An enterprising forum poster appears to have figured out the majority of the (mostly unannounced) WWE 2K17 roster – with returns expected for Alberto Del Rio and The Dudley Boyz, but no place for the heavily rumoured Kurt Angle.
His methodology relates to images released by IGN yesterday, revealing certain roster members. The image address for each wrestler contains a unique number, and these have clearly been set in alphabetical order: Aiden English is 0001, Brie Bella is 0025, Nikki Bella is 0085, Ultimate Warrior is 0121, and so on.
Poster Romanticking, of the caws.ws forum, has taken this information and then managed to fill in the gaps between numbers for as-yet-unannounced wrestlers. For instance, there are three slots between the already confirmed Booker T (0020) and Brian Pillman (0024). Barring any shock omissions, that would almost certainly put Bray Wyatt in slot 0021, Bret Hart in 0022, and Braun Strowman at 0023.
Other previously unannounced wrestlers who appear to be confirmed in such a way are Eva Marie, Fandango, Kalisto, Kane, and Kevin Owens. Excitingly, Romanticking also predicts debuts for the brilliant American Alpha tag team of Chad Gable and Jason Jordan, who debuted on this week’s Smackdown. (Tallying with GR+'s analysis of the NXT Edition box.)
Where gaps between number codes are big, Romanticking has had to be a touch more speculative. For instance:
“Between Aiden English and Booker T, we have 18 spots. I think, for sure, we're going to get Alicia Fox, Big E, Baron Corbin, Big Show, Bo Dallas and Blake. That leaves 12 open spots and [the] 12 most likely people to possibly fill those 12 spots [are]: AJ Styles, Alberto Del Rio, Alexa Bliss, Alundra Blayze, Andre The Giant, Arn Anderson, Asuka, Bam Bam Bigelow, Batista, Bayley, Becky Lynch, and Big Boss Man.”
Things are similarly cloudy between the letters S and U, where 15 slots separate Simon Gotch from Ultimate Warrior. “My best guess here is that 11 of the 15 will be filled with Sin Cara, Stephanie McMahon, Summer Rae, Tamina, The Miz, Titus O'Neil, Tyler Breeze, The Rock, Sting, Triple H and Tyson Kidd. That leaves four spots… Steve Austin and Trish Stratus seem the likeliest to make it in. From the other two spots it's between Stevie Ray, Tatsumi Fujinami, Tye Dillinger and Typhoon."
It’s a fascinating, and for the most part, convincing read – be sure to take a look.
For profiles of all those officially revealed for the game so far, check out our WWE 2K17 roster gallery.
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