Finally, we are in 2022, and we know that the Road To Wrestlemania is upon us as the Royal Rumble Premium Live Event is scheduled for the end of the month.
But I would say that this month and the Royal Rumble Premium Live Event is more important to us wrestling video game fans as, since the SummerSlam Hit List Trailer, we have been told that more information regarding WWE 2K22 will be revealed in January.
It would make the most sense to have that info drop at the Royal Rumble as it is seen as one of WWE's Big 4 PPVs and I would imagine that most people will be watching the Royal Rumble for the beginning of the Road To Wrestlemania.
So far from what we have seen from the SummerSlam Hit List Trailer, the game does look promising especially with the return of GM Mode, updated graphics, and what looks like a better control scheme than 2K20.
However, one question fans have been curious about is the size of the game's overall superstar roster as it feels like every month, WWE is in a constant state of spring cleaning and releasing superstars from their contracts with 80 superstars being let go just last year.
Now just to say, there is no way that 2K22 will have a completely up-to-date roster as 2K and Visual Concepts need to place in a deadline where no changes can be made after that point so unless WWE themselves want a certain superstar removed like how it was rumored that they wanted Daniel Bryan removed.
The developers also need to take into consideration if certain superstars are using in some of the game modes such as MyRise/My Career with Buddy Murphy supposedly being in one of the MyRise Cutscenes despite the fact he was released last year since 2K and Visual Concepts would have had to scrap that storyline and perhaps delay 2K22's release date to find a suitable replacement.
But from some recent interviews from released superstars and an article from Brian Mazique, they might give us some new information on which stars might still make the cut.
So in this article, we will be going over the comments from the released stars from their interviews as well some of the details from Brian Mazique's article.
Comments From Released Stars In Interviews
The first superstar that we will be looking at is former NXT North American Champion Bronson Reed who would appear in an interview with Fightful where he would say:
"I did the scans, all the different facial feature scans and I came in for a separate scanning for my tattoos and stuff."
"I was sent videos from the MoCap people of them doing all of my moves and making sure they were right."
"I was all ready to be in there, but I don't think that's happening now."
"I would love to be in the game. I think, if they were smart, that would appeal to a lot of the fans."
"Ah WWE kept these people in the game or unlockable characters, however, you want to do it.
"Nowadays, you pay for them, but it's something to do. They own the name Bronson Reed, it's up to them.
"I think it would be they would pay my royalties, I don't have to sign off on anything because I have already done the scans and everything. It would just be if they want to pay me money."
From these comments, Bronson does sound willing to still be included in 2K22 and that the ball is firmly in WWE's court whether they keep him in or not as they own the name, and his scans and move set mocap was already completed before the release from his contract.
Another former NXT superstar that being Chelsea Green was asked if she was already scanned for 2K22 by the Green With Envy Podcast where she would have this to say on the matter:
"Yes, I was, but I don't know much about the video game world, I just have no idea how that works."
"I also thought that I would never become an action figure and yet, I did after I was released."
"So yes, I definitely think there's a chance I can still be in it. I was definitely scanned my last time on TV, and then I was released two weeks later."
"So there is absolutely a possibility, but I don't know. I hope so."
Hearing this, there is a chance that Chelsea could still be in 2K22 herself since an action figure of her still came out after her release from the WWE.
But the problem Chelsea has is she was scanned in only 2 weeks before her release, so the chance of 2K and Visual Concepts having her in-game model and move-set in place for her character is less likely whereas with Bronson who does have a really good chance of still being featured in the game where Chelsea still has a very small chance of appearing and may not be included at all.
As well as Bronson and Chelsea, another group of superstars may still be in the game is Hit Row as to when they were speaking on the Busted Open Radio Podcast, former Hit Row members AJ Francis and Ashante "Thee" Adonis.
They would say that they were shocked about their release from their contracts as before that day, the members of the group were flown out to WWE Headquarters where they would talk about their characters, they would be soon getting their own action figures and they would both reveal that they would be appearing in WWE 2K22 as DLC.
