The most famous of all spring-heeled wrestlers is returning to WWE via its videogame series, with Rey Mysterio confirmed as a pre-order bonus for upcoming grap sim WWE 2K19. But while in previous years such bonuses were limited to a single standout superstar – Kurt Angle for 2K18, Goldberg for 2K17, etc – this year we’re getting two. And, despite 2K’s reluctance to name the second character, all signs point to it being Ronda Rousey.
While not official, the most celebrated wrestling journalist of them all has already outed Rousey as the pre-order bonus. Dave Meltzer writes a subscription-only newsletter that’s considered sacrosanct among the wrestling industry given his array of contacts at the top of WWE, and in last week’s entry he had this to say:
“AJ Styles was named the cover superstar for the WWE 2K19 video game. Ronda Rousey will be the pre-order bonus character. Rey Mysterio Jr. and Jeff Hardy were reported by Pro Wrestling Sheet to have been in the video game television commercial shoot that took place this past week.”
Today’s news and tie-in trailer (below) confirm his scoop on Mysterio to be correct, so there’s good reason to believe the report naming Rousey to be accurate too.
Timing wise, Rousey’s inclusion as DLC makes perfect sense. The former UFC champ didn’t make her debut until WrestleMania 34 in April, which going by previous games would have been 2-3 weeks after the on-disc roster cut-off date. Yet she’s the biggest thing in WWE right now, and so 2K can’t afford – in either the critical or commercial sense – to omit her completely. It’ll surely be Rousey. Any other decision would be madness.
“Rey Mysterio, alongside a second playable character to be announced by 2K in the coming weeks, will be available as bonus content for those who pre-order the game at participating retailers for the PlayStation 4 computer entertainment system, the Xbox One family of devices including the Xbox One X and Windows PC,” said 2K in a statement. Not exactly a promo of The Rock proportions, but Rey’s always been super fun to control in the videogame series, so his first appearance since WWE 2K15 is very welcome.
WWE 2K19 is released for PS4, Xbox One and PC on 9 October. To play as Rousey right now, check out GR's rundown of the best created wrestlers in WWE 2K18.
