10 Superstars likely to debut in WWE 2K20

Towards the end of every summer, WWE fans prepare for the announcement of the next installment in the WWE 2K video game franchise, with this year's release being WWE 2K20.

Last year's video game featured current United States Champion AJ Styles on the cover, and featured a massive playable talent roster including stars from Raw and Smackdown, as well as NXT. The pre-order bonus playable character was Ronda Rousey, who was amidst an impressive rookie year in WWE.

Talents who made their debuts in WWE 2K19 included Kairi Sane, Tyler Bate, Ali, Velveteen Dream, Pete Dunne, Adam Cole and more.

With the announcement of WWE 2K20 looming in the distance, let's take a look at 10 stars who will likely make their debuts in this year's game. As a bonus, we will predict who might land the cover of this year's game, which has featured the likes of Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins.

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#10 Matt Riddle

One of WWE NXT's hottest acquisitions in the past year has been Matt Riddle.

The former UFC and EVOLVE star made his NXT debut at last year's NXT Takeover Brooklyn event, and has since become a dominant force in the ring for NXT with his unique brand of offense and in-ring style.

Most recently, Riddle challenged Velveteen Dream for the NXT North American Championship at NXT Takeover New York, but was unsuccessful in his bid for the title. Not only did Riddle lose the match to Dream, but he also lost his unbeaten streak in NXT which had been intact since he debuted with the brand. Riddle's participation at NXT Takeover Toronto has yet to be announced, but he will likely compete at the big event next month.

Riddle would make an excellent addition to the WWE 2K20 roster as he brings with him a playable character which is very different in both look and playability from other characters in NXT and WWE.

#9 Tommaso Ciampa

Each year, WWE features a select few NXT talents in its 2K video game series, and last year's game boasted names such as Johnny Gargano, Ricochet and Kairi Sane.

However, Gargano's former DIY partner Tommaso Ciampa was not included in last year's release, despite being a top star on the NXT brand and carrying the NXT Championship before he relinquished it due to injury.

Since relinquishing the NXT title, Ciampa underwent neck surgery and has been rigorously training to return to the ring, but his future remains in question. Ciampa last Tweeted that he does indeed plan to return to the ring in NXT, and he made it clear he wishes to return to the NXT brand and not the main roster.

Despite Ciampa's claims on social media, it remains unknown if he will be cleared by WWE doctors to return to the ring following his serious neck injury.

With Ciampa's in-ring future in doubt, a debut in WWE 2K20 will ensure fans can play as the former NXT Champion for years to come.

#8 Zelina Vega

WWE star Zelina Vega is best known for managing Andrade, however, Vega does make sporadic in-ring appearances, and could be poised to make her video game debut in this year's WWE 2K20 installment.

Vega's partner Andrade made his video game debut in WWE 2K19, and his playable character was lauded as one of the better additions to the game.

Despite not being featured regularly as an in-ring competitor, Zelina Vega is a hot commodity in WWE, as her skills on the mic have not only landed her the role of Andrade's mouthpiece, but also landed her a role in Fighting with My Family, the biopic on WWE star Paige. In the film, Vega played the role of former WWE Divas Champion AJ Lee, who rose to fame in WWE alongside Vega.

Vega, real name Thea Trinidad, also spent several years in TNA/Impact Wrestling, during which she competed under the ring name Rosita.

#7 Buddy Murphy

Known as WWE's best kept secret, Buddy Murphy is poised to make an impact on Smackdown Live, as Shane McMahon last week promised that Murphy won't be a secret in WWE for much longer.

Murphy began his career in NXT alongside Wesley Blake as a popular tag team, who at one point were managed by Alexa Bliss before Bliss was called up to the main roster. Bliss and Murphy were also engaged to be married in real life, but announced at the beginning of the year that the engagement had been called off.

Following a successful run in NXT, Buddy Murphy was called up to the WWE 205 Live roster, and had a successful run as the WWE Cruiserweight Champion.

In recent months, Murphy has been floundering on the main roster in WWE, but with creative changes coming to the blue brand, and fresh faces being pushed, Murphy could make a name for himself and Smackdown leading to a WWE 2K20 video game debut.

#6 Io Shirai

Japanese sensation Io Shirai made a major name for herself in WWE when she made it to the finals of the second iteration of WWE's Mae Young Classic in 2018. After being defeated in the women's tournament by Toni Storm, Shirai transitioned seamlessly to NXT, and soon became a top star on the Wednesday night brand.

