WWE 2K22: 49 Playable Wrestlers Who WON'T Return

A lot has changed since WWE 2K20 - FORTY NINE playable characters will be missing.

By Jamie Kennedy /

WWE 2K20 boasted a whopping 266 characters (including variations of the same worker). Of those, 259 were fully playable in matches, which is pretty insane when one stops to think about it. However, blighted by technical problems aplenty and a disastrous launch which focused more on bugs and glitches than anything else, 2K's latest was a critical flop that threatened to destroy the series.

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2K22 wants to put things right, but not everyone is coming along for the ride.

A eye-watering 49 playable wrestlers will be deleted from asset sheets during development, and they're all here. This list picks out the most notable ones first, then groups the "best of the rest" together as honourable mentions come the end.

You won't believe just how many tasty characters series veterans loved playing as are about to disappear. AEW is largely to blame for that - so many stars who crammed the WWE roster back in 2019 now ply their trade on Tony Khan's dime, not Vince McMahon's.

Others have vanished from mainstream North American wrestling altogether, and one has sadly passed since 2K20 was the talk of Twitter. Oh yes, this game is going to look a lot different...

11. Luke Harper

Rest in peace, Brodie Lee.

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The all-too-brief AEW run of Mr. Lee came to an end on 26 December 2020 when he sadly passed away from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. His death shocked the wrestling world, and it's a bit upsetting to think that Lee would never get that proper run he deserved outside WWE.

Brodie, as Luke Harper, was featured in 2K20. That will go down in history as the man's final video game appearance too (unless, of course, AEW stick him in one of their upcoming titles as a tribute to his memory - that's possible). For now though, it's 2K20 or bust for Lee's fanbase.

WWE probably won't pop Harper back in for 2K22. It'd be nice to see them run a tribute of their own, but Vince McMahon may elect to steer clear of this entirely and get 2K to shove somebody else onto the playable roster instead of the ex-Wyatt Family (and real life family) man.

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