Wrestling games are no strangers to celebrity guest characters and crossover fighters. But then there’s whatever WWE has decided to do here. The CEO of Grand Theft Auto 6 publisher Take-Two Interactive, Strauss Zelnick, has become an actual roster member in WWE 2K26. Not just a simple Create-a-Wrestler joke, he comes complete with custom commentary, a dedicated entrance pose, and a theme set to Frank Sinatra’s My Way.
Even funnier is that Zelnick has an overall rating of 77. Yes, Take-Two’s CEO is rated higher than Nikki Cross and Rocky Maivia, and just one point behind wrestling legends X-Pac and Hunter Hearst Helmsley.
No one’s exactly sure why developer Visual Concepts suddenly introduced this hidden free update — without any fanfare, no less. But many gamers immediately viewed this as an opportunity for some virtual payback. Whether it’s over frustration with GTA 6‘s delays, increasingly aggressive monetization in 2K’s games, or because of WWE 2K26‘s controversial new battle pass system.
On Reddit, SortaFunny599 wrote, “OK, I’m gonna need someone to upload various clips of him getting powerbombed off the highest point in the scrapyard onto multiple objects covered in thumbtacks.”
“Whelp I now have a solid reason to bring Austin out of retirement in my universe mode 😂,” added @centraltimegamers2977 on YouTube. “I’m gonna open a huge can of whoop ass on this CEO nerd.”
Others, however, were less amused by the Take-Two CEO’s WWE cameo and argued that the time could’ve been better spent adding highly requested fan favorites. “Let this sink in. We can’t have Big Show, Chris Jericho, Sting, Raven or a proper Batista model but we get this bozo,” wrote @Warbooga annoyed.
Nevertheless, the bizarre cameo arrives at an interesting time for the franchise. WWE 2K26 continues to perform well commercially, with Take-Two recently reporting that consumer spending is up 20% year-over-year. Speaking to IGN, Zelnick praised Visual Concepts and said the team ‘always wants to do better.’ He added that he believes WWE games could eventually become ‘double or triple the size’ they are today if they continue surprising players. Perhaps this is also what drove the developer team to add Zelnick into the game.
Well, it’s fair to say that it’s mission accomplished on the ‘surprise’ front, at least. Whether Visual Concepts expected Zelnick to become one of WWE 2K26‘s most frequently powerbombed characters, though, is another question entirely.
