I love basketball, I love wrestling, and I log hundreds of hours in both WWE 2K and NBA 2K annually. But as I've mentioned, I had zero interest in playing as any NBA stars in WWE 2K25. I'm from Louisiana, and related to Shaquille O' Neal by marriage, and I didn't have any interest in using him even. But the Dunk and Destruction Pack has changed my mind on at least one of the celebrity guest stars.
Indiana Pacers superstars Tyrese Haliburton enters the game, complete with a Tyrese 3:17 T-shirt. His character is so much fun he may become my new main. He gives me Bill Clinton in NBA Jam vibes in that it's so ridiculous you just have to go with it.
I could almost feel my opponent's frustration in one match as they used an actual WWE wrestler doing actual wrestling moves and were thwarted by a pro basketball point guard. At one point, they went for a top-rope move. Usually, wrestlers in the game counter this with a gut shot, maybe a power slam, or a finisher such as an RKO if applicable. Haliburton caught them and did a weird package powerbomb thing that looked as if he were turning them into a basketball and dunking them backwards.
I was hooked by the ludicrousness of it all. Moves such as turning your opponent into a basketball scream "Joke Character" but Tyrese 3:17 can really go in the ring. His punches come out lightning fast, making him an excellent striker. I wanted to be the grumpy old writer guy, but I was having too much fun with this character.
Perhaps, in a cast of over 200 wrestlers, there's more room than I thought for a character that's not meant to be taken seriously.