet the company seem to be happy keeping him the mid-card. Granted, he’s often seen as a Shawn Michaels clone even going as far as imitating the Two Dudes With Attitude with Drew McIntyre doing his best Kevin Nash impression.
However, with his legit amateur wrestling background, he does bring a lot to the psychology of selling a match not often seen anymore. He rarely has a bad match and certainly deserves to be rated higher than Matt Hardy.
21 Overrated: Sting 99 – 91
Putting Sting an overrated category isn’t a question mark on his abilities as a performer but rather some confusion into WWE 2K19’s convoluted ranking system. It’s frustrating enough that the series insists on filling up the roster with different versions of the same wrestler but being historically inaccurate is more annoying for fans.
Creatively, 1999 that was the beginning of the end for WCW and the talent suffered as a result especially The Stinger. It was one of his worst years in the business so it makes no sense this version is rated higher than his best years as surfer Sting in 1991 and one of his most successful years using the Crow and Wolfpack gimmicks in 1998.
20 Underrated: The British Bulldog – 81
The late British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith is on the legends roster and is regarded as one of the most well-known wrestlers from the UK. He’s had classic matches with Bret Hart and served as one of half of one of the most iconic tag teams in the world The British Bulldogs with the Dynamite Kid.
So it’s a something of a travesty when he’s rated as 81 which means he’s lower than Jinder Mahal, Sami Zayn, Xavier Woods and the same as a Shane McMahon who from a purest point of view isn’t even a wrestler.
19 Overrated: Mustafa Ali – 81
Mustafa Ali is on the 205 Live roster and he enters the ring like a 1980s throwback complete with a cheap Sub Zero from Mortal Kombat cosplay outfit. Other than the excellent match he had against Hideo Itami he hasn’t really stood out amongst the crowd of other 205 performers and his win/loss record sits almost even.
It makes very little sense that he’s rated 5 points higher than the former cruiserweight champion TJ Perkins let alone be on an almost equal footing with the British Bulldog, Sami Zayn and the Big Boss Man who used squash many opponents back in his prime.
18 Underrated: Shelton Benjamin – 78
After a few years away from WWE Shelton Benjamin has been perfecting his craft in Japan and even before this he was known as the best pure wrestler in the WWE. Fans who appreciate good entertaining matches know what they’re getting with Benjamin.
So a 78 rating for one of the most underrated superstars on the WWE roster should be considered embarrasing. To think that he’s rated just one point above Stephanie McMahon and three points below Shane let alone wrestlers that he was booked to beat clean is ridiculous.
17 Overrated: Triple H – 89
There was a time when Triple H was looked upon as one of the best wrestlers in the WWE. There’s no denying that he’s had some incredible matches with Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels, and Randy Orton. He’s been the recipient of Power Slam and Wrestling Illustrated magazine’s wrestler of the year but is fair to say his best years are behind him.
He’s still capable of booking himself in good matches with the right superstars but his most recent matches are noticeably slower and clumsy. Even his most entertaining performance in years which saw him team up with Shawn Michaels against the Brothers of Destruction resulted in a pec tear. So to rate him an 89 at this point above performers like Seth Rollins doesn't make any sense.
16 Underrated: "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase - 85
The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase was one of the most notable heels (villains) in WWE’s golden era. He put on great matches with the likes of Randy Savage, Dusty Rhodes, Hulk Hogan, and Bret Hart. He’s often been regarded as one of the most gifted technical wrestlers in the 1980s and he was great on the mic.
Like so many other legends getting a bad rap in this year’s entry, he is only rated as 85 - a point lower than Sid Vicious and Lex Luger and only one point above Matt Hardy and The Miz. DiBiase should be sitting around 87 at the very least.
15 Overrated: John Cena – 89
There was a time when John Cena was pushed as the near-invincible superhero in the WWE just as Hulk Hogan was in the 80s and 90s. The kids loved him but seasoned fans didn’t appreciate having Cena forced on them as their hero for such a long time.
He was fantastic on the mic and whether fans liked him or not his booking made him seem unstoppable so it makes sense that his prime version is rated so highly. Nowadays Cena is doing right by the fans by putting the younger wrestlers over as he pursues a Hollywood career. So giving him an 89 which rates him higher than Seth Rollins, Samoa Joe, and Shinsuke Nakamura defeats the purpose of his increasingly rare in-ring appearances.
