WWE 2K20 missing wrestlers: every character removed since WWE 2K19

With contracts expiring and new rival AEW materialising, a few WWE 2K20 missing wrestlers were always inevitable. Sure enough, the transition from WWE 2K19 to this year’s game sees 35 stars past and present removed from the WWE 2K20 roster. Some choices, such as Chris Jericho and Dean Ambrose, were fully expected; others, like The Ascension and Killian Dain, are huge surprises. Read on for profiles of all major omissions, followed by the final WWE 2K20 missing wrestlers list. 

Goldust

Who is he? Son of Dusty Rhodes (who is in WWE 2K20) and brother to Cody Rhodes (who isn’t), known as Dustin Rhodes in the many stints he’s racked up across other federations.

Why’s he out? Goldust makes our list of 15 wrestlers you’ll never see again in a WWE game after signing for All Elite Wrestling. Known as AEW for short, the new fed was set up by Cody and tag-team pals the Young Bucks, and continues to amass a cult following. It’s the biggest threat to WWE’s popularity since TNA’s mid-2000s heyday – which can only be a good thing for wrestling fans in general.

Dean Ambrose

Who is he? The most popular wrestler axed in transition from WWE 2K19 from WWE 2K20. The one-time Shield member is a former WWE World Champion and his wife, Renee Young, still works as an announcer, interviewer and host on WWE TV.

Why’s he out? Ambrose jumped from WWE to AEW, where he can now be seen under his real name of Jon Moxley, and is tipped to be the centre point of the promotion upon return from injury. Also gone after making the same leap is Tye Dillinger, who’s switched to his real name of Shawn Spears. Oh, and…

Chris Jericho

Who is he? Current AEW champion, four-time world champ in WWE, nine-time Intercontinental champion, one of the greatest wrestlers of this millennium… and frontman of rock band Fozzy.

Why’s he out? The AEW thing, again. Like Ambrose, his capture was a massive statement of intent, and he’ll be the company’s experienced pivot man for the next couple of years. That doesn’t mean he won’t be back in WWE (and its games) somewhere down the line, but if that occurs it won’t be until well into the PS5 and Xbox Project Scarlett generation.

Lio Rush

Who is he? The reigning cruiserweight champion, in the process of establishing himself on NXT after a brief stint in the background of Raw.

Why’s he out? As explained in more detail in our WWE 2K20 Lio Rush story, Bobby Lashley’s former partner fell out with WWE bosses in April - to the point that he removed all reference to the company from his social media, and published an email address for independent bookings. It’s likely that he was removed at that point, although this still doesn’t explain why he was erroneously announced as having made the roster in early October.

Killian Dain

Who is he? Beardy Irish behemoth who went by the name of Big Damo in his UK wrestling days. Dain initially broke through as part of Sanity alongside Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe and Nikki Cross, but the stable was broken up after being promoted from NXT to Smackdown.

Why’s he out? The Sanity gimmick is no more and at roster cut-off time, Dain’s future plans were uncertain. (He’s since returned to NXT, to feud with Johnny Gargano.) In previous years he may have been restored post-release - but as explained in our WWE 2K20 DLC guide, for this edition 2K is focussing on fictional versions of on-disc roster members.

Alexander Wolfe

Who is he? Killian Dain’s former partner in Sanity. While ex-buddies Eric Young and Nikki Cross make it into WWE 2K20, German slugger Wolfe suffers the same fate as his Irish comrade.

Why’s he out? Wolfe switched to NXT UK to line-up in the new stable Imperium, alongside reigning UK champ Walter, plus Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel. None of the quartet are in the game, with NXT UK representation limited to a handful of better known prospects: Tyler Bate, Trent Seven, Pete Dunne, Toni Storm, and Rhea Ripley.

Aiden English

Who is he? WWE’s self-professed ‘drama king’, mostly used as a tag-team wrestler: first alongside Simon Gotch in the Vaudevillains, later lining up with Rusev and Lana as Rusev Day. He turned on the Bulgarian during the summer but a planned feud was quietly and quickly forgotten.

Why’s he out? WWE seem to have quietly retired English from in-ring duties, instead utilising his mic skills in the commentary booth. As part of October’s WWE Draft his website profile was moved to cruiserweight show 205 Live, so perhaps there are still plans to utilise him as an experienced hand there.

The Ascension

Who are they? Konnor and Viktor, collectively a tag-team who had reasonable success in NXT but were quickly abandoned as a serious act upon arrival to Raw.

Why are they out? No one knows. This pair, along with fellow tandem Epico and Primo Colon, remain contracted to WWE and listed on its official website. All four of those omissions are bizarre and mean that while the roster for 2K20 can be described as comprehensive, it is sadly not truly complete.

Full list of WWE 2K20 missing wrestlers

• Aiden English
• Alexander Wolfe
• Alundra Blayze
• Bam Bam Bigelow
• British Bulldog
• Chris Jericho
• DDP
• Dean Ambrose
• Epico Colón
• The Godfather
• Goldust
• Greg Valentine
• Hideo Itami
• Ivory
• Jason Jordan
• Killian Dain
• Konnor
• Lex Luger
• Lio Rush
• Mr. Perfect
• Nick Miller
• Primo Colón
• Rhyno
• Rick Rude
• Rick Martel
• Ricky Morton
• Rikishi
• Robert Gibson
• Sycho Sid
• TJP
• Tatanka
• Tye Dillinger
• Vader
• Viktor

WWE 2K20 is out now. Want to know which greats of the past have survived the year-on-year cull? Then you need our WWE 2K20 legends guide.