Shirai is currently one NXT's top female stars, and has been feuding with reigning NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler. As of this writing, it remains unknown who Shirai will face at NXT Takeover Toronto, as Baszler will be defending the title against another NXT star who will be revealed in the coming weeks.

As for WWE 2K20, last year's game featured the debut of Io Shirai's Sky Pirates tag team partner Kairi Sane, making this year's game the perfect opportunity for Shirai to make her in-game debut as a playable character.

#5 Nikki Cross

Nikki Cross has come along way since her days alongside Killian Dain, Alexander Wolfe and Eric Young in SAnitY, as she has transitioned to the WWE main roster and is currently working alongside Alexa Bliss.

Most recently, Bliss and Cross teamed up to face Bayley for the WWE Smackdown Women's Title at Extreme Rules, but the duo came up short in the match.

Cross' former SAnitY stablemates Eric Young, Killian Dain and Alexander Wolfe were all included in last year's WWE 2K19 video game release, but oddly, Nikki Cross was left out of the game.

With Cross making a name for herself in recent months on the main roster, it's likely the former SAnitY member will be making her debut in WWE 2K20 this year, and will for the first time, be a playable character. If Cross does indeed make the game roster this year, it will be interesting to see which version of her is used for her in-game character.

#4 Walter

The current WWE roster boasts numerous big men, but the most dangerous in recent memory is the current WWE UK Champion Walter.

Walter, an international superstar who made a name for himself wrestling on the European independent scene, made his debut in WWE at the NXT UK Takeover Blackpool event earlier this year, and confronted then-UK Champion Pete Dunne.

Months later, at WWE NXT Takeover New York, Walter defeated Pete Dunne not only to win the UK Title, but to end Dunne's historic 685 day title reign. At the time, Dunne's title reign was, and still is, the longest in the history of WWE.

With an impressive WWE resume already under his belt in a short period of time, Walter would be a great addition to WWE 2K20 and would make for a really unique player experience in the long running video game franchise, giving player's the ability to recreate classic Walter vs Pete Dunne encounters.

#3 Trent Seven

One half of Mustache Mountain, Tyler Bate, made his WWE video game debut in last year's WWE 2K19, and this year could see the addition of Bate's partner, Trent Seven.

Seven and Bate found much success in WWE NXT before the launch of the NXT UK brand, as the team has had numerous matches on the Wednesday night brand which were considered to be instant classics by a number of WWE fans. At one point, Mustache Mountain captured the WWE NXT Tag Team Titles, only to lose the titles back to The Undisputed Era just a few days later at a set of NXT TV tapings.

Seven is now enjoying a successful run on the NXT UK brand, and his inclusion in the WWE 2K20 video game would give players the chance to unite Mustache Mountain to re-create tag team matches against The Undisputed Era and other great tag teams in the video game.

#2 Toni Storm

Another Champion in WWE yet to make her video game debut is Toni Storm, the current WWE NXT UK Women's Champion.

Storm has taken WWE by, well, storm, since she made her debut with the company in the very first Mae Young Classic back in 2017. In the tournament, Storm made it to the semifinals before being eliminated by Kairi Sane, who went on to win the tournament.

However, Toni Storm would go on to find greater success in the second Mae Young Classic, not only making it to the finals of the tournament against Io Shirai, but by winning the whole thing.

Since winning the Mae Young Classic, Storm has found tremendous success in WWE as the anchor of the NXT UK Women's division, and she won her first NXT UK Women's title when she defeated Rhea Ripley at NXT UK Takeover Blackpool.

The addition of Toni Storm to the WWE 2K20 roster would give the game a fantastic boost of female star power with an innovative playable character.

#1 The Fiend

Yes, Bray Wyatt has been in past incarnations of the WWE 2K video game franchise, but Wyatt's new character, The Fiend, would be an excellent addition to the game.

Last week on WWE Monday Night Raw, Wyatt made his return to the ring and debuted his Fiend character, attacking Finn Balor and leaving Balor laying with Sister Abigail.

Reports claim Wyatt is set to face Balor in a match at WWE SummerSlam, prior to Balor taking some time off WWE TV, and as Wyatt gains momentum with his new Fiend character, the off-the-wall, creepy, masked Wyatt could be a great playable roster name when WWE 2K20 hits stores.

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Who else would you like to see debut in WWE 2K20? Let us know in the comment section!

As for the cover star of this year's game, it should go to the man who made an incredible in-ring return after a four month battle with leukemia, Roman Reigns.