Well, at least it's in character for him. WWE 2K25's New Wave Pack launched May 14, but without the "celebrity guest" that both 2K and WWE had been teasing for a while. After this guest didn't make the pack release, 2K told us WWE would reveal the celebrity later. Today, the official WWE Games X account revealed that El Grande Americano will replace the celebrity guest.
El Grande Americano will replace the New Wave Pack's celebrity guest. With unique entrance video/music + moveset, he will be automatically entitled to players who own the New Wave Pack, Season Pass, Ringside Pass, Deadman Edition + Bloodline Edition in September. #WWE2K25 pic.twitter.com/5R7hYlbXUM
— #WWE2K25 (@WWEgames) July 14, 2025
For those not up on current WWE programming, the "legendary luchador" El Grande Americano is actually Chad Gable doing a classic mysterious masked man gimmick. As an old-school wrestling fan, I love goofy bits like this. I have fond memories of Dusty Rhodes' stint as "The Midnight Rider" or Junkyard Dog as "Stagger Lee."
But, this is a wrestler that kind of already exists in the game being used to replace a much-hyped celebrity guest we were promised as paid DLC. Fans are understandably unhappy, and have every right to be. Games aren't getting cheaper, publishers should at least be giving the in-game items we were promised we're paying for.
It's worth noting 2K is the same company that made NBA 2K24 players grind for a Kobe Bryant reward that suddenly vanished right before the deadline. It was a huge blemish on a game already under fire for its manipulative microtransactions and tactics similar to what casinos use. WWE 2K now even has its own MyTEAM mode, because money. It sure looks like 2K sold something it wasn't able to keep the rights to- again.
The wrestlers in DLC also typically get cards in MyFACTION. I'd assume El Grande gets one as well, but that wasn't addressed in the announcement.