WWE 2K18: 5 Potential Pre-Order Bonus Wrestlers

Image Source: Sportskeeda

It’s around this time of year that 2K drops their first reveal for the annual WWE installment. A safe bet would be that this year’s game heavily focuses on The Undertaker’s legendary career. Following his in-ring retirement at Wrestlemania 33, chances are he’ll make it as both the honourable cover star and have a strong presence within the game’s season/career mode.

Somewhat more intriguing however is who shall be chosen as this year’s pre-order bonus. Previous games have used legends such as Goldberg, Sting and The Ultimate Warrior as a means of pushing sales leading up to the release date. So for the sake of speculation, here are 5 names we think could make a return to the virtual wrestling world this coming fall.

 

1. Kurt Angle

Kurt Angle
Image Source:
WWE

The Olympic Hero’s name has been thrown about for several years, since departing for TNA in 2005. Having returned to claim his rightful place in the WWE Hall of Fame this year, as well as the title of Raw General Manager, it’s very likely that Angle is going to make it in as part of 2k18’s roster.

Using him as pre-order bait would probably be their safest option, having not been a part of WWE video games since Smackdown vs Raw 2007. The option to play as a nostalgic 2000s version of Kurt, as well as a more contemporary version of the wrestling machine, would bump sales figures massively.

Seeing as we may not be seeing Angle compete in reality until Wrestlemania season, 2k18 would be the best place to live dream scenarios and matches involving everyone’s favourite gold medalist.

 

2. The Hardys – Matt and Jeff

Broken Matt Hardy and Brother Nero
Image Source:
Still Reall To Us

It would be a push for WWE to arrange licenses and facial scans for the artists formerly known as Broken Hardys. Matt and Jeff are one of, if not the hottest product in the entire wrestling industry. Since returning to the WWE at Wrestlemania this year and capturing the Raw Tag titles, their wave of momentum has failed to simmer down. Using them as a pre-order bonus for 2K18 would do massive favours for the franchise.

It would be absolutely delightful for both fans of today and yesteryear if they could see The Hardys show up as soon as the game’s released in October/November. Having two versions of each of them would certainly make for good value – similar to Angle, both a throwback attire as well as their current look.

As per usual with the 2K series, it’s rare that their facial scans and motion capture programmers work past Wrestlemania, so anyone that debuted from that weekend onwards would probably not make the cut until the next year. However, The Hardys could just get lucky!

 

3. The New World Order

Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash as the NWO
Image Source:
The inquisitr

It has become somewhat of a theme for the pre-order bonuses to revive a popular act from wrestling’s past – see the revival of Goldberg’s entire career through 2K17 – so what better part of history to go back to than the Attitude Era. The New World Order alone reinvigorated the industry, a catalyst for what became known as the Monday Night Wars, turning some of the most revered wrestling superstars into modernised villains. The NWO (and the WCW creative team) deserve to be credited as pioneers, despite certain politics.

The WWE 2K series has been sorely lacking in substantial single player campaigns, now that they’ve decided to drift away from the popular showcase modes. Should they decide to focus more upon that aspect of the game, then using the entire NWO and other defining stars of that era to create a fun and nostalgic retrospective could be big money!

The issue here is that the NWO became such a huge faction, so it would be difficult to decide who should represent them within the pre-order bonus. The natural choice would be to go for the original trio of Hogan, Hall and Nash. However, both Nash and Hall have been roster mainstays since 2013, so it would be hard to push them as something you NEED to buy in advance. And Hogan, well… need we mention the drama he has been involved in lately?

The best option would be to add in the subsidiaries of the faction – Scott Steiner, The Giant, Buff Bagwell, Randy Savage and even Eric Bischoff. By boosting the pre-order acquisition up to almost ten new roster slots filled, then the NWO pre-order is bound to be a big hit.

 

4. Rey Mysterio

Rey Mysterio
Image Source:
WWE

Most people my age, when reminded of wrestling, tend to remember this little masked dude who pulled off some crazy lucha things. That dude was Rey Mysterio. Rey has been AWOL from the WWE franchise for a few years now, since decided to leave for the independents and the occasional appearance on AAA and CMLL.

Still, the trend is for most if not all former WWE mainstays to eventually find their way back to Stamford. As far as I’m aware, neither Rey or WWE left each other on bad terms, so what better way to show respect than to feature him on this year’s video game!

It would be a huge surprise for WWE and gamers to be able to play as Rey Mysterio once again, and create certain matches that have yet to happen between the master of the 619 and the contemporary roster. I for one would love to see Rey Mysterio take on Shinsuke Nakamura, or Samoa Joe.

An unlikely pre-order, but perhaps not as far-fetched as…

 

5. President Donald Trump

Donald Trump
Source: oliverwillis.com

Yep. I went there.

The Trump has fairly good relations with the McMahons. I mean, Linda is currently working as part of his cabinet, so I should think things are pretty good between him and Vince. He’s also a WWE Hall of Famer, after making three appearances at Wrestlemania.

So this probably won’t happen, but imagine if Donald was announced as this year’s special guest pre-order bonus – sales would sky-rocket just so people can either fight alongside their President or kick 50 shades out of him.

I mean if Arnold can get in as a pre-order bonus then surely they’d be cool with this?

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