Celebrities Who Somehow Were In A WWE Video Game

Although the earlier WWE video games featured a minuscule roster of only the top Superstars at the time, the franchise’s modernistic strategy sees a horde of contemporary and historical names included as playable characters. In WWE 2K25, for instance, there are 391 characters in total, which will expand with a further five celebrity guest DLC characters.

Who these celebrities are appears to have been identified, owing to files found within 2K25’s data. Regardless, they won’t be the first famous faces to become professional wrestlers in the virtual world, as several WWE video games have featured actors, musicians, and athletes swapping their extravagant lives for spandex and suplexes.

Damian Lillard

Known For: NBA Player

Included in WWE 2K Battlegrounds as ‘Laheem’ Lillard, Damian Lillard was made a computerized WWE wrestler in the same year as his cover star appearance for NBA 2K21. His involvement saw the Portland Trail Blazer point guard adorned in the Dame 7 sneaker, a collaboration between Lillard, Adidas, and Ric Flair.

The reasoning behind ‘Dame Time’ becoming ‘Lame Time’, a most unfortunate switcheroo, was never explained, though the cartoonish nature of 2K Battlegrounds will allow such egregious changes.

Rob Gronkowski

Known For: NFL Player

A confessed lifelong fan of WWE who hosted 2020’s WrestleMania 36, Rob Gronkowski, too, was made a playable DLC character in WWE 2K Battlegrounds, released alongside Damian Lillard. Named ‘Gronkster’ in the game, he was rated five points higher than his celebrity co-star.

‘Gronk’, as well as Lillard, fit the mantra of 2K Battlegrounds to a T, as his lack of wrestling skill allowed 2K and developer Saber Interactive to go ham on his moveset, stripping away everyday rest holds in favor of all-out mayhem in the virtual world.

Mike Tyson

Known For: Professional Boxer

Given WWE ’13’s Attitude Era-heavy premise, with its world-class Attitude Era Mode and roster brimming with late nineties legends, the inclusion of Mike Tyson as the title’s pre-order exclusive character was an astounding scoop that benefitted both consumers and corporations.

Tyson, who won 50 of his 59 professional fights, was even programmed to wrestle exactly as he fought: the tilting of his head before he connected with his match-ending knockout punch was as crisp as it ever could have been in reality.

Bad Bunny

Known For: Rapper

A decade following Mike Tyson’s involvement in a WWE video game saw Bad Bunny join ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’ in the realm of WWE games’ pre-order bonuses. The admired Puerto Rican rapper made two WWE video game appearances, first in 2K23 and then in 2K24.

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This followed a delectable smattering of matches from Bunny, most recently a San Juan Street Fight vs. Damian Priest from 2023’s

Backlash
, which drew rave reviews for what was a celebrity match.

Mr. T

Known For: Actor

It is surprising that it took Mr. T until the 2022-released WWE 2K22 to star in a mainstream wrestling video game, given his involvement with the business which dates back to 1985. Nevertheless, the revered actor was featured in one of 2K22’s five DLC packs, joining other celebrities in that year’s rebirth of the franchise.

Though this was his first console game, Mr T can also be found in a trio of mobile sports entertainment titles: Supercard, Champions, and Mayhem.

Machine Gun Kelly

Known For: Singer-Songwriter

A trend began with WWE 2K22 wherein the game’s Executive Soundtrack Producer would also be made a playable character in that year’s game: for 2K22, it was Machine Gun Kelly.

‘MGK’ had made a handful of appearances for WWE throughout the years before his video game debut, including performing Invincible as the prelude to John Cena’s WrestleMania 28 entrance and being Powerbomed through a table by Kevin Owens.

Unlike other celebrities, though, he has never laced up a pair of boots
.

Post Malone

Known For: Rapper

Unlike Machine Gun Kelly and Bad Bunny, Post Malone, WWE 2K24’s soundtrack-producing wizard, hadn’t made a single appearance beforehand, bar having his songs included in WWE’s previous video game jaunts. Nonetheless,

the tattooed New Yorker was playable in 2K24
, coming as part of his namesake DLC pack, Post Malone And Friends.

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Like other celebrities who hadn’t wrestled, Malone’s moveset was impeccable, appearing more as the arsenal of a top independent wrestler than it did that of a WWE wrestler.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Known For: Actor

Arnold Schwarzenegger was named the pre-order bonus for WWE 2K16, but he didn’t appear virtually as himself: he was in the game as T-800 from both The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The second of those is, expectedly, rated higher by three points.

‘Arnie’s’ appearance provided an epic motorcycle-centric entrance for use in the game’s vast creation suite, while, again, he was unique to play as.

Muhammad Ali

Known For: Professional Boxer

Returning to the realm of sports entertainment in 2024 when he entered the WWE Hall of Fame posthumously, Muhammad Ali was also a featured character in WWE 2K24, released a month ahead of his WrestleMania weekend honor.

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Known worldwide, aptly, as ‘The Greatest’, Ali bizarrely wasn’t featured in the game’s 40 Years of WrestleMania Showcase of the Immortals mode for his involvement in the WrestleMania 1 headliner. Instead, the 1960 Olympic gold medalist was made a one-off playable character outwith the mode.

Fred Durst

Known For: Limp Bizkit Frontman

At the time of its release, the roster for November 2001’s WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It faced extensive criticism, given how heavily outdated it was, with a lack of wrestlers who had become prominent throughout the Invasion storyline.

The game did, however, feature Fred Durst, the frontman of rock band Limp Bizkit. Durst, who could be obtained via the game’s SlobberKnocker mode, is said to have agreed to license the band’s Rollin’ track as part of The Undertaker’s virtual entrance if he was to receive a spot on the roster. All parties agreed and just like that, Fred Durst was a digitized wrestler.