What a crazy time it’s been in the world of professional wrestling. If you had told me a year ago that CM Punk would not only be back in WWE but also find his way into the next WWE 2K video game which was already in its final stages of production then I would have laughed and told you to keep downloading your CM Punk CAWs from the community creations. BUT! Here we are, and here I am about to talk about what could be the best DLC pack to hit a WWE game in years.
The ECW Punk pack is the first of five DLC packs to release this year and it includes the following superstars:
- CM Punk
- Sandman
- Bubba Ray Dudley
- D-Von Dudley
- Terry Funk
Now I mean no disrespect to the superstars who will appear in the remaining four DLC packs but let’s be honest, this is the pack everyone wants and, amazingly, we received it as the first pack. Considering last year, we had to wait till the end of the WWE 2K23 season to receive the Bray Wyatt pack (RIP).
The reason I’m so high on this pack is because these are all superstars that have been absent from WWE video games for years. CM Punk last appeared in WWE 2K15, The Sandman in WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2008, The Dudley Boyz in WWE 2K17, and Terry Funk in WWE 2K13.
For many (myself included) these superstars were the missing pieces I needed to flush out not just my ECW show in Universe mode but also to recreate some classic feuds and tag teams. For example, I created the former tag team champs of Terry Funk and Cactus Jack. I also rekindled the Dudley Boyz rivalry with The Steiner Brothers and D-Generation X. It’s not all about nostalgia. The sky’s the limit for the number of new feuds I plan to create for the Sandman and CM Punk.
Each superstar is beautifully modeled and resembles their real-life counterparts. The Dudley Boyz, Sandman, and Terry Funk (RIP) models are snapshots from their prime, while CM Punk face model is of a present-day version. Thanks to the returning community creator What’s the Status you can download a CM Punk from every period of his WWE career so if you want young long-haired punk or slick back Mike Patton-style punk What’s the Status has you covered.
Now when it comes to the Entrances, each superstar has their respective lighting, music, and animations. This also applies to Sandman…but the WWE entrance NOT the OG ECW version. So no Enter the Sandman music by Metallica playing while making his way to the ring from the crowd. The entrance we have is when he was signed by WWE and would come down to the ring via the stage ramp with cane and beer in hand. He still does the drinking and beer can forehead crush on his forehead but only ONCE. His entrance is long as he walks slowly to the ring and you expect him to pull out another beer can but he never does.
All the superstars have their signature move sets such as the Dudleys’ can do 3D when a superstar is leaning on a corner turnbuckle and you can perform this through a table. CM Punk has the GTS but also the Pepsi plunge, however this move needs to be assigned to him in the edit superstar section. On that note, about 50 new moves have been added with this DLC pack and the game pack update that usually arrives the day before a pack release. There are also three new weapons which are a door, light tube, and barbwire bat.
Each superstar has additional commentary from Michael Cole and Cory Graves along with dream match commentary depending on the matchups. The most notable is when you create a match between CM Punk and Steve Austin. I love that this is the norm now for all superstars in the DLC releases and I enjoy discovering unexpected commentary based on the matchups. I said it in my opening and I will reiterate, this is one of the best DLC packs ever released and if you don’t have the season pass I recommend you consider at least picking up this pack alone.
This review was written based on a digital review copy of WWE 2K24 for the Xbox Series X provided by 2K Sports.
