Mia Yim
Expansion of the 2K series' female roster is always very welcome, and this year sees Mia Yim join Rhea Ripley and Toni Storm on the list of fresh faces. While relatively new to WWE, fans of wrestling on a wider scale will recognise her as Jade from TNA - part of the Dollhouse stable who feuded with Gail Kim.
Mick Foley & The Rock
Mick 'Mankind/Dude Love/Cactus Jack' Foley was a surprise omission from WWE 2K19, but he's back in this year as part of the Rock 'N Sock Connection tag-team which comes with WWE 2K20's deluxe edition.
Mickie James
A torn ACL which required surgery during the summer means we're now unlikely to see James in a WWE ring until 2020 – and that's a real shame given her evergreen showings against Ember Moon and Bayley at the grand young age of 39.
Mojo Rawley
Despite being a bit-part player on Raw, the threat of upstart rival AEW saw WWE tie Rawley down to a five-year deal over the summer. Newsletters suggest his friendship with Rob Gronkowski also played a role – WWE would love to add the three-time NFL champion to its roster.
Molly Holly
A first appearance on this generation of consoles for Molly is exciting news - but it's come at a heavy cost. Alundra Blayze, Jacqueline and Ivory are all removed in the switch from WWE 2K19 to 2K20, and shockingly there's no spot on the roster for 2019 Hall Of Famer Torrie Wilson.
Mr McMahon & Shane McMahon & Stephanie McMahon
It's been a quiet year for two of WWE's ruling family - but while Steph and Vince took a break from TV screens, Shane's regular 'best in the world' rants on Smackdown quickly outstayed their welcome. Thankfully, 2K20 enables you decide on the McMahons' weekly usage.
Naomi
Sporadic appearances throughout 2019 have seen the two-time Smackdown Women's Champion lose momentum in WWE – although as Becky Lynch has demonstrated, any career can be re-routed with a little bit of character development. Even so, it's best Naomi's 'Funkadactyl' days are never mentioned again.
Nia Jax
Shelved through injury for much of this calendar year – Jax had reconstructive surgery on both her ACLs – Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's second-cousin-once-removed (really!) is nonetheless fighting fit and able in WWE 2K20. Always a polarising figure, every sensible fan would wish her only the best in her recovery.
Nikki Cross
Wrestling’s gaming community was left up in arms when Cross was omitted from last year's roster despite appearing in WWE 2K18, but she's back for 2K20. And not only using her onscreen gimmick: there's also a 'Twisted' Nikki Cross alter-ego in the Bump In The Night DLC pack - but again, you have to build it yourself. Hmm.
Noam Dar & Shane Thorne & Sin Cara
A trio of forgotten men here who'd make a more-than-half-decent job squad in your WWE 2K20 universe save. Dar has chipped in on NXT UK but feels a little lost; Thorne's done nothing of note since tag partner Nick Miller departed; and Sin Cara is largely invisible at this point. Enjoy feeding them to The Undisputed Era.
Oney Lorcan
Lorcan and tag partner Danny Burch - who we're hoping for in WWE 2K21 - enjoyed a dominant 2019, although you wouldn't necessarily know it: an extended run of wins over NXT tandem Dorian Mak and Riddick Moss took place on house shows rather than TV. Fingers crossed for more exposure come 2020.
Otis & Tucker
Another pair of wrestlers upgraded from WWE 2K19 DLC to the on-disc WWE 2K20 roster, Heavy Machinery are a riot in both real and virtual rings. That's largely thanks to Otis' bowling ball-like build, and their unconventional, played-for-laughs moves such as the caterpillar elbow drop.
Paige
Norwich’s most famous wrestler retired from injury in 2018, but nonetheless remains highly regarded by WWE - to the point of having Stephen Merchant film Fighting With My Family based on her life. She’s guaranteed to be back in 2K21’s virtual rings despite being absent from real ones.
Papa Shango
This year you can play WWE 2K's career mode as both a male and female superstar – and the first wrestler announced for the mode was Papa Shango. Alas, that's all we're getting from Charles Wright: there's no longer space for his Kama Mustafa (last seen in WWE 2K16) or The Godfather (2K19) alter-egos.
