Top 10 WWE Video Game Trailers

Anticipation is building for WWE 2K22, the company’s long-awaited effort in cleansing our palette from the abomination known as WWE 2K20. (We’re also salivating over AEW’s first video game, but that’s a story for another day.) With not many details currently available, let’s look back on the greatest WWE video game trailers.

10. WWE 2K18

Till this day, I’m still perplexed on what exactly the meaning behind this trailer was. I understand Seth Rollins is smashing WWE objects, but it has nothing to do with the video game. Points for creativity, I guess, but it’s the kind of outside-the-box thinking that goes with Firefly Funhouse. Sure, there’s never been a wrestling match like it, but what does it mean?

9. WWE 2K20

If only the game was as great as the trailer. Gathering WWE’s top stars and legends for a fancy reception was brilliant with certain pairings illustrating the dream matches we’d get to play. The moment that Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels locked eyes, oh man, business was about to pick up. Unfortunately, the gameplay wasn’t excellently executed.

8. WWF SmackDown!

The People’s Champ checks you in at the SmackDown Hotel! This nostalgic trailer brings hardcore wrestling fans back into their delinquent attitude with a high measure of profanity and just enough violence to satisfy their cravings. Pressure was on, too, because this trailer ignited the SmackDown! franchise, which is still held in high regard.

7. WWE ‘13

Taking over your TV, CM Punk brainwashes you into buying this game. The trailer unquestionably deserves an Emmy for fueling excitement over the anarchy sure to be delivered. “The Best in the World,” at the peak of his career, was the perfect choice to promote this game – the last before the WWE 2K series took over.

6. WWE 2K19

As soon as “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey entered the pro wrestling world, you knew that WWE couldn’t wait to plaster her on the cover of its video game. While “Rowdy” Roddy Piper is the first voice you hear, Rousey is the first figure you see entering Piper’s Pit. It’s an innovative presentation that shows the evolution of WWE and all the characters from yesteryear to today that you can play as in the game.

5. WWE 2K14

Going back to the well, The Rock was prominently featured in this trailer (and graced the cover of the game). As the inaugural edition in the WWE 2K series, this game relied on blending the stars of the Attitude Era with modern WWE Superstars. It was simple, yet powerful enough to get fans buzzing.

4. WWF No Mercy

In a nod to Animal House, the Dudley Boyz take us back to their college days, when they put teachers, professors and anyone else in their way through a table. Now that they’re the official spokesmen for WWF No Mercy, they’re happy to teach you how to put your enemies through wood. Featuring a team like Bubba and D-Von so prominently was a pleasant surprise and illustrated how fun this gold standard of wrestling gaming was going to be.

3. SmackDown: Here Comes the Pain

You’d never see a trailer like this today. While Brock Lesnar gets the spotlight he so richly deserves, Torrie Wilson pops up to challenge him to a bra and panties match, which was just one of the new match types available in the amazing game. Of course, the commercial ends with “The Next Big Thing” dangling Wilson’s bra.

2. WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw

In a stroll down memory lane, this trailer highlights the SmackDown! series in black and white before illuminating the present and future: SmackDown vs. Raw. To go along with the rebrand, Randy Orton and John Cena represented the new generation of top stars. The pace picks up quickly, embracing the “ruthless aggression” the company had pivoted to since the Attitude Era.

1. WWE 2K17

When you’re considering the greatest WWE video game trailers, do any compare to this masterpiece?

Welcome to Suplex City, bitch! From a first-person viewpoint, you’re given a tour of the disturbing, haunting dystopia. The catchy tune “Downtown” by Petula Clark is played in the background as you’re bumping into nasty, gruff WWE Superstars. Finally, you enter the underground realm of the “Beast Incarnate,” who’s unleashed and ready to rumble.

In the immortal words of Paul Heyman, “enjoy your stay.”