It is now a little more than a week until the worldwide release of WWE 2K20. This year's pro wrestling offering from WWE 2K. While a lot of the time it can seem as if annual releases such as these are the same game in a different box, something feels different this time around. There's an air of excitement surrounding the release of WWE 2K20, and part of that is due to the game's already-announced roster.
For the most part, WWE 2K20's roster is the same as in previous years. That's to be expected, as aside from a few new signings and a couple of departures, WWE's real-life roster remains the same from year to year. There appear to be more new additions this year, though. The roster feels deeper with stars such as Rhea Ripley and Humberto Carillo making the cut. Hulk Hogan also returns to the franchise and Chyna will be a playable character in a WWE game for the first time since 2000.
Too Late For Tyson Fury
No matter how many Superstars WWE 2K includes in its games, fans will always find gaps they want to be filled. Most notably for us this time around is the lack of a celebrity on the bill. In the past, non-wrestlers such as Arnold Schwarzeneggar, Fred Durst, and even Colonel Sanders have been included as playable characters. Considering what has been going on with Tyson Fury in WWE the last few weeks, it's a shame the boxer couldn't have been included in WWE 2K20.
Fury showed up in the front row of SmackDown's debut on FOX a couple of weeks ago. After having Dolph Ziggler thrown into him by Braun Strowman, the boxer hopped the barrier and tried to get his hands on The Monster Among Men. WWE then invited Fury to Raw a few days later at which time he and Strowman wound up in a pull-apart brawl. All of that has led to Strowman and Fury being booked in what we're assuming will be a wrestling match. It'll take place at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia on October 31, 2019.
Fury won't be the only non-wrestling star competing on the Crown Jewel card. Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez will find himself in the ring with Brock Lesnar on October 31, and with the WWE Championship on the line, no less. Velasquez's omission from WWE 2K20 may be an even bigger gap in the roster, as rumor has it he has actually signed a deal to stay on with WWE. Fury, on the other hand, will presumably return to the boxing world after he's done with Strowman.
It's Sports Entertainment, Dammit!
While hardened wrestling fans may see celebrity additions to the WWE 2K rosters and roll their eyes, there is a method to the madness. As Vince McMahon has been hammering home for about three decades, WWE isn't pro wrestling, it's sports entertainment. In Mr. McMahon's eyes, WWE's fanbase doesn't begin and end with wrestling fans. It extends to those who enjoy other sports, and other parts of mainstream entertainment. Including names and faces from other walks of life might well attract casual or even non-wresting fans into the WWE bubble, and thus help sell copies of WWE 2K20.
The risk is one that WWE has been taking as a whole for years - the chance that its core fanbase of wrestling fans will be alienated. If it feels as if all of WWE 2K's efforts went into attaining the services and then creating a star or two from outside the wrestling business, the assumption might be that the rest of the game, so the more important stuff was treated as less so. It's a tricky balance to strike, and one 2K doesn't even seem to have bothered with this year as WWE 2K20 appears to be for wrestling fans only.
Whether Fury and Velasquez are sticking around or not, the real reason neither of them will be playable characters on WWE 2K20 is timing. The cut off for the final roster will have happened long before either of them showed up in WWE during that SmackDown debut on FOX. However, depending on how long their appearances were known about beforehand, and how long the two of them plan on sticking around, we might see one or both of them pop up in a DLC pack later this year or early in 2020.