The Bushwhackers
Few teams split long-standing grap fans like these Kiwi hall of famers. Luke and Butch’s early ‘90s antics saw them licking rival competitors and generally doing anything other than actual wrestling, hence their history as polarising figures. In 2K17, they’re upgraded from DLC to on-disc roster.
Carmella
After being drafted to Smackdown in July, fans showed zero interest in this former NXT prospect – so she was quickly turned heel, by way of a vicious attack on Nikki Bella. Long-term, her best shot at success remains a reunion with former running buddies Enzo & Cass; something you can make happen in WWE 2K17, even if it never occurs for real.
Cesaro
Universe mode priority for every discerning WWE viewer: putting the WWE Championship on this most under-utilised of squared circle talents. The Swiss grappler has put on numerous great matches over the years, yet company bosses refuse to give him the big one. In-game, you can – and should – rectify that.
Charlotte
Ric Flair’s baby girl was expected to appear in WWE 2K16, after her shirt was spotted on members of the crowd in preview videos. Yet on the game’s release, the shirt – and Charlotte – had mysteriously disappeared, leading some fans to speculate that WWE, or 2K, or both, had deliberately held her back for a year in order to debut alongside the other ‘Four Horsewomen’ (Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Bayley and Sasha Banks). No such naughtiness this year, thankfully.
Chris Jericho
The Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla chooses to wrestle on a part-time basis these days, splitting his schedule between WWE shows and his band, Fozzy. Even so he scored a shock win over AJ Styles at WrestleMania, and shared hilarious exchanges with the soil-the-bed funny Enzo Amore on Raw over the summer. A Christmas departure is inevitable, but he's in WWE 2K17 for the full year.
The Club (DLC)
Fair play to 2K on this one. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows were the joint number one choice in our 15 characters we need as DLC feature – and sure enough, they're headed to WWE 2K17 via the magic of the interwebs. Do they reunite with AJ Styles or Finn Balor, or form an entirely new three-man faction? That choice is all yours.
Dana Brooke
Another new addition to this year’s roster. Dana broke through in NXT as Emma’s even more dastardly sidekick, and the pair looked to be in for some sustained TV time after being called up to Raw together – only for Emma to suffer a serious back injury. These days the inconsistent Brooke can be found seconding Charlotte, usually with change-the-channel results.
Daniel Bryan
No superstar has won over the WWE fanbase in recent years like Daniel Bryan – so his retirement through injury in February 2016, after a series of concussions, was a bitter blow. It smashed all hope of future feuds with Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Shinsuke Nakamura and Sami Zayn, but his WWE 2K17 inclusion means these ring-based wars can take place in some form.
Darren Young
With his Prime Time Players tandem disbanded, Young was paired with the forever crazy Bob Backlund, who's aim is apparently to 'make Darren Young great again'. As former partner Titus O'Neil has repeatedly pointed out, he was never great in the first place – and both look set to flounder outside of their more-than-the-sum-of-its-parts tag team.
Dean Ambrose
His appearance here caps a memorable year for Ambrose: he won the Money In The Bank briefcase in June and cashed it in on the same night, capturing the WWE Championship from former Shield team-mate Seth Rollins. I played WWE 2K17 as the Lunatic Fringe over Summerslam weekend, the results from which you can read in our 11 things we learned feature.
