Wrestling fans can be a fickle group, and often the best laid plans of backroom writers have crashed and burned upon being placed before the public. This can be good or bad for the promotion, with some famous storylines and characters born out of fan rejection alongside some of the most famous flops. These reactions are so integral to pro wrestling culture that they’d make for a wonderful addition to WWE 2K26.
The Proud Tradition Of Wrestling Fans Rejecting Promotion’s Plans For Wrestlers
When things are humming for a wrestling promotion, the fans and creative are in sync, with the latter developing storylines that land hard with the former. Sometimes, however, that’s not the case, and instead, fans reject the story they are offered and decide that they hate the face or love the heel. This can have disastrous results, or it can be the catalyst that kicks off an incredible arc, but it’s rarely ever boring or unremarkable. These examples show how a crowd’s pop can significantly alter plans for a wrestler’s short- and long-term plans:
- Fans Choose Becky Lynch Over Ronda Rousey: As a famous UFC and Olympic Champion, the WWE meant for Rousey to be a prime babyface. But the audience’s unshakable love for her rival Becky Lynch led to an eventual pivot, with Rousey leaning into her “bad reputation” to make a heel turn in response to audiences who refused to get on board with the idea of her being the beloved fan-favorite champion.
- Rocky Maivia Crashes Into The Rock: Arguably the biggest and (usually) most beloved star in the history of pro wrestling, The Rock didn’t have the smoothest landing in the then-WWF. Introduced as a face named Rocky Maivia after his grandfather, the character was a flop, and fans were vocal about it, helping to kick off the emergence of The Rock and his place in wrestling immortality.
- WWE Pushes Roman Reigns, Fans Push Back: For several years, Roman Reigns was simultaneously one of the most popular wrestlers in the world and the public face of fan outrage at booking decisions in the WWE, with fans revolting against the perceived disrespect for Daniel Bryan during a heavy Reigns push where he was often met with boos despite being booked as the promotion’s top face.
The Benefits Of Dynamic Crowd Reactions In WWE 2K26
With the importance of crowd turns in the history of wrestling established, we can turn our attention to the video game world and how it would improve things for gamers in WWE 2K26. Here are the top reasons that adding in unscripted dynamic crowd turns would be a great call from 2K:
- Enhanced In-Match Realism: In sports video games outside of the arcade side of things, the ability to accurately replicate the real-world sports being represented is often a high priority among developers and gamers alike. Dynamic fan reactions are, as noted above, responsible for some of the more iconic moments and character arcs in wrestling history. A system that adds uncertainty to crowd reactions and creates the potential for an unexpected response to your actions makes things feel more real, and also provides stakes to your actions when you’re in control of the wrestlers, as your decisions on how to wrestle and behave can dictate turns.
- Emergent Storytelling: With such a massive roster of wrestlers available to you and the ability to run your own virtual promotion, WWE 2K26 will be a game where you can simply use the game as a storytelling sandbox if that’s what you so choose. When enjoying a game for its story, it can be quite fun to be surprised, and off-book crowd reactions provide just the opportunity for that unique story experience. When your expected babyface turns out to be a dud or your expected heel becomes a roaring favorite, you get caught off guard and get to enjoy that feeling of shock in your game.
- Unique Storyline Options: Adding in crowds that don’t always follow the script is an excellent opportunity for the game to expand upon its built-in storytelling options within modes like Universe and MyGM. Expanding promo options to include promos that build off a crowd turn, or a promo option where a wrestler could potentially lose the crowd as part of their promo, going over poorly or very well, further adds depth to these modes, which is particularly important to gamers who carry out long campaigns worried about things feeling a bit too familiar after a while.
- Additional Booking Challenges: The best laid plans of creative teams at wrestling promotions have come undone at the hands of crowds who simply reject the premise they are presented with. For a game that lets you put yourself in the shoes of those very same creative directors, if you so choose, this isn’t just fun but also an added level of strategic depth. With the mechanic in play, avoiding situations that cause fans to abandon your plot becomes part of the job, and if a fan turn occurs, it then falls on you to decide how to respond, either by steering into the skid and making the switch or working extra hard to right the ship.
- Keeping Matches Fresh: Even in a game where there is a seemingly endless number of wrestlers and a broad selection of matches to choose from, there is a limit to the amount of variety you can experience in any video game. Dynamic crowd reactions provide an opportunity for gamers to be surprised and experience something new, as suddenly the crowd turns on their heroic character. A match that moments prior may have felt like just another WWE 2K scrap is suddenly something new and surprising, and that boosts the fun gamers can have when playing.
Do you think crowd turns would be a good addition to the WWE 2K series, and do you think we’re likely to see them implemented anytime soon? Let us know how you’d love to see them implemented.
