Reviewing the Best and Worst of WWE 2K19's Superstar Ratings Ahead of Release

WWE 2K19 launches on October 9; those who pre-order will receive the game on October 5. The developers are promoting this latest annual release as the best, most comprehensive game in the franchise's history.

The developers engineered 250 new animations and reactions (via motion capture), and the commentators recorded over 15,000 lines of new dialogue. 2K Showcase Mode is back, featuring a highlight reel of Daniel Bryan's greatest moments. 

One of the best parts of each annual release, at least for hardcore wrestling fans, is to check out the Superstar ratings. Each character is ranked on a 99-point scale, which determines how effective he or she is as an in-game performer. The landscape of professional wrestling is ever-shifting, and whenever an officially licensed product has the temerity to "rank" the WWE Superstars, it fosters immediate controversy and debate.

2K has unveiled most of its character ratings already. Here are, in our opinion, the best (perfectly rated) and worst (underrated) of the bunch, so far.

"Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase: 85

Credit: 2K Games

Verdict: Just Right

Ted DiBiase is the walking personification of 85. He's a solid hand in the ring with a great presence. He was a WWE Tag Team Champion, a self-appointed, 2-time Million Dollar Champion and a King of the Ring, but he never held the WWE Championship (though he did try to buy it).

DiBiase was a consistent, charismatic upper midcard performer who contended for the Intercontinental Championship, but he never captured it. Add a point for his "Legend" status, and that's what an 85 (at least for the men) ought to signify.

Kairi Sane: 79

Credit: 2K Games

Verdict: Too Low

Kairi Sane is still in the NXT developmental league, which probably caps her rating slightly. But even so, 79 is too low. Sane beat Shayna Baszler twice: once in the Mae Young Classic last year and again at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn IV, where she clinched the NXT Women's Championship for the first time.

And yet somehow, Baszler is ranked an 81, and Sane is ranked a 79. Granted, Baszler was favored in both of their matches together; she's much bigger than Sane, and she lost her title in Brooklyn on a roll-up pin. But even so, the end results speak for themselves. The wins were clean, and they ought to count for more.

Finn Balor: 85 (Demon: 87)

Credit: 2K Games

Verdict: Just Right

Finn Balor is a former Universal champion who's been fighting on the bubble of the main event. He loses close matches to the main eventers (thus why he hasn't broken through), and he destroys everyone directly underneath him. That's good enough to warrant an 85 and no higher.

The "Demon" Balor is ranked an 87, which is a wonderful bit of kayfabe—that Balor, like a video game character, has an Easy mode and a God mode; when he taps into his dark side, he takes his game up a notch.

The makeup is increasingly rare these days, which makes it that much more impactful.

Andre the Giant: 87

Credit: 2K Games

Verdict: Too Low

The Eighth Wonder of the World ought to be ranked higher than 87. In storyline, Andre was undefeated for close to 15 years. He was so dominant that during the old days, he would travel all over the country as a special attraction. He never stayed in one place too long, lest his dominance become redundant and kill the local territory.

Hulk Hogan's victory over Andre at WrestleMania III was iconic for a reason. A performer like that deserves a rating that is larger than life—certainly larger than "Macho Man" Randy Savage's (90) or Bret Hart's (91).

Braun Strowman: 89

Credit: WWE.com

Verdict: Too Low

Braun Strowman is the Immovable object to Roman Reign's Irresistible Force; whenever the two of them lock up in the ring, it's certain to be an unbridled slugfest that's impossible to call. So why is Strowman ranked an 89, whereas Roman is ranked a 92?

Strowman should be at least a 91, if not a 92. He won the Greatest Royal Rumble. He won the Money in the Bank. He flipped over two tractor trailers. What does a Monster have to do to earn a couple extra points?

The Miz: 86

Credit: WWE.com

Verdict: Just Right

This is a tough one. Based on his record alone, Miz deserves to be an 86. He's a longtime, all-time Intercontinental Champion, a former WWE Champion, a Tag Team Champion and a Money in the Bank holder. He holds a victory over Roman Reigns. The results speak for themselves.

Or do they? It's important to note that Miz has attained most of his major victories via creative cheating, often with outside assistance from his various managers, valets and cronies. Speaking strictly skill-wise, Miz's rating should be lower. But that doesn't explain his stellar win/loss record and consistent dominance. Wrestling games struggle to make "cheating heel tactics" into a viable gameplay strategy, in a way that one wrestler is objectively "better" at it than another

So, 86 is a perfect rating for the Miz. But, it might be for the wrong reasons.

AJ Styles: 91

Credit: 2K Games

Verdict: Just Right

AJ Styles is one of the most dominant performers on the current roster. And thus, it's appropriate that he outranks everyone on the active roster with the exception of two performers: Roman Reigns (92) and Brock Lesnar (93).

There's not much more to say beyond that; phenomenal is as phenomenal does. It also means that barring a massive Superstar Shake-up, Styles might be WWE champion for a while longer, unless Samoa Joe (88) uses some underhanded tactics to get the upper hand in Australia.

Sarah Logan: 70

Credit: 2K Games

Verdict: Too Low

Yes, she just got to the main roster. And yes, she's mostly been a lackey for Ruby Riott, as opposed to her own woman. But Sarah Logan had a solid performance at the first Women's Royal Rumble, and she puts up too much of a fight in her matches to be ranked a 70. Two or three more points would still place her below the more experienced main-roster women while also alluding to her growing potential.

Asuka: 84

Credit: WWE.com

Verdict: Too Low

This woman had a longer win streak than Goldberg, but she's now ranked an 84—down from WWE 2K18, when she was ranked an 87. Ronda Rousey is now ranked an 87—which is understandable—but Asuka should not have been demoted to this dramatic extent.

Then again, she did lose to Charlotte and Carmella, and now she's engaged in tag team shenanigans with Naomi. This might be more of an indictment of WWE's Creative team, which took the scariest woman on the roster and made her into a goofy side act. Let's hope things look up for the Empress in the near future, so this rating can go back to where it deserves to be.

John Cena: 89

Credit: 2K Games

Verdict: Just Right

Once upon a time—no less than two or three years ago—Cena was still the face of the company. That is no longer the case; he's lost more matches and been absent for longer periods of time. And though he's still dominant, his rating of 89 captures his new reality. He's no longer good enough to win against the bonafide main eventers, but he's still in the hunt and he puts up one hell of a fight.