With WWE 2K22 finally arriving, it's now become clear exactly why so many members of the roster who have since been released by the company were still included.
The revamped Career Mode, now known as MyRISE, is packed to the brim with talent that are no longer members of WWE but remain on the WWE 2K22 roster.
WWE 2K22 roster has five standouts from AEW Revolution
Starting with the elephant in the room, AEW Revolution took place just hours ago to raucous praise as they delivered one of the company's best events of all time.
The lingering WWE 2K22 presence made its first appearance before the main show even began as Murphy, now known as Buddy Matthews, competed as part of House of Black during the pre-show.
The first time we saw a member of the WWE 2K22 roster show up on the main card was in the event's second match as Kyle O'Reilly teamed up with Bobby Fish in an attempt to capture the AEW World Tag Team Titles.
The very next match, Keith Lee took center stage among the six men competing in the Face of the Revolution Ladder Match, making that the second superstar from WWE 2K22 at the event.
Two other names appeared as surprises later in the show, as Shane "Swerve" Strickland (formerly Isaiah "Swerve" Scott) appeared on stage and signed his AEW contract.
The final was undoubtedly the most shocking, as former NXT General Manager and violent wrestling luminary William Regal suddenly appeared to calm a dispute between Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson.
WWE 2K22 roster has more than 30 released superstars
While only those five were a part of AEW Revolution, Jake "The Snake" Roberts also made it into the game as a legend and is part of the AEW roster.
More than 30 superstars on the WWE 2K22 roster are no longer part of WWE, including the following:
- Alexander Wolfe
- Ariya Daivari
- Billie Kay
- Cesaro
- Danny Burch
- Ember Moon
- Fandango
- Gran Metalik
- Isaiah "Swerve" Scott
- Jake "The Snake" Roberts
- Jeff Hardy
- John Morrison
- Johnny Gargano
- Kalisto
- Karrion Kross
- Keith Lee
- Kyle O'Reilly
- Lana
- Lince Dorado
- Mia Yim
- Mickie James
- Murphy
- Nia Jax
- Oney Lorcan
- Peyton Royce
- RECKONING
- Ric Flair
- Samoa Joe
- Scarlett
- Shane McMahon
- SLAPJACK
- Tegan Nox
- The Brian Kendrick
- Toni Storm
- Tucker
- Tyler Breeze
- William Regal
That's nearly three dozen talents, more than 20% of the WWE 2K22 roster, that is no longer with the company and is all but guaranteed to be missing from a potential WWE 2K23 down the line.
MyRISE and MyGM made removals impractical, but that's not the only reason they stayed
The most likely scenario is that these dozens of WWE 2K22 roster members weren't removed from the game because they were simply too integral to the work that developers Visual Concepts had already put in.
MyGM may have the most immediately obvious example as William Regal is one of the featured GM choices, though his departure meant he had to be carefully excluded from all previews of the game.
However, it's MyRISE that really showcases why they couldn't simply scrub these superstars from the title, as this single player Career Mode is bursting at the seams with side stories and challenges.
Something as simple as a Twitter exchange with Oney Lorcan can lead to a multi-match story, and trying to actively remove all of the talents in the game and remove those stories would've done far more harm than good.
It's also important to note that, while the company would never confirm this, 2K and Visual Concepts likely understand that wrestling fans are more likely to buy the game with an extensive roster.
As much fun as it is to see AEW stars in it, there's also the reality that gamers will look forward to using them knowing that this could be the last WWE branded game they're ever a part of.
We're still working our way through this comprehensive title, but you can find our WWE 2K22 review in progress here with first impressions looking fairly positive.
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