2K Games comment on omission of prominent NXT Women in WWE 2K16

If you are a fan of wrestling, then you’ve probably heard about NXT. It started out as WWE’s “Developmental League,” but quickly set itself apart from mainstream WWE programming by producing high quality wrestling surrounded by sensible storylines many fans would want to get invested in. The women wrestlers of NXT were even more unique than the mainstream “WWE Divas,” as they were not just used as eye candy and given 5 minute matches on 3 hour long shows. Instead they were allowed to showcase their athleticism in matches that equal the runtimes of their male counterparts. The end result of this is that over the last 2 years women’s wrestling has seen a huge renaissance in NXT under the WWE corporate umbrella, with Paige, Emma, Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and Bayley leading the charge amongst many more.

However, even though many of these wrestlers have been part of the company for well over 2 years, they have apparently not been there long enough to be part of the upcoming release of WWE 2K16. This was highly evident when WWE announced the lineup for the game, including many present, past, and upcoming stars. However, Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and Bayley  (collectively known as the Four Horsewomen) were nowhere to be seen. As a result, Many fans took to social media to voice their displeasure at the situation.

Many fans cited the inclusion of  male wrestlers – Finn Bálor, Kevin Owens and Hideo Itami –  as suspicious, even though their tenure with WWE/ is little more than a year at this point. There is no doubt the trio is extremely talented in their own right, but it most certainly shines a spotlight on why either WWE or 2K Games chose to include one set of upcoming stars, but exclude the other. Perhaps even more suspicious is the fact that near the start of the year Sasha Banks tweeted that she got scanned to be part of WWE 2K16, however she is now known not to be part of the game.

With fans not having nice things to say about the situation, 2K have chosen to speak out and say the following on the game’s official website:

We pushed as hard as we could to include Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and Bayley in WWE 2K16, but it simply did not work out for various reasons. While we are not divulging full details on WWE 2K16’s post-launch plans just yet, we can confirm that the Four Horsewomen will not be available as DLC.

We are proud to have and built the largest WWE roster to date featuring the most Divas ever. The WWE 2K16 disc includes all of the Divas on the main roster at the time we locked it in (13 playable in total).

Three of these women – Sasha Banks, Charlotte, and Becky Lynch – are currently appearing on the mainstream WWE shows week in week out as part of the “Divas Revolution,” and although that storyline has hit a few rough patches in recent weeks the trio are still putting in good work. Bayley is still performing in NXT, and was recently crowned the NXT Women’s Champion after battling Sasha Banks in what was arguably the greatest women’s match in the history of the company. Some have even called it the best match WWE aired in 2015 regardless of gender.

So with no plans to include the foursome in WWE 2K16 this year, and with the possibility of DLC already squashed, it seems everyone will have to wait for WWE 2K17 for the women to make their virtual debut. With any luck Blue Pants will show up then as well.