Being the cover athlete for a sports game is considered a huge honor, or a curse in some cases, and WWE 2K22 is no different.
WWE 2K22 boasts a number of prominent figures from WWE’s past and the majority of its current roster. Not everyone can appear on the cover, though. WWE 2K20 mixed it up by featuring two wrestlers on the cover while WWE 2K14 had a reversible cover insert to let fans choose who graced their case. WWE 2K22 goes back to basics and has just one wrestler on the cover. But who is it?
Rey Mysterio graces the cover of physical copies of WWE 2K22. While Mysterio has had an up-and-down career in WWE and currently finds himself spinning his wheels in a tag team alongside his son Dominik, he remains a legend in pro wrestling.
As with other recent installments of WWE games, WWE 2K22 features in-game content based on its cover athlete. In this case, there’s a WWE 2K Showcase based on Mysterio’s career.
Unfortunately, the mode is far from comprehensive. Despite a long career across a variety of promotions, the only match it features from outside WWE is Rey Mysterio’s WCW Cruiserweight Championship win over Eddie Guerrero at Halloween Havoc. There are even some major omissions from his WWE career, including his first championship win not being shown.
Mysterio appears on the cover of WWE 2K22 and the Deluxe Edition, but there’s one other version that he doesn’t appear on. The most inclusive version of WWE 2K22 is the nWo 4-Life Edition, which has four members of the nWo at the front. This includes Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Syxx. The nWo 4-Life Edition didn’t actually receive a proper physical release. It’s only available digitally or via a code obtained via gift card.
The current mainline WWE Games starts with the promotion’s partnership with Yuke’s, which started in 2000 with the release of WWE SmackDown! The games featured a collage of photos but pivoted to a style more akin to Madden or FIFA games with the start of the WWE 2K series. Here’s the list of cover wrestlers for mainline WWE games:
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