For the first time in company history, a cover star will be chosen by a fan vote for the upcoming WWE 2K27 video game.
The announcement came on September 10, with it being confirmed that Club WWE subscribers will be able to choose a WWE 2K27 cover star from a limited number of options.
With such a choice exclusive to those signed up to Club WWE, fans are likely to see more opportunities to influence certain decisions in the future.
What form could such engagement take? Let’s take a look at the options:
The John Cena Classic
A tournament between main roster and NXT stars that will see fans vote for the winner, John Cena has previously stated that they are trying to figure out that particular aspect to avoid it being hijacked.
The John Cena Classic is yet to have a date confirmed for when fans will be able to see it take place, although a recent report suggested December as the “currently planned date“.
The fan vote aspect would be a good fit for Club WWE, effectively locking the decision behind a paywall instead of conducting it through the official website or a social media platform.
Interactive Premium Live Event
In the early 2000s, WWE experimented with fan votes for Taboo Tuesday and Cyber Sunday, allowing viewers to influence aspects of matches from opponents through to stipulations.
Initially via the official WWE website, voting moved to text message for US mobile carriers in 2008. While both technologies were not as ubiquitous as they would later become, there was obviously room for the potential rigging of votes both by enthusiastic fans and WWE themselves, to get a specific outcome.
Cyber Sunday would come to an end in 2008, leading to the fan interaction continuing through the shortlived WWE Active element of select episodes of Raw.
Through Club WWE, a paywalled voting system would minimize, though not necessarily eliminate, any of the issues that Cyber Sunday encountered, with fans signed up to the service arguably likely to be more invested in seeing a particular aspect delivered than the wider social media fandom.
WWE Hall Of Fame
With so many categories in the annual Hall of Fame ceremony, a fan vote wouldn’t be a stretch.
Last year’s ceremony saw the first “Immortal Moment”, with Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin from WrestleMania 13 being the one chosen. That would be a likely candidate for a fan vote, with WWE steering the ship by providing a number of potential immortal moments.
There’s also the potential to do something along the lines of the Warrior Award, recognizing those who “exhibited unwavering strength and perseverance, and who live life with the courage and compassion that embodies the indomitable spirit of the Ultimate Warrior.” With Dana Warrior no longer associated with WWE and the award discontinued, there’s an opportunity to revisit the recognition of “unwavering strength and perseverance” without association to the Ultimate Warrior name.
The Fans Have Their Say
WWE fans, as with fans of any other wrestling company, are a passionate bunch, happy to share their thoughts (positive and negative) on a range of topics that they see.
Nick Khan may have stated that WWE doesn’t cater to social media criticism in recent comments, yet a fan vote wouldn’t be in the same arena. The #GiveDivasAChance movement on Twitter heralded a change of direction for WWE when it came to women’s wrestling, while live reactions still have an impact on the direction of travel for some stars. Offering fan interaction and engagement as a core factor of Club WWE, with meaningful outcomes, may just be what’s needed.
To make sure you stay up to date with all the biggest wrestling and WrestleTalk news, follow us on Threads by clicking this link!
Comments.
Loading comments…