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With two years since the last mainline WWE game, WWE 2K22 has a lot of new stars to pull into the game. Counting all the wrestlers who weren't in WWE 2K20, there are 37 new roster members, many of whom have never been in a WWE game before.
Making a debut in the video game is a great sign for a young star's prominence, especially those still in NXT, as only a select few from the brand are chosen to be put into the game each year. There are fan favorites abound, and even a few wrestlers who have since left the company, such is the quick turnover of the wrestling world.
10 Austin Theory
One of Raw's fastest rising stars, Austin Theory has recently been touted for greatness, getting to work on TV with Vince McMahon himself in order to raise his stock. He made his debut at WrestleMania 36, wrestling alongside Angel Garza for the Raw Tag Team Championships.
Following this, Theory would return to NXT for a while, becoming one of the stable members in heel-stable The Way, alongside Johnny Gargano, Candice LaRae, and Indi Hartwell. Since coming back to Raw in late 2021, he's mixed it up with the best of the best, recently going toe to toe with Brock Lesnar in the Elimination Chamber.
9 Kay Lee Ray
NXT UK is a somewhat neglected brand by the WWE games, but each year more and more of the roster gets their dues. One such wrestler is Kay Lee Ray, who was NXT UK Women's Champion from the summer of 2019, all the way until summer 2021, clocking in just under two years as champion.
After losing the championship to Meiko Satomura, she transferred to the main US branch of NXT, appearing in a highly-praised WarGames match, and failing to win the NXT Women's Championship from Mandy Rose. She's still got a long way to go in her journey in WWE, but she's bound to reach major stardom sooner rather than later.
8 Dominik Mysterio
WWE 2K22's cover star, Rey Mysterio has been an active wrestler for well over 20 years, so long that his son has grown up and trained to wrestle alongside him. Dominik made his debut at Summerslam 2020 in a losing effort to Seth Rollins, though the match showed that he'd clearly picked up a lot of in-ring ability from his father.
As this year's 2K Showcase mode focuses on Rey Mysterio's career, Dominik is a key player, winning the Smackdown Tag Team Championships alongside his father in 2021 for a heartwarming moment. Dominik still has plenty of years ahead of him, and he's off to a great start.
7 Kushida
One of NXT's most high-profile Japanese imports, behind only Shinsuke Nakamura, Kushida rose to stardom in New Japan Pro Wrestling. After winning several championships there, he made the move to WWE and has done wonders as a member of the NXT brand.
While it took him a while to reach a championship, he was always in a high-profile story, putting on great matches with whomever he came near. He won the Cruiserweight Championship in spring 2021 and held it through the summer, proving that he can connect with an American audience just as well as a Japanese one.
6 Jordan Devlin
Another one of the few NXT UK stars to make the game's roster, Devlin has been a prominent figure in European wrestling for many years. He was trained by Finn Balor and wrestled in Japan for a little while. He saw success in indie promotions like OTT, ICW, and Progress before eventually being signed by NXT UK.
There, he immediately became a figure of note, being a deadly-efficient technical wrestler and an attitude to match. He eventually claimed the Cruiserweight Championship for his own in 2020, although couldn't defend it in the US due to COVID. Thankfully, he still defended the belt in the UK and has been on a roll ever since.
5 Damian Priest
Damian Priest came to prominence in NXT just days before the launch of WWE 2K20 in the autumn of 2019. He quickly rose the ranks and proved to be someone with a bright future. That future would be realized quicker than any had realized, though, and was one of the first new stars shown off for the game.
By 2020, he was competing for the North American Championship and won it in a ladder match at NXT Takeover: XXX. Less than a year later, he debuted on Raw, being thrown into a high-profile feud with celebrity Bad Bunny. Priest performed admirably in that match and was rewarded with a United States Championship reign starting at Summerslam 2021.
4 Shotzi
Signing with WWE just before WWE 2K20 launch, Shotzi would rise amazingly quickly in NXT. Her overall look and character immediately grabbed audiences. Her emerald green hair made her stand out in a crowd, her attire screamed "rebel", and she drove a mini tank to the ring wherever she went.
While Shotzi never won the NXT Women's Championship, she was always a figure that couldn't be ignored in that space. She won the NXT Women's Tag Team Championships alongside Ember Moon in 2021 but lost them in a quick fashion. She debuted on Smackdown not long afterward and has been mixing it up with all of WWE's women's wrestlers since then.
3 Karrion Kross
Kross is a unique case on the WWE 2K22 roster, as he was someone who signed with the company after WWE 2K20, and has already left it by the next game's launch. He was let go by WWE one of the many waves of releases the company saw in 2021, specifically in November. It was too late for 2K to remove him from the game, so he remains on the roster.
Kross is one of the biggest "missed potential" stories in recent memories. He came onto NXT with a God-like aura with his entrance and Scarlet as his manager. Tragically, despite being a world-ender in NXT, his move to Raw was downright awful. Everything that made him stand out as a big deal was stripped away from him, and he was never allowed to get off the ground. With 2K22, fans have the opportunity to set things right in modes like MyGM, where they control the booking.
2 Raquel Gonzalez
A star that popped up somewhat out of nowhere, Raquel Gonzalez spent 2020 and 2021 proving that she was not to be under-estimated. Debuting as muscle for the newly heel-turned Dakota Kai, people didn't expect all that great things from her. The naysayers were quickly proved wrong, though, as she tore through anyone who got in her way.
She won the NXT Women's Tag Team Championships alongside Dakota Kai, but eventually broke free of her partner, going on to end Io Shirai's massive reign as NXT Women's Champion, a championship Gonzalez would hold for just over 200 days. She is yet to make another major move since losing the championship, but she's sure to make an impact with whatever she does next.
1 Walter
Undoubtedly the biggest omission from WWE 2K20's roster, Walter finally comes to a video game. European wrestling's biggest star (in more ways than one), Walter debuted on NXT UK in January 2019, he would be crowned United Kingdom Champion that spring.
What followed next was one of the greatest championship reigns in modern WWE history, lasting 870 days. In that time he would have incredible matches with the likes of Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate, Rampage Brown, and Ilja Dragunov. He is considered by many to be the best technical wrestler in all of WWE today, and fans can finally play as him in WWE 2K22.
WWE 2K22 releases 8th March 2022, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.