Early access to WWE 2K23 is already leading to some incredible Create-A-Superstar wrestlers, as shown by one player's impressive AEW World Champion MJF design. Create-A-Superstar is one of the WWE 2K franchise's most popular features. It allows players to make their own wrestlers, allowing for in-depth customization and even face photo capture textures. WWE 2K23 is the franchise's most impressive Create-A-Superstar mode yet, even allowing players to create wrestlers from WWE competitors like AEW with relative ease.
WWE 2K23 has around 250 wrestlers made for the game, including those included with the standard edition, pre-order bonuses, special edition DLC, and post-launch DLC. But what it doesn't feature is wrestlers from other professional wrestling promotions, like All Elite Wrestling. Unsurprisingly, WWE fans are often also fans of AEW, and among AEW's wrestlers its current champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman is particularly loved (or hated, depending on who is asked).
Reddit user OmegamanX44 decided they needed MJF in WWE 2K23 as soon as possible and made the AEW World Champion via the Create-A-Superstar mode. A photo shared on the WWEGames subreddit shows off the impressive custom wrestler, capturing MJF in incredible detail. OmegamanX44 says that their MJF creation's "head morph still needs work," but is otherwise happy with the result. When asked how they're so good at creating custom characters, OmegamanX44 says it takes hours of making "crappy versions" of the wrestler until it clicks.
The version of MJF that OmegamanX44 designed to bring into WWE 2K23 is a recent one. As source material, OmegamanX44 appears to have used MJF from his recent 60-minute Ironman Match against former WWE superstar Bryan Danielson at the Revolution 2023 PPV. This is clear due to MJF's all-white ring gear, a choice the AEW World Champion appears to have made due to a significant amount of blood being spilled in the match. By the match's end, MJF's white ring gear was stained red, capturing MJF's nickname of "The Devil" well.
It's incredibly unlikely the WWE 2K franchise of video games will ever partner with other wrestling promotions, whether it be AEW, NJPW, Stardom, Impact, or otherwise. But the continued polishing of the Create-A-Wrestler mode offers an impressive way to get around that. WWE 2K23's custom character uploads already include a huge number of AEW wrestlers available to download.
AEW fans are understandably anxious, too. AEW Fight Forever, the first full wrestling video game from the relatively young promotion, is currently in limbo as it deals with ratings approval issues and trademark disputes. AEW Fight Forever is believed to be ready for release, pending a few necessary happenings occurring. In the meantime, AEW fans can make the wrestlers they love in WWE 2K23.
WWE 2K23 fully releases March 17 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.