Last Night during the Royal Rumble WWE and 2K unveiled the official announce trailer for this year’s game, featuring a first look at several superstars as well as WWE 2K26’s new match types and more.
Following the news drop and cover reveal, 2K officially debuted their “the show is on” announce trailer with this year’s cover star CM Punk front and center.
I have to say I really dug this trailer from the get go and the vibe they went with this year. There was a great mix of current day superstars and legends and a bunch of brief teases of the new additions in this year’s game. So let’s not waste anymore time and breakdown the trailer and see what the future holds for WWE 2K26.
The trailer opens up with CM Punk making his entrance in WWE 2K26 in what seems to be the Crown Jewel Perth Arena. We also get our very first snippet of Booke T on commentary and I really appreciate the energy he’s bringing to the series with his over the top reactions. I’m hoping we get a couple of shucky duckies here and there and I personally can’t wait to hear him during Trick Williams entrance.
We then see this year’s Deluxe cover star, Triple H making his way to the ring with a look at one of his modern day models. It’s been pointed out that this could be from WrestleMania 30, where Punk was originally meant to face off against Triple H before departing WWE. This year’s showcase features several what if style matches, with several takes on what could have happened if Punk had never left WWE and the matches that could have come out of this. It’ll be exciting to see what matches 2K and Punk conjure up as part of this and I really hope we get some exciting and unexpected match ups. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Punk Vs Styles somewhere in here, with the pair only just facing off this last week. Hell throw in Punk Vs AJ Lee to see who really wears the trousers in this relationship.
Following Triple H we get our first female superstar of the trailer with a look at the current Women’s World Champion, Stephanie Vaquer. Interestingly, and I will admit it, I totally didn’t realise it was a different version to the already revealed Stephanie model that we discussed yesterday. Yesterday’s version of Stephanie saw her sporting her Evolution 2 attire with this version of Stephanie having her crimson attire with cape and horns.
Stephanie looks amazing here in my opinion and now that we know Booker T is in the game on commentary, I can’t wait to hear him react to Stephanie’s Devil’s Kiss. Judging by the clip it looks as though Stephanie does have the same entrance animation as WWE 2K25, but I would argue that last year’s entrance was a perfect fit for Stephanie regardless. I am intrigued as to why there are two different versions of Stephanie here, I’m guessing it could be from MyRise? Let me know in the comments down below why you think we have two models of Stephanie as I really doubt it will be from showcase.
We then see a series of Superstars making their entrances in WWE 2K26 with Stone Cold Steve Austin, Eddie Guerrero, Dirty Dom, Attitude Era Triple H, Razor Ramon and this year’s Pre-Order Bonus Joe Hendry all playing to the crowd.
It’s awesome to see Joe Hendry making his official WWE 2K debut and even cooler to see the fans waving their arms side to side along with Joe as part of his entrance. It’s even more heartwarming when you see Joe’s response to making his 2K debut having been a fan of WWE Video Games since he was a child, bless him he’s just one of us.
We then see another batch of superstar entrances including Seth Rollins, El Grande Americano, Rey Fenix, Penta and Cody Rhodes. The trailer then begins to heat up with some action as we see Logan Paul hit his springboard clothesline on John Cena in a recreation of their match from Clash in Paris. The trailer follows up with a shot of Rey Fenix facing off against Shinsuke Nakamura, with Fenix alongside Joe Hendry making his official 2K debut in WWE 2K26. We then see the vision’s Bron Breaker hitting Randy Orton with a spear before Cody hits a springboard cutter on Seth Rollins.
We then have our very first look at the return of inferno matches in WWE 2K26 as the attitude era version of Kane faces off against the Undertaker. Inferno matches were last seen in the WWE series back in WWE 2K14. The Deadman sends Kane down to the mat with a chokeslam as the flames swell around the round. Judging by the clip it seems like inferno matches might work in a similar way to the classic version, with flames growing larger with momentum throughout the match. We then see Kane getting some revenge on Taker with a throat slit taunt of his own before hitting a sidewalk slam.
Whilst the match itself looks super cool I do have to point out that it looks as though the flames are a flat texture which is really disappointing. The texture itself looks really cool and high quality but because of how flat the texture is, the moment you spot it you can’t unsee it. Don’t get me wrong I wasn’t expecting some huge spectacle when it came to the flames, but because the texture is flat, it makes the flames look super dated in game and almost ruins the illusion of the match. Overall I think the match still looks cool I just hope the flames are worked on before the game releases.
We then get a first look at both Michin and Chelsea Green as they face off in a Dumpster making it’s debut in WWE 2K26.
From the clips we can see that Chelsea is sporting her attire from the September 19th edition of SmackDown with Michin sporting her SmackDown March 28th attire. I won’t really touch on Chelsea too much here as you can’t get a clear enough view of her, but Michin on the other hand looks awesome. I would probably even argue that Michin is the best she’s ever looked in the series. Not only that but Michin’s attire goes perfect with the dumpster match type with Michin’s more edgy look in this years game.
Judging by the brief clips we see it does look as though the Dumpster match is a reskin of the casket match and whilst it may visually look cool it is a shame that there isn’t a different take on the match type. We won’t really know until we see more of the match type but I do hope it has at least some unique elements, especially a victory scene. Unfortunately for Chelsea she once again falls victim to the dumpster match as Michin boots her into the trash below.
We then see more women’s action in what looks to be a fatal 4-way match between Bayley, Naomi, Becky Lynch and Jade Cargill at Evolution 2. Before we touch on the women I love that Evolution returns to the series and I especially love that over the year’s thanks to the likes of MyRise, 2K have often paid tribute to Evolution and the women’s roster.
