WWE 2K26 Ringside Report - Universe and Creations

Welcome back to another edition of our Ringside Report, where we bring fans all the latest details about WWE 2K26.

In this latest edition, we’re going to cover both Universe and Creations, and we’ve enlisted the help of WWE Superstar Bayley, to drop all the juicy details in this deep dive video:

As seen in the video, there’s plenty to be excited about in both modes, so let’s get into some additional details.

Universe

When starting a new Classic Mode save file, players can go straight into the Universe’s main menu or customize the experience first. This new Universe Wizard will allow players to choose which weekly shows and PLEs will be featured, assign Superstars for each show, as well as their champions, and then decide which month the calendar will start on.

When choosing which weekly shows to feature, players can use the Add New Show option to import an already downloaded or created show or create one from scratch. For default shows like Raw and SmackDown, players can edit other details like the Superstars on those rosters, championships, divisions supported, and more.

Each show can support up to 8 titles from the men’s and women’s divisions, inclusive of tag team titles and intergender-supported championships, along with two MITB briefcases.

WWE Draft

One of the biggest new features of this year’s Universe is the addition of the WWE Draft. It’s something our fans have been asking for, and we’re happy to finally have it available for WWE 2K26.

Drafts are events where participating shows will be able to trade Superstars from their rosters over an entire week. Players can also create, edit, or remove drafts from their Universe.

To create a Draft (or when editing an existing Draft on the calendar), players will be able to give it a name and attach a logo to it before selecting which two shows will participate.

Supplemental shows can also be set up as an optional roster, such as NXT, making their roster one you can draft from Raw or SmackDown. The Draft rounds, which can be adjusted in the settings, will take place during the respective show’s match cards. A round takes the slot of a match on a card, and rules for draft picks, such as who can or cannot be drafted, can be set.

The maximum number of Drafts is 8.

MITB Cash-Ins

In WWE 2K26, we’ve made some updates to how Money in the Bank cash-ins works. For starters, no more target championships, meaning MITB briefcases can be cashed in on any eligible title on a given show.

As you can see in the image below, you push a button to cash-in during matches and then choose either to do it mid-match or post-match to keep things interesting!

Promos

In our deep dive video, we mention that we have improved Promos, so we wanted to provide a few more details on that.

Improvements:

Self-Promos: Superstars can now make announcements that affect their immediate future, such as turning heel or face, changing their division, and even switching over to a new show.
Call-Out / Interrupt: Superstar options have been expanded to allow challengers to choose their match type or to challenge for a title while champions can accept title challenges for the next PLE.
Open Challenges: These have been expanded to feature spontaneous title defenses.

New Promo:

Post-Match Interview: The winner of a match will have the option to announce a division change, discuss a #1 contender’s match, or a title challenge. For the loser of the match, they can interrupt the winner’s interview and either shake their hand, engage in a brawl, or get into a staredown.

Sliders

WWE 2K26 brings even more options for match setup this year in Universe, with the addition of our new settings and sliders. Players will find a selection of matchmaking sliders that allow for the modification of values for match card sorting and scoring.

Matchmaking bonuses can also be tweaked for title matches, rivalries, specific match types, and more as seen below.

For those who want to start from scratch, we’ve included options for clearing the default data such as Superstar Relationships, Divisions, Rivalries, and more!

Creations

Creations has received some key enhancements, so let’s dig into those.

Create-a-Superstar

In WWE 2K26, we will support body morphing to give players even greater customization options. Want to have a slim Superstar with massive arms? How about a Superstar with a huge belly but skinny arms and legs? You can do all that and more - there is plenty of fun to be had by opening up the possibilities of what can be created.

The morphing doesn’t stop at just the body as we’ve improved the interface for face morphing as well.

We're also happy to reveal that we’ve doubled Create-a-Superstar save slots! The community has been asking and we’ve finally added another 100 slots, bringing the total to 200.

For WWE 2K26, we have not only increased the number of save slots and image slots, we have also improved our layer system. Previously there were 60 layers total for the entire Custom Superstar. Now head & body and attire draw from separate pools, so you have 60 layers for attire and 40 for head and body. Players can also choose from 40+ body templates as a starting point and further customize the body with morphing tools.

Something our fans have been passionate about is two-tone hair color blending and this year’s Creation will include just that. Two-tone coloring allows players to pick two colors and adjust both the blend position on the hair and the degree of sharpness of that blend. Two-tone color blending can be applied to facial hair as well.

The addition of two-tone color blending for hair doesn't mean we're getting rid of the hair dye tool though. Both are available and can be used in conjunction.

For players who get WWE 2K26 on Nintendo Switch 2, we’re also adding the ability to use the Joy-Con 2’s mouse controls to add and customize body paint.

Create-an-Arena

Create-an-Arena now supports LED barricades, new announcer table styles, and gives new customization options for ring mat, aprons, and announcer table covers.

Create-an-Image

In Create-an-Image, we are doubling the CAI slots from 1,000 to 2,000, and the Nintendo Switch 2 version will now also support the Image Uploader feature.

Create-a-Championship

For Create-a-Championship/MITB, we’ve expanded the available championship parts. Players will also now find a refreshed menu look and feel, with a smoother building experience.

Create-an-Entrance

Finally, we’ve added an advanced timeline feature for all entrance motions, inclusive of champion, double champion, MITB, and default. This also includes support or Advanced timeline entrance motion for stables. In addition, Create-an-Entrance and Victory now support Quad and Quint-sized stables.

We’re only a few short weeks away from release, but there’s still so much more to cover, so stay tuned for more feature and mode details in our next Ringside Report.