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It's almost that time of the year again, when THQ releases its annual installment in the WWE line of video games. Last year's iteration radically changed up the formula of the entire franchise, and WWE 13 is aiming to perfect all of the new mechanics implemented in WWE 12 and add some new ones. We'll see if they've accomplished that task later October, but there's one more important aspect of the upcoming game that fans have been anxious to learn: which past and present Superstars will be lacing up the boots in WWE 13.

There are a total of 87 combatants in THQ's latest grapple-fest, a couple of them being DLC and many of them duplicates, but overall it's one of the best rosters ever assembled. All of the current noteworthy wrestlers are out in full force. Everyone from current WWE Champion CM Punk to Jinder Mahal will enter the digital ring, and they'll be joined by the likes of AJ Lee and Damien Sandow as downloadable characters (presumably available after the game hits store shelves). Mike Tyson is also a pre-order exclusive for WWE 13, so don't expect to enter the squared circle as the prestigious boxer unless you've plopped down cash in advance.

Without further ado, let's take a look at the modern day WWE Superstars that'll be filling the roster.

  • Alberto Del Rio
  • Big Show
  • Booker T
  • Brock Lesnar
  • Brodus Clay
  • Chris Jericho
  • Christian
  • CM Punk
  • Cody Rhodes
  • Daniel Bryan
  • David Otunga
  • Dolph Ziggler
  • Edge
  • The Great Khali
  • Heath Slater
  • Hunico
  • Jack Swagger
  • JBL
  • John Cena (The Doctor of Thuganomics)
  • John Laurinaitis
  • Justin Gabriel
  • Kane
  • Kevin Nash
  • Kofi Kingston
  • Mark Henry
  • The Miz
  • Primo
  • Randy Orton
  • John Cena
  • Rey Mysterio
  • The Rock
  • R-Truth
  • Santino Marella
  • Sheamus
  • Sin Cara
  • Epico
  • Ted DiBiase
  • Triple H
  • The Undertaker
  • Jinder Mahal
  • Wade Barrett
  • Zack Ryder
  • Alicia Fox
  • Beth Phoenix
  • Brie Bella
  • Eve
  • Kelly Kelly
  • Kharma
  • Nikki Bella
  • Lita
  • AJ Lee (DLC)
  • Damien Sandow (DLC)

All of these are current era Superstars are great, but for the most part they are expected. It would be odd for characters that are currently taking up airtime on WWE programming to not be included, so every year fans speculate on which WWE legends will be coming out of retirement for one more dream match. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin was already confirmed, and after the reveal of a Stone Cold centric WWE 13 Collector's Edition, fans couldn't wait to see which other Attitude Era favorites would be joining the fray. Rest assured that there are plenty of iconic veterans to choose from this time around, and you can see them all below.

  • Road Warrior Animal
  • Big Boss Man
  • Billy Gunn
  • Bradshaw (APA)
  • Bret Hart
  • British Bulldog
  • Cactus Jack
  • Chris Jericho (Y2J)
  • Christian (Edge & Christian)
  • Dude Love
  • Eddie Guerrero
  • Edge (Edge & Christian)
  • Faarooq (APA)
  • The Godfather
  • Road Warrior Hawk
  • Hunter Hearst Helmsley
  • Kane
  • Ken Shamrock
  • Mankind
  • Mark Henry (Nation of Domination)
  • Mr. McMahon
  • "The Big Show" Paul Wight
  • Road Dogg Jesse James
  • The Rock
  • Shane McMahon
  • Shawn Michaels (D-Generation X)
  • "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
  • Triple H (D-Generation X)
  • The Undertaker (The Lord of Darkness)
  • Vader
  • X-Pac
  • Lita (Attitude Era)
  • Stephanie McMahon (The Billion Dollar Princess)
  • Trish Stratus
  • Mike Tyson (Pre-Order Exclusive)

All of these are great wrestlers that will be featured in what we hope will be a great game, but the duplicate fighters are a little bit much. We can understand the desire to provide fans with all three of Mick Foley's memorable personas, but the inclusion of three different Triple Hs is baffling. If these were costumes instead stand alone fighters, then they would be welcome additions, but nobody wanted or needed to have a 'me, myself, and I' match with different versions of the one guy.

With that said, it'll still be a nice trip down memory lane, and it offers gamers who missed out on that time frame to see all of the current WWE Superstars as they were back in the Attitude Era.

What do you think of the roster? Which Superstar would you like to have seen make the final cut?

WWE 13 body slams onto store shelves October 30th for Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii.

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