WWE 2K games have slowly turned from being a wacky wrestling simulator into a competitive back-and-forth match that resembles actual WWE action. For so long, the wrestler with the lower health bar is guaranteed to lose the match. However, with WWE 2K's implementation of the payback system, matches are now more back-and-forth than ever, creating some memorable and competitive skirmishes.
As a wrestler takes damage, he fills up a payback meter. Once the meter is filled, it unleashes a payback ability that can turn the tides of the match—so much so that an opponent can make a huge comeback from critical health. Here are the 10 WWE payback abilities ranked.
10 Run-In
The Run-In ability turns the tides of the match by calling in a tag-partner to interfere in the match. When all seems grim for the player, his ally would run into the official match and constantly distract the referee. Each time a fall is attempted on the player, the player's ally would get the referee's attention so that the fall would not be merited.
This makes pinning or submitting the player much harder. On the other hand, if the match is no DQ, the opponent's ally could help rough the player up, making it nearly impossible to win. Sometimes, the run-in would just distract the opponent. In some cases, the interfering wrestler would perform his finisher on the opponent it's used on without the referee noticing.
9 Tank Buff
Tank Buff drastically increases the damage resistance of the user but also makes him slower. This makes fighting him similar to a boss fight since he doesn't get hurt much. It is similar to either Hulk Hogan or the Ultimate Warrior no-selling moves done to them.
The tank buff is a useful ability that allows the player to fight with an unfair disproportion of damage exchange. He does normal damage, yet he also takes less damage. The player ought to maximize this since the tank buff only has a certain duration.
8 Adrenaline Buff
When overwhelmed, the adrenaline buff payback ability surges a fight/flight response in the user, allowing him to get back in the fight. Adrenaline increases the strength attribute of the wrestler, allowing him to lift more weight. This makes carrying grapples easier to do against the opponent. The user is also provided with a momentum boost that allows him to pull out his signature and finishing maneuvers, moves that signal the end of the match, much faster.
7 Poison Mist
The poison mist is a dirty move that risks disqualification if the referee catches the user doing it. The Poison Mist maneuver has the user spit out a fine mist of an unknown substance to the eyes of his opponent. Besides hurting like hell, this disorients the opponent, preventing them from reversing the user's attacks for a duration.
This dirty move immediately turns the tables by setting up the opponent in a vulnerable position which can be immediately followed by a finishing maneuver. Poison Mist is just one of the various dirty moves in the game.
6 Move Thief
Move Thief is an impressive ability that humiliates the player's opponent by using his own moves against him. Grapples, strikes, taunts, and, yes, even signature and finishing moves. This allows the user to momentarily diversify their move-set. It also enables them to set up their signature and finisher differently.
Most importantly, beating an opponent with their own finishing move sends a strong message to the opposing player. Stolen finishers have always been huge shockers in WWE. Take, for instance, when Triple H performed a Tombstone Piledriver on the Undertaker or when John Cena gave Randy Orton an RKO and vice versa with the Attitude Adjustment.
5 Power Of The Punch
Power of The Punch is a sneaky cheap shot that does a lot of damage. While the referee isn't looking, the user slips on some brass knuckles and hits their opponent with them. After doing so, he slips his brass knuckles back into a concealed place, then plays it off as if nothing happened.
This takes a lot from the victim's health and also disables him from reversing for a considerable amount of time. If the sneaky brass knuckles punch doesn't finish the match, the finishing maneuver that follows fill.
4 Low Blow
Possibly the most damaging out of all the dirty moves, low blow is simple and straightforward. It unleashes a full-blown under-the-belt uppercut. This causes agonizing pain for the victim and sets him up for a finishing maneuver. Like the previous dirty moves, the victim takes a huge amount of damage and cannot reverse moves for some time.
However, a low blow can be done while the user is kneeling trying to get up on his feet, making him look weak and defenseless. This makes it the sneakiest and most unexpected dirty maneuver. Funnily enough, a low blow can be performed up to three times in a single match, as is the case with the other dirty moves.
3 Blackout
Used by the supernatural-gimmicked wrestlers like Bray Wyatt and The Undertaker, blackout kills the lights and teleports the downed user to stand behind a surprised opponent as the lights go back on. Though technically not a dirty move, blackout disables the victim to reverse for some time.
This easily sets up the victim for a signature and a finisher. The referee also need not be distracted to perform blackout, making it one of the easiest ways to gain the upper hand. However, this move can only be performed once.
2 Finisher
A finisher is a lethal move that almost always ends a match. After dealing enough damage, players will have the ability to instantly end the match in brutal fashion.
The finisher payback quickly turns the tide of the match by instantly and without warning giving a match-ending maneuver to a dominated opponent. It may quite literally be a show-stopper, but it's not quite as beloved as our final entry on this list.
1 Resiliency
To fight an opponent using the resiliency payback is like trying to beat him in a grueling match three times. What resiliency does is guarantee that the user kicks out at two or escapes a submission attempt. This must be what Cena uses in his matches.
No matter how many finishers the user takes, how many injuries he's sustained, or whether he was shot and nuked, the resiliency ability will ensure that he kicks out, regardless of if his skeleton is crushed to dust. However, resiliency can only be triggered once the user takes enough damage to fill up the payback meter. It can also be used for a maximum of three times.