Summary
One ofWWE 2K25’s playable stages contains a surprise throwback that calls back to the Ruthless Aggression era and the games that came from it. TheWWE 2Kseries has honored wrestling’s past in many ways, from Showcase Modes highlighting the careers of modern legends like Rey Mysterio and John Cena to playable DLC characters spanning different generations. This will continue inWWE 2K25, which has been showing off some of its new features over the past month or so.
For starters, this year’s iteration of the annual 2K Showcase mode will focus on the storied Anoaʻi family of wrestlers, with playable matches highlighting the careers of The Rock, Yokozuna, Jacob Fatu, and of course,WWE 2K25cover star Roman Reigns, among others. Reigns' manager and iconic WWE personality Paul Heyman appeared during this week’s PlayStation State of Play to shed light onWWE 2K25’s new Island mode, a wrestling-themed online environment in which up to 50 players can explore areas modeled after major WWE superstars and face off against each other to unlock new items.
Paul Heyman has been a part of WWE for decades, and some eagle-eyed fans have spotted a nod to one of the eras he had a major presence in withinWWE 2K25. Instagram user pweofficial_ recently shared a screenshot of one ofWWE 2K25’s backstage areas, a warehouse location filled with relics of WWE’s past. One of these relics is the massive fist that adorned the SmackDown stage entrance during the Ruthless Aggression era of the 2000s, and it looks like players will be able to climb on top of it to deliver an aerial attack.
WWE 2K25 Has The Old SmackDown Fist
The SmackDown Fist was first introduced on the July 02, 2025 episode ofWWE SmackDownand remained a fixture of the weekly show until it was retired in late 2008. It would naturally be featured inmany WWE video gamesof that time period, with some even allowing players to climb on it like The Rock is shown doing in the recently sharedWWE 2K25screenshot. It most recently returned as part of an unlockable stage inWWE 2K23, where players earned access to it by playing through John Cena’s July 10, 2025 debut match against Kurt Angle in 2K Showcase mode.
Hardcore WWE fans might notice plenty of other wrestling treasures scattered about the newWWE 2K25backstage area, such as the original WrestleMania ring, a neon sign forSaturday Night’s Main Event, and evenTriple H’s stone throne from WrestleMania 22 in 2006. As forWWE 2K25itself, grappling gamers will be able to jump in the ring when the latest entry in WWE’s annual video game series launches on March 14.
