Earlier this week, Microsoft and The Coalition made one of the most hilariously bizarre announcements in recent memory when it was revealed that professional wrestler Batista would be coming to Gears 5 as a playable character. This unexpected but very much welcome addition to Gears 5 has come about through a partnership with WWE and Microsoft that will see Batista being added to the game for free later in September.
Of course, as soon as the announcement regarding Batista was made though, my head began swirling with ideas of other wrestlers that should be added to the game's roster. I mean, why stop at just the addition of one wrestler in Gears 5, right?
With this in mind, here are the 10 professional wrestlers, both from the past and from today, that I'd love to see somehow come to the game.
Stone Cold Steve Austin
If you wanna see Stone Cold in Gears 5, gimme a hell yeah! (Hell yeah!) The Texas Rattlesnake is one of the best to ever lace up his boots and oddly seems to be a perfect fit in the Gears universe thanks to his gruff, take no prisoners attitude. Stone Cold should absolutely be in Gears 5 and that's the bottom line.
Ric Flair
Ric Flair is the best wrestler of all-time, don't @ me. As such, the GOAT needs to be added to Gears 5 ahead of potentially anyone else on this list. I'd also love to see both Cole Train and Flair doing battle side-by-side in the game considering how much they each would be wooing left and right. I'd love to style and profile all over fools online in Gears 5 with The Nature Boy, and I'm sure I'm not alone with that sentiment.
Xavier Woods
Xavier Woods has over the past few years become the wrestler most synonymous with video games through his YouTube channel UpUpDownDown. He's also in the process of trying to start his own game studio in the future as well. Considering how much he's brought both the wrestling and gaming communities together over the years, it only seems right that he then be immortalized in Gears 5.
He's also a friend of ours here at DualShockers and is just a generally good dude, which is reason enough for me to want to see him added to the lineup.
Macho Man Randy Savage (as Bone Saw)
Look, it'd be one thing to add Macho Man alone to Gears 5. He's one of the most famous wrestlers of all-time, so his appearance on this list shouldn't come as a surprise. But for me, I don't want to just see Macho Man in his usual form brought to Gears 5. No, instead I want him to take the form of Bone Saw, from the hit film Spider-Man.
Think about it: most rounds of Gears 5's Versus mode are pretty short. They're perfect for Bone Saw's catchphrase, "I got you for three minutes! Three minutes of playtime!" Can you imagine him shouting that before that beginning of every round? Because I sure can and that's a reality I want to live in.
Yokozuna
I'm gonna be honest, I just really want to see Yokozuna in Gears 5 because of how massive he is. While every character in the Gears series has always been jacked out of their minds, Yokozuna would take things to another level in terms of size. Plus, I just think it'd be funny to see someone the size of a sumo wrestler bouncing in and out of cover at breakneck speeds while trying to blast away enemies with a Gnasher. Let's make it happen.
Randy Orton
Gears 5 has actually added ultimate abilities in both Horde and Escape modes this time around, which is a big change for the series. When I started to think of which wrestler I would like to see have an ultimate ability at their disposal (which would more than likely take the form of theirrespective finisher) the one that jumped to my mind first was Randy Orton. Blame it on the memes that have come about over the past few years, but I'd love to see the RKO make its way into Gears 5.
Basically, Orton is included here on this list purely because I want to RKO the Swarm into oblivion a thousand times over.
The Gobbledy Gooker
Put some respect on The Gobbledy Gooker's name, folks. While this character has long been considered to be one of the worst in WWE history, I think it's time for a redemption arc. What better way to at long last redeem The Gobbledy Gooker than by putting him in some random shooter video game that largely has nothing to do with wrestling? I can't think of anything better, personally. Someone give this turkey a Lancer.
Cody Rhodes
Now it's time to get some AEW representation on this list. Cody Rhodes, the Executive VP of the newest wrestling company around, has always been a huge proponent of games. I mean, he's worn Metal Gear Solid V Snake attire to the ring before for goodness sake. While The American Nightmare hasn't donned any Gears of War-style gear before, he's still on a shortlist of current day wrestlers that deserve to do battle alongside the COG and Swarm.
Kenny Omega
Kenny "The Cleaner" Omega is on this list for similar reasons as Rhodes. Omega is a pretty big video game player and has had his two passions cross over with one another a handful of times. Likely the most famous instance of this happening was when he wore a Destiny 2-inspired Osiris outfit down to the ring at Wrestle Kingdom 12. Kenny is a great guy and is a huge proponent of gaming, so bringing him into something like Gears only seems right.
He's also just probably the best wrestler in the world at this given moment and as such deserves a spot on the Gears 5 roster.
Asuka
Asuka rules. Not only is she one of the best women wrestlers in the business right now, but she's also obsessed with video games. Heck, as of this writing, she just started her own gaming YouTube channel a few days back. While I'm not sure how much she plays shooter games (she seems to play Monster Hunter more than anything) it'd be fun to see her thrown into Gears 5, especially if her character model were to wear her iconic, colorful ring attire.