Today 2K dropped another Ringside Report for WWE 2K26 and today's blog focuses on all of the new gameplay changes this year.
In the trailer we got footage of the new match types the Dumpster Match, I Quit Match, Inferno Match and the Three Stage of Hell match. Some good stuff here as in the I Quit match it appears that either weapon grappling moves or weapon submissions are back again as we see Bron Breakker giving Seth Rollins and armbar through a chair to get him to say "I Quit". My only concern with these new match types is the Dumpster match as it looks like a reskinned Casket match. Now granted yes these two match types are pretty much the same but the Casket and Ambulance match can be unbearable with the button mashing mini game to win. Unfortunately it looks like this may be the case for how to win the Dumpster match as well.
We also got to see the new ragdoll physics engine in action so now when you slam opponents onto weapons or the steel steps they will actually react to this instead of just glitching out like it does in previous games. These physics also extend to ledges as we Becky Lynch throw Natalya off a ledge in the scrapyard and her body just crumples on the ground when she lands. Great stuff. I have a feeling this will make Hell in a Cell matches more exciting.
Next they showed off the new weapons in action including the shopping cart and the thumbtacks. It looks like there is a lot you can do with the shopping cart as you can wheel your opponent around in it, attack them while they are in the cart and dump them out of the cart. We got to see the thumbtacks as well with Trick Williams slamming Ethan Page onto the tacks and the tacks do indeed stick to their body after landing on them. This year they are bringing back a highly requested feature where you can now stack tables on top of each other and during title matches the belt will be on a podium at ringside. Crowd brawling has also been extended to more match types with more moves you can perform inducing multiple people being able to be on the barricade at once.
Presentation is also getting a big overhaul with the addition of more interactive entrances allowing you to set off pyro and taunt during an entrance all with the press of a button. There are also new cutscenes for rivalries when simply playing "Play Now" to where you will get cutscenes with rivals coming to the ring and attacking you during normal matches outside Universe mode. The commentary team is finally being updated as have four announcers including Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Booker T and Wade Barret. It's unclear if we can choose which announcers we want for the match because in the footage they show Michael Cole, Corey Graves and Wade Barret in the booth in another match they show Michael Cole, Wade Barret and Booker T at the booth. There is also a new "broadcast mode" option where the camera cuts will look like you are watching a live WWE production.
A more in depth blog post with all of the additions can be found on their official website.
For me the one thing I am really excited about are the updates to weapons and the rag doll physics. I play a lot of No DQ styles matches and the way the weapons have worked in the past gets really old really quick as there isn't a lot you can do with them. I'm happy with what I have seen so far as it looks like we can now perform more moves with the weapons and with the rag doll physics this is going to match matches like Ladder matches and Hell in a Cell matches a lot more fun.
WWE 2K26 launches on March 13th for the standard edition and March 6th for the King of Kings, Attitude Era and Monday Night Wars editions of the game.
