Today is a day for wrestling fans, specifically those more accustomed to WWE offerings, can mark out. For the first time since the WWE touted the “New Era” the cover of the upcoming 2K wrestling game will feature a current WWE superstar that didn’t debut in the early 2000s or before. The wrestler in question is none other than the Architect himself, Seth Rollins, and the WWE, in all their showmanship actually took to ESPN to make the announcement for the cover of WWE 2K18.
Over the past few years, many fans felt a little slighted by the WWE 2K series for it’s lack of current superstars on the game covers. Both the WWE and 2K games put more of a focus on the wrestling company’s history, highlighting the pre-order superstar or an upcoming game mode. The last current roster member to grace a game was Brock Lesnar, and while he’s still as popular as ever, one could argue that he’s almost as much of a relic of a bygone wrestling era as some of his other cover counterparts such as The Rock, Ultimate Warrior.
Anyone watching @espn @SportsCenter this morning? #WWE2K18 ?@WWERollins pic.twitter.com/QexUWe5Qcd
— #WWE2K20 (@WWEgames) June 19, 2017
The inclusion of Seth Rollins as a cover character shouldn’t be too surprising to fans of the show. Rollins has been featured prominently on WWE televisions since his debut in the faction known as the Shield, and even when the trio inevitably parted ways, Rollins has been one of the most featured stars in the company, even closing out a WrestleMania as champion.
Details on the rest of the game are slim, and many are left wondering if Rollins’ inclusion on the cover has anything to do with this year’s special game mode (a Shield storyline would be brief but fantastic), though nothing has been said. Still, for the time being, wrestling fans the world over can be happy to see a current superstar featured in a video game offering from the biggest company in the wrestling business.