Seeing these comments, this would make sense as in the Hit List Trailer, one of the in-game crowd members during the scene with Jeff Hardy and Kofi Kingston can be seen wearing a T-Shirt for Isiah "Swerve" Scott so it seems like Isiah was going to be included in the base game with the other members of Hit Row being added later on as DLC.
Isiah could still make an appearance in the game with his crowd shirt being in the game but it may not be possible for the other members of Hit Row as former member B-Fab who was released soon after the group's main roster debut on SmackDown would say that she was never scanned for the game by 2K so unless AJ and Thee were already scanned before their release otherwise Isiah will be the only member of the faction to make the cut.
Along with Bronson, Chelsea, and Hit Row, another former superstar that would confirm that they were scanned was Scarlett Bordeaux who was the manager of former 2-Time NXT Champion Karrion Kross with Scarlett also confirming that Kross was scanned for 2K22 as well.
During a live signing which was posted on rfvideo1's Channel, she would talk about the WWE releasing an action figure of herself in December last year, before saying that she heard a rumor through the grapevine that she was still going to be in WWE 2K22 despite her release along with Kross.
While this is interesting to hear from Scarlett, it is also important to note that it is still just a rumor but I would Kross and Scarlett have a great chance of still appearing since they were a big vocal point since their NXT debut in late 2020 and their releases only being in November of 2021 also along with Isiah, Kross does have some crowd member T-Shirts shown off in the Hit List Trailer.
In-Game Roster Planned To Be Bigger Than Expected
Continuing on about WWE 2K22's Roster, recently Forbes Writer Brian Mazique would release an article stating that the 2K22 roster will still be bigger than any of us expect it to be with released superstars such as Adam Cole, Bray Wyatt, Jeff Hardy, and Ruby Riott and these are just a few of the names listed by Brian.
During this article, Brian would go over what he believes are the deciding factors on if a certain superstar will still be included regardless if they are no longer with the company at the time of the game's release.
According to Brian Mazique, these 3 factors would be the star's contract terms and conditions, their relationship with the WWE, and the deadline where the in-game roster is locked down so if the game is out in October, then the lockdown date for the roster would typically be around Wrestlemania.
Brian also states that if the released star in question was still under contract when the game is announced, and when the initial roster details and superstars are submitted and approved by the WWE, then it doesn't matter if the star is no longer working from the company as they will still have a great chance of appearing in the game providing their relationship with the WWE after their departure is still on good terms.
In his article, Brian said that he would expect the in-game roster to at least include 150 superstars but none of the released superstars would be shown off in the advertisement for the game before the release date especially if after their no-complete clause has expired they had signed with a rival company such as Impact, NJPW, ROH or AEW.
While some people may just look at Brian's article and comments and just dismiss them as nothing but pure selection, it is important to say that Brian has had connections with the 2K Development Staff in past years.
He was the one to claim in prior pieces about 2K bringing back GM Mode along with the new MyFaction mode with both of these rumors turning out to be true when the Hit List Trailer showed off that both of these game modes was indeed going to be featured in 2K22.
With this in mind, this may turn out to be true but until we get an official confirmation from 2K this needs to still be taken with a pinch of salt and hopefully, 2K will soon answer these questions with more details to come about the game in January.
For anyone interested in checking out any of the interviews talked about or Brian's WWE 2K22 Roster Article in this article, they are down below:
Bronson Reed Fightful (JONAH (Bronson Reed) Says If WWE Were Smart, They'd Keep Him In WWE 2K22 | Fightful News)
Chelsea Green (Green With Envy with Chelsea Green on Apple Podcasts)
Hit Row (Busted Open: Hit Row talks about being released from WWE on Apple Podcasts)
Scarlett Bordeaux (MurfsYT13 - YouTube)
Brian Mazique WWE 2K22 Roster Article (WWE 2K22's Roster Will Be Bigger Than Many Expect (forbes.com))
Smacktalks:
What do you guys of the released stars' interview comments and Brian Mazique's Article?
Leave your comments down below and thanks for checking into The Smackdown Hotel.
