Ranking all WWE 2K Games, from best to worst

Game developer 2K has been creating wrestling video games for more than a decade now. Before, THQ reigned alone as the kings of wrestling games and gave us absolute classics like "SmackDown Here Comes The Pain!" and the many titles in the "SmackDown vs. Raw" series.
2K made its fantastic debut with WWE 2K14 and over the years have helped the franchise transform into an entity akin to the EA FC and NBA 2K games.Today, we’ll be taking a look and ranking all WWE 2K Games from best to worst. Let’s get into it.
Also Read: WWE 2K25 release date revealed by Take-Two Interactive

WWE 2K14 is 2K's game only in name, it was actually being developed by THQ before the company went bankrupt. After 2K got the rights to the WWE games, they hired the developers from THQ and allowed them to finish their last WWE game. Today, we know it as WWE 2K14 which is undoubtedly the best WWE game ever right next to SmackDown Here Comes The Pain! 2K14 was absolutely filled with stuff to do.
There were so many game modes and match types to choose from, that you could get lost in the menu for several minutes at a time. Moreover, the story mode "30 Years of WrestleMania was humongous and had a lot of quality". It was an amazing feeling to step into this mode and play matches from the 80s and 90s with the classic film grain. The Streak Mode was another excellent addition and allowed you to defend the Undertaker's Streak while playing as him or try and end it by taking him and his demonic AI on in a match.
You could create your own finishers and even your own stories with the amount of freedom this game allowed. Despite how many hours you put into it, WWE 2K14 always had more for you to check out and that makes it the best wrestling game that 2K has ever made.

WWE 2K24 takes everything that WWE 2K23 does good and does it better. This game also takes a significant jump in difficulty as reversals are now harder than ever. Moreover, the super aggressive CPU on legendary difficulty provides exactly the kind of challenge that wrestling enthusiasts are looking for with these games. The legendary camera angle from "Here Comes The Pain!" is also back in WWE 2K24 and that alone makes matches feel much more impactful.
With 2K24 the community has become somewhat confident in 2K's ability to make these games. They lost a lot of goodwill for 2K20 but won it all back with 2K22. Now, WWE 2K24 stands at the pinnacle of their current formula.

WWE 2K23 is a lot similar to WWE 2K19 in terms of how they improved over their predecessors by polishing and fine-tuning the formula to the max. It introduces, MyRise which is an excellent story mode that delivers a ton of fun moments and even your choices feel like they matter which is rare for a sports game.
Moreover, you get to play the Showcase mode featuring John Cena not as the man himself but his opponents which is another fun twist to the gameplay. WWE 2K23 is almost the pinnacle of what a modern day wrestling game should look and feel like, which puts it over WWE 2K19.

WWE 2K19 succeeded at doing everything that 2K17 and 2K18 tried to do. This was a better game by every measure but all it really was at the bottom was a fine-tuned mixture of functions from WWE 2K17 and 2K18. With this title WWE's 2K series perfected the gameplay formula and delivered on fast and fluid combat. Moreover, the creator was amazing and saw the community coming up with some amazing creations.
After years of playing with 2K17 and 2K18's sluggish combat, 2K19 arrived as a breath of fresh air and completely revived the series. Some even considered it to be one of the top two games from 2K.

WWE 2K22 was the best way to bring the series back after the disaster that was WWE 2K20. The graphics were a big step-up, the game had way fewer bugs and the combat was the best it had been in a long time. Moreover, the in-game character creator was also massive and provided a lot of depth.
The MyCareer mode in this title also felt a lot less generic. For the first time, WWE's story mode provided a fun to play experience with a good story mode where it actually felt like your choices mattered. In a nutshell, 2K22 was a huge step in the right direction and an excellent way to revive the franchise after WWE 2K20.

WWE 2K16 was the perfect way to follow 2K15. The showcase mode was impressive and featured Stone Cold's matches from the Attitude Era. Moreover, the gameplay was fine-tuned to deliver a smoother experience than 2K15. Also worth noting is the fact that 2K16 came out in a much better state than its predecessor.
What held this game back is the stamina meter that at times made it feel like some matches would go on for eternities. If it wasn't for the stamina meter this game would be higher up the list.

WWE 2K15 was the first WWE game to come out on the then next generation of consoles, the PS4 and Xbox One. It marked a significant improvement in graphics and refined the combat a lot. Moreover, 2K15 introduced the fan favorite showcase mode which has now become a staple of the franchise. As far as leaps in quality go, 2K15 hit the mark and is still loved by many making it one of the better games released by 2K.
If we think about it, 2K15 laid the foundation for everything that is good about the 2K wrestling games today. However, it didn't come without its flaws and could be quite buggy and sluggish at times. 2K15 was rightfully criticized for its extremely slow and sluggish combat, which in turn caused people to not value the step-up in quality.

WWE 2K17 is by no means a bad game, but it isn't a fantastic game either. This is a title that was a little too bare bones for the people's liking. The fan favorite Showcase mode had been removed and there was nothing added to replace it. Moreover, 2K17 introduced a bunch of new functions like the Promo segments, that were all removed in subsequent entries in the series.
If WWE 2K17 had a little more time in the oven, it would've done wonders for the quality of this title. Unfortunately, that is not the case, and the game is remembered today as a half-baked entry.

WWE 2K Battlegrounds feels like a game that was made to merely pass the time, instead of a game that is meant to be timeless. While 2K Battlegrounds delivered a fun gameplay experience, all the microtransactions combined with the lack of creative options made for a pretty sour experience for most players. In the end, the community treated this title as something to pass the time until 2K22 came out.

There is absolutely no charm or anything even remotely redeeming about WWE 2K20. The game was absolutely broken at launch and would constantly crash. 2K worked hard to get rid of these bugs through post release patches. Unfortunately, 2K20 was so broken that even patches couldn't save it.
The only reason anyone even talked about WWE 2K20 after its release is because of how poorly designed it was. The game modes were boring, the combat bland, and you couldn't get through a single session without the game crashing on you. All of this makes this the worst WWE game by 2K.
Also Read: WWE-Inspired Video Games: Ranking the Best WWE Games of All Time