14 Underrated: Mr. Perfect – 83
In another case of what the heck were the developers of WWE 2K19 thinking when it comes to ratings, the late Curt “Mr. Perfect” Hennig gets an 83. This is a man who wrestled some of the best matches for the Intercontinental championship in the 1980s with the likes of Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels.
Hennig was one of the greatest heels in the business and his original WWE run at his prime was loaded with 5-star matches, and he even made Doink the Clown look competitive. Based on his in-ring and out of ring performances he should be sitting at least an 88.
13 Overrated: Baron Corbin – 84
Other than becoming a storyline authority figure Baron Corbin has done nothing noteworthy in the last twelve months. Before that, the WWE tried to push him as the next best big man in the business but his lack of size and presence didn’t match the character he was supposed to be and fans were more focused on his receding hairline than his ring work.
It makes no sense for Corbin to be rated higher than Mr. Perfect, Bam Bam Bigelow and nearly on par with Finn Balor and Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat will make very little sense to longtime wrestling fans.
12 Underrated: Charlotte Flair – 85
Being the daughter of Ric Flair, Charlotte Flair had huge expectations to live up to and an amazing wrestling legacy to carry on her shoulders. By consistently tearing down the house with numerous wrestlers she has her father’s talent of putting together five-star matches with anyone put in front of her.
The fact that she’s one of the best performers in the WWE regardless of her gender means that her rating should be up there with the best of the male performers around the 90s. It makes no sense to keep her rating as low as 85.
11 Overrated: Ronda Rousey – 87
Ronda Rousey is responsible for single-handedly changing the face of combat sports by becoming the first legitimate superstar in mixed martial arts. So when she retired from competing in MMA and became a WWE Superstar it’s not much of surprise that she’s being pushed as one of the most dangerous women on the roster.
She’s already the WWE Women’s champion and is rated as the women with the highest stats in WWE 2K19. Despite being a legit combat star, she’s still very much a rookie in the WWE and to hold a rating that’s two points higher than Charlotte Flair seems a little unrealistic at this point.
10 Underrated: Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat 87
Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat is still regarded as one of the greatest in-ring performers of all time. He didn’t have amazing mic skills which held him back in the WWE, but he did his talking with his 5-star matches. His match against The Macho Man Randy Savage at Wrestlemania III is still considered one of the greatest matches of all time.
The former NWA World champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, WCW TV and US Champion should be rated at least 89 and in no way should be on par with Baron Corbin.
9 Overrated: Shane McMahon 81
There’s no doubt that Shane and Vince McMahon have always been willing to sacrifice their bodies for the sake of entertainment. This is especially true of Shane McMahon who in fairness pulls off some incredibly daring moves in the ring. Whether this is leaping 20 feet from the top of the Cell in Wrestlemania 32 or jumping from one side of the ring in his famous coast to coast dropkick he’s definitely entertaining to watch.
However, as daring as Shane is, he’s not a wrestler and he’s clearly carried by those he’s working with like The Undertaker and Triple H to put together a convincing match and make him look competitive. So he shouldn’t be rated higher than wrestlers like Shelton Benjamin or the same as The British Bulldog,
8 Underrated: Finn Balor – 85
Finn Balor is one of the most promising wrestlers in the WWE today. He’s a former IWGP junior weight champion, IWGP Champion, and NXT champion. In addition to earning his stripes in Japan was a member of the Bullet Club faction and had a short reign as the WWE champion before getting sidelined with a serious shoulder injury.
Balor has a bright future in the company and should definitely be sitting on the roster with a higher score than 85. In a move that makes very little sense, his Demon Balor persona is rated two points higher.
7 Overrated: Paige – 83
For now, at least it seems Paige may be off the competitive WWE roster for the foreseeable future due to a serious injury. It’s a shame because she just made an impact when she just made a return from healing from surgery this year.
It would make sense then to base her stats on the version of her that competes in the ring rather than the GM version that we got. Confusingly, they based her entire model on her non-competitive persona and kept her stats just two below Charlotte Flair and the same as the current Women’s champ Becky Lynch.
6 Underrated: "Ravishing" Rick Rude - 84
This is yet another confusing yet ridiculous rating for a wrestler who has lower stats than many of the guys on the roster who couldn't even lace up his boots. The late Rick Rude was a former WCW World Champion, US Champion, Intercontinental champion, and a legitimate backstage tough guy.
He famously carried The Ultimate Warrior in what would be the best feud in his career and had incredible matches against, Sting, Jake Roberts, and Ricky Steamboat.