As the women face off we see new barricade animations with players now able to perform grapples whilst standing on the barricade. We see Naomi send Jade Cargill to the floor with a viscous DDT in another look at both women’s models. Naomi continues to look incredible in WWE 2K26 with a better look at Naomi in normal arena lighting. We then see Bayley perform an alternate barricade grapple as she slams Becky to the floor. From the screenshot it looks as though Bayley is sporting her NXT Vengeance Day 2025 attire where she faced off against Giulia, Roxanne Perez & Cora Jade.
As the women’s segment closes out we see Michin shut the lid on Chelsea before switching back to this year’s cover star.
Inside the ring we see Punk and Drew McIntyre facing off inside the Crown Jewel arena alongside a brief clip of this year’s commentary team.
We then get a look at the new match start feature as Punk attempts to shake Drew’s hand. In true Drew style, McIntyre rebuffs the shake and hits Punk with a cheap shot. The new match start feature gives players different ways to start a match going forward, with the ability to offer up a handshake, draw momentum from the crowd, take your time or go straight into the blow for blow or chain wrestling mini-games. There is also the option to rush your opponent, striking them down before the referee calls for the bell. I’m quite excited to see this in-game as I really think this could freshen up the gameplay and I hope down the line we get some post match features to complete the package.
The action then turns extreme as we see Rhea Ripley hit an avalanch Riptide on Chyna to the ring steps below. WWE 2K26 now has updated ragdoll and physics making moves look more devastating than before, especially when landing on weapons and obstacles. I absolutely love this for WWE 2K26 and i’m excited to see just how far we can push this feature, especially when it comes to the likes of ladder matches.
We then have a look at the brand new Scrapyard brawl environment which looks frickin huge with spots scattered throughout the area including climbable crates, what looks to be a sheet of glass on boxes like a table and so much more. Does it look like something on TV, no but bloody hell does it look awesome. Last week I said I would love more brawl environments similar to the WWE archives and this looks to blow that area completely out of the water.
During the clips we see Natalya and Finn Balor facing off as Natalya continuously obliterates Finn, even smashing his face off a shopping Trolley. If that wasn’t enough Natalya then sends Finn hurtling to the ground below from on top of a structural beam. Not only does the area look huge but it also seems to have quite some height on it too judging by the different areas. It looks as though the beam acts similar to that of the barricade so hopefully there are several devastating grapples too.
From the clips we can see Natalya is sporting her pink attire from 2025 as part of her Dungeon Dolls look. I imagine this could mean Maxxine could have her matching look to pair with Natalya but don’t hold me to that. I really hope we get a Nattie persona in this year’s game with the Nattie side of Natalya appearing in last night’s Royal Rumble with a new tron and theme to boot.
We then have some more entrances as IYO Sky makes her way to the ring, along with Eddie Guerrero, Jevon Evans and Devon Dudley as Devon shows off the return of table stacking to the series.The option to stack tables was last seen back in WWE 2K20 so it’s awesome to see them finally return to the series. Back in the day players could set up some seriously cool table spots when stacking tables, especially in ladder matches so I can’t wait to recreate some crazy moments with one brilliant spot appearing later in this trailer.
Following on we see Jevon Evans set up a dive from the ladder before Eddie Guerrero takes the United States title from the ringside Championship podium. Adding to the presentation of this year’s game, WWE 2K26 will now see a podium at ringside for WWE Championship matches which is long overdue in the series. When I was younger I used to love sneak attacking my opponents with their title belts so to have that option back is pretty neat. I really hope the title strikes are just as fun as back in the day.
We then see Stephanie Vaquer hitting the Devils kiss on Rhea Ripley, followed by a diving hurricarana from Jevon to Ethan Page, before Devon powerbombs Kofi through the stacked tables. Eddie then wips Angle with the US title before we see a referee dousing the flames from Kane with an extinguisher which I imagine is the victory scene in the inferno match.
We then get our very first look at thumbtacks in WWE 2K26 as they return to the WWE series after last appearing in WWE SmackDown Vs Raw 2009. Unfortunately we don’t get to see the impact shot but we do see Cena hitting an attitude adjustment to Rusevn right on top of the tacks.
Continuing with the extreme we see IYO SKY and Rhea Ripley facing off inside the WWE Archives brawl arena with IYO pushing Rhea off the SmackDown fist before hitting her with a dive to the floor below. After watching WWE unreal is it crazy to say I actually wouldn’t be surprised to see IYO do something as wild as this?
In quite a surreal moment we see Punk facing off against himself with what looks to be a ring of honor version of Punk. As Punk literally grapples with himself we then see Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley facing off inside the Hell in a Cell structure with Rhea slamming Liv through not only the structure but the stacked tables below. This is so bloody cool to me and I can’t wait to see how the community plan these extreme table spots once the game releases. On paper the ability to stack tables might seem like a small thing but the option elevates any match where you can use a table and makes you think out of the box to try and break the tables in new ways.
As the trailer comes to a close we see a classic version of CM Punk inside the Armageddon arena which looks to be the confirmation of the 2008 match up between Punk and Rey Mysterio. I really enjoy when we get to have the return of more classic style arenas, especially when they haven’t been seen in quite some time.
So that’s our breakdown of the WWE 2K26 “The Show is on” Announce teaser, Let us know in the comments below what you thought of the teaser and what you are most excited for in WWE 2K26 so far.
So far I would argue that all the women look awesome in this year’s game so I honestly can’t wait to see how the rest of the roster looks. Aside from the women one of things I’m most excited for is the extreme elements of WWE 2K26 especially with that crazy scrapyard brawl area and the improved ragdoll elements. This is the sort of stuff I would have loved and played the hell out of a kid so I can’t wait to let my inner child loose when 2K drops in march.
Until Next Time, I’ve been the Revelleution.
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