WWE 2K22 has been released to critical acclaim but how does one of its biggest new modes, MyRise, work?

MyRise essentially takes the place of the usual MyCareer mode that has been present in so many WWE 2K games in previous years.

It is a branching story mode and there will be plenty of options for you to alter your career path as you begin at the Performance Center and look to work your way onto the main roster.

Reports have suggested that there could be as many as 50 hours of gameplay available to the player, with the option there to wrestle as either a male or female superstar. Both genders are likely to have different branching career paths.

You will also wrestle a number of opponents only found in MyRise, and not usable in exhibition, Universe Mode, or MyGM, such as Dominik Dijakovic and Nikki Cross, before they became T-Bar and Nikki A.S.H respectively.

Still, we have put together a guide on how MyRise works, so you’ve got the full lowdown on the game as you aim to become WWE Universal Champion, or WWE Raw/SmackDown Women’s Champion.

WWE 2K22 MyRise Guide

Rey Mysterio WWE 2K22

The first port of call is to create your wrestler; if you’re anything like us, this is likely to take hours.

You’ll build your character from the ground up, changing their attire, and also assigning finishing moves and entrance motions.

It’s an in-depth creation suite and one that can be used to create any kind of WWE superstar you want but the first thing you’ll be asked to do is choose your background, which will then see you provided with presets from which you can build your character.

What backgrounds are there?

They all have in-depth backstories and will have an effect on the way in which you’re treated in WWE, and will also grant certain attribute boosts depending on your selection.

The backgrounds are as follows.

MMA – You’ll be a legitimate fighter here, much like Brock Lesnar, Bobby Lashley, and Ronda Rousey. You’ll get a 5% boost to arm power, a 5% boost to leg power, and 10% boost to technical submission defence.

Pro Athlete – You’ve made the jump from a different sport here, most likely American Football, like Roman Reigns. You’ll get a 5% boost to agility, a 5% boost to grapple offense, and a 10% boost to body durability.

Indie – As it sounds, you’ve made your name on the independent professional wrestling circuit, much like Kevin Owens! You’ll be granted the following boosts: 5% boost to grapple reversal, 5% boost to technical submission offense, and a 10% boost to aerial offense.

Actor – You’ll be an actor turned wrestler, just like The Miz! This will grant you a 5% boost to recovery, a 5% boost to technical submission offense, and a 10% boost to aerial offense.

As soon as you make your character, you’ll be sent to the Performance Center. If you’ve chosen a male character, you’ll be trained by Shawn Michaels and Road Dogg. If you’ve chosen a female character, you’ll be trained by Beth Phoenix.

Can you wrestle on Raw straight away?

Not quite.

You’ll go into the Performance Center and you’ll have to win matches in order to impress the top decision makers in WWE.

If you do well, eventually you’ll be granted the chance to perform in front of the general managers of the top brands: Raw’s Mandy Rose, SmackDown’s Adam Pearce, and NXT’s William Regal.

We made a male superstar and chose to wrestle Drew McIntyre at the Performance Center. Win that match and you can be signed to Raw by Mandy Rose. If you lose – which we did, if we’re honest – you’ll be handed a contract by NXT.

That isn’t such a bad thing, as there are unlockables that can only be found in the black and yellow brand.

But if we’d beaten Drew, we might well have been offered a contract by Mandy and given the chance to wrestle on Monday nights. We just couldn’t get the job done.

How do feuds start?

This is a key part of MyRise and there will be plenty of storylines for you to participate in, and plenty of matches for you to compete in.

In NXT, for example, you’re likely to cross paths with the likes of Finn Balor, Jonny Gargano, and Damian Priest.

The feuds can be started in several ways. You could see a wrestler in a backstage area and talk to them, before potentially being challenged to a match. You could go the GM’s office and be told that you’ll be fighting a particular superstar, potentially in a title match, depending on how far into the game you’ve progressed.

But another big part of the game is social media. You’ll be able to access it from the MyRise hub, where you’ll see a Twitter timeline, populated by various wrestlers.

Sometimes you’ll receive DMs from them, and sometimes you’ll be able to reply to them when they call you out.

It isn’t possible to write your own tweets in the game but there are options for each response you pick, depending on whether you’re a heel or a babyface (bad guy or good guy). You could also choose to duck a fight if you so wish.

Are you a babyface or a heel?

This is entirely dependent on you and the decisions you make in the game, but it seems to primarily rely on your decisions in stories, instead of in matches.

You could, for example, use chairs and kendo sticks throughout a match as a babyface and remain that way. This is what happened for us.

However, in certain stories, you’ll be confronted with a choice that you can make that could alter your alignment.

For example, before we faced Finn Balor for the NXT Championship, we were advised to speak to Samoa Joe, the last person to beat his ‘Demon’ persona before Roman Reigns did so on the main roster.

We did that and were asked to help him in his match with Braun Strowman by performing a pre-match run-in. We chose to do so, and then accepted Joe’s help in the match against Balor, meaning he performed a mid-match run-in. the choice wasn’t without consequences, as Strowman ran in to even the odds, but it altered our alignment and effectively served as a heel turn.

How do you level up?

Winning matches and progressing storylines grants you attribute points that you can spend.

This system isn’t as deep as most RPGs but it is cool to see your character constantly progressing, and you can upgrade things like aerial offense, if you want to be a high-flyer, or submissions, if you want to make you opponents tap out.

Eventually, you’re likely to have