Wrestling is as much about the characters and action in the ring as it is about the atmosphere. Superstars wouldn't have anyone to pander to without the crowd's energy. The entertainment factor would be gone. There'd be no huge comebacks or bad guys soaking up the boos. You won't have to worry about that with the amount of WWE 2K23 arenas.
There is a long list for you to choose from. Each has an entrance area, a ring to wrestle in, and an audience that will deliver their every thought. From modern times to the classics, there are some incredible arenas in WWE 2K23.
10 High School Gym - BCW
You can unlock a handful of arenas through the MyRise mode's different stories. You take an original character through a story with decision paths that determine the outcome. In that mode, you can unlock the High School Gym.
BCW is a fictional promotion found in WWE 2K23. It runs out of this local gym, and if you've ever been to a low-budget independent wrestling show, you'll love this. There are a couple of hundred seats at best, and the local team's logo is on the wall.
9 Club U.K.
Wrestlers from the U.K. are often known as either the most technically sound or hard-hitting wrestlers on the planet. They duke it out in arenas, stadiums, and even clubs. You'll find the Club U.K. arena in WWE 2K23 to be the perfect setting for an all-out brawl.
Rabid fans are packed into a bar. It is a tight-knit space with awful lighting. Everything about it showcases how coming up as a wrestler in the U.K. truly feels. This is an authentic look into that climb.
8 WrestleMania 22
The 22nd annual WrestleMania took place in 2006. It consisted of Shawn Michaels defeating Vince McMahon, Rey Mysterio winning the World Heavyweight Championship, and John Cena successfully defending his WWE Championship against Triple H. The event set storylines in motion for the rest of the year.
You can relive these moments with the classic arena in WWE 2K23. It marked the last time the Showcase of the Immortals was held in an arena instead of a stadium. Its importance is proven through the "big time" tagline and feel of the arena in the game.
7 SmackDown Thunderdome
The Thunderdome era of WWE was strange. The world was right in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the wrestling promotion wanted the show to go on. There were no in-person fans. Instead, the Thunderdome was filled with live fans' faces watching the show from home.
The Raw Thunderdome arena is included, but there's just something about the blue aura of SmackDown that puts it above. You get to make your way down the ramp to funneled crowd noise and giant grins cheering you on from their laptop screens.
6 WCW Monday Nitro
WCW was once the main competitor for WWE when the company was known as the WWF. World Championship Wrestling almost put them out of business. Their flagship television program was known as Monday Nitro and was a staple of 90s wrestling.
The nostalgia of walking down the Nitro entrance ramp will hit wrestling fans right in the feels. It gives you a chance to rewrite history. It lets you put new-age wrestlers in the confines of WCW to see how they'd fare. It's incredible.
5 Survivor Series War Games
War Games was a WCW creation. WWE eventually brought it to their NXT brand before giving the main roster a shot at the match type. Survivor Series traditionally sees massive teams go to war, and this arena puts them in a cage.
In War Games, one member of each team starts in the cage, which surrounds two adjacent wrestling rings. After a certain amount of time, other members enter the match. You can only win once all members have been released from their cells into the ring. It is chaotic, brutal, and a sight to behold in WWE 2K23.
4 SummerSlam 1988
The first SummerSlam PPV took place in 1988. The iconic WWE event has occurred every year since. In WWE 2K23, you can visit the arena where it all began. You can wrestle in the same ring where Ultimate Warrior quickly ended the Honky Tonk Man's record Intercontinental Championship reign.
The old-school vibe is in full effect with the SummerSlam 1988 arena. The entrance ramp and the ring have a classic look. They are comparatively barebones to modern arenas, but the massive crowd in attendance is where it truly comes to life.
3 Japan Dome
WWE probably can't legally include the Tokyo Dome in their game, but they have the next best thing. Wrestling in Japan is huge, and the MyRise mode makes a note of that. Each year, NJPW hosts their Wrestle Kingdom event in the iconic arena, which is mirrored as the Japan Dome in WWE 2K23.
This needs to be unlocked through MyRise, but after you do so, you'll have a field day. If you dream of collecting Japan's finest wrestlers through Community Creations and putting on 5-Star matches, this is how you do it.
2 SmackDown 2002
If you ask a wrestling fan their favorite stage design in WWE history, many of them will tell you the SmackDown fist. This is named SmackDown 2002 in WWE 2K23 after the year it debuted. It has a giant fist above the entrance ramp that looks to be punching through the glass.
In older WWE games, you could climb up onto the first and throw your opponent off. Then you could follow it up with a dive. That's not possible in this game, but the rush of joy upon seeing the fist as wrestlers make their way to the ring is unmatched.
1 WCW Halloween Havoc 1997
The 1997 edition of WCW Halloween Havoc was the ninth annual. It was where Rey Mysterio Jr. and Eddie Guerrero competed in arguably one of the greatest wrestling matches of all time. And they just don't make wrestling stages like this anymore.
You can head to this classic WCW arena for any match of your choosing. When the wrestlers come out, they'll pass by the head of a giant ghoul with mausoleum-style structures on either side. It is as spooky as it was in real life, setting the standard for gimmicky arenas in wrestling.