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While the TV viewing figures for WWE in the USA show the McMahon dynasty battling upstarts AEW for supremacy, in Canada the brand remains as strong as ever.
Indeed, the viewing figures north of the border are reaching levels not seen since Calgary stars Bret and the sadly-departed Owen Hart ruled the roost, with both RAW and SmackDown continuing to outgun the competitor’s Dynamite and Rampage.
The re-emergence of Edge after a career-halting injury, plus the ascendance of Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Natalya Neidhart, has ensured that Canadians have plenty of their own stars to cheer for, and offers an insight into why the country remains one of the key markets for the McMahons outside of the US. It’s why SmackDown continues to return to Canada on a regular basis.
DON’T. MISS. THIS.
After 17 years, WWE Friday Night Smackdown is coming to Winnipeg!
🎫 Tickets are on sale NOW! Don’t wait, get the best seats in the house today! https://t.co/8Z1OxAqSiy pic.twitter.com/CEmmqZrWVG— Canada Life Centre (@CanadaLifeCtr) November 19, 2021
Every market needs its supply, and Canada gets its WWE fix courtesy of Sportsnet, who hold the rights to show RAW and SmackDown north of the border. And that agreement has now been expanded to cover the NXT brand until 2024 too, which ensures that each of the three main WWE franchises will take their place on the schedule amongst the NHL, NBA and other major North American organizations.
The WWE’s status as a prominent sports brand is assured, but it’s also bleeding into other areas of entertainment too. The popular WWE 2K series will return next year – more details on that in a moment – to continue the long lineage of video games based on wrestling’s high flyers, and other forms of gaming have also begun to use similar tropes. There’s the Wrestlemania pinball machine, the WWE Legends slot game and other online slots too, with Wild Luchador, a slot popular at Genesis Casino, a site often named in lists looking for the best online casino to win money, making the most of masked stars just like Rey Mysterio Jr.
WWE2k Series Ready for Maiden Next-Gen Console Release
Following the cancellation of WWE 2K21, the demand for the return of the series has reached fever pitch – especially now that 2K Sports have given a preliminary release date. If all goes as planned, WWE 2K22 will hit the shelves in March 2022 – the first edition in the franchise’s history to get a PS5 and Xbox Series X release.
That will of course enable the developer to flex their creative muscle more, both in terms of the fluidity of the gameplay but also in the resolution of the graphics too.
We couldn’t resist sooooo… here’s a little taste and 10 reasons why #WWE2K22 will HIT DIFFERENT! 👊💥Enjoy! pic.twitter.com/KIZ61BmGik
— #WWE2K22 (@WWEgames) November 18, 2021
It’s fair to say that the movement of the superstars in wrestling games hasn’t always been the smoothest, and a lack of physical likeness between the characters and their real-life counterparts has often drawn the ire of gamers desperate for realism.
But the early screen grabs and trailer videos suggest that 2k Games have absolutely nailed this aspect of the production – the Canadian king, Edge, looks fantastic in the promotional content released so far, as do Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar and a host of other superstars that will feature in the end product.
You’ll be able to see for yourself when the playable demo drops at some point in the early months of 2022.