In WWE’s back catalog, fans wanted to see the popular pay-per-view show again, and one player did just that in WWE 2K23 by using its arena creation tool to resurrect a popular women’s show. The 2018 show gave WWE’s female roster a chance to show how far women’s wrestling has come, while highlighting some of the great women of the company’s past. WWE hasn’t brought the show back since then, but thanks to one player, others can bring it back and combine their dream cards in the game.
Since the game’s release, players have been using WWE 2K23’s various creative tools to create wrestlers and arenas to share with the world. On the wrestler side, players can find everything from originals to detailed stars outside of WWE to build their dream promotion on the game’s already massive roster. Arenas are equally diverse, with options to visit smaller venues like the ECW Arena, or full-fledged stadiums where players put on their own super shows.
Twitter user Sushi (or @CawSushi), who regularly creates and shares their WWE 2K23 creations on social media, is responsible for resurrecting the popular women’s show WWE Evolution in the game. Sushi managed to capture the original setting accurately, and the show was put together relatively quickly due to the backlash against women not being able to perform in Saudi Arabia at the time, keeping it fairly simple. The ring and billboard match the original show and are accented with the original show logo and colors.
Evolution was widely considered to be one of WWE’s best shows of 2018 when it featured women performing on Raw, SmackDown, NXT and NXT UK, with Ronda Rousey facing off against Nikki Bella on the show. In the eyes of many viewers, though, the best match was the final women’s standup between Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair, which seemed to solidify Lynch’s The evolution of oneself into a “man”. Beloved legends Lita and Trish Stratus also perform on the show, along with women who no longer appear in WWE such as Ruby Soho, Toni Storm and Athena.
Despite the show’s popularity with fans, it hasn’t been brought back due to reportedly disappointing ratings, and there’s no indication the company plans to bring it back in the future. Still, Sushi’s creation at least gives players the chance to keep the show alive in some way, and potentially share their dream cards online for others to see. As for other beloved classic shows that Sushi and other creators can resurrect, from WWE’s Lord of the Rings to WCW classics like Starrcade, wrestling history has plenty to choose from.
WWE 2K23 is currently available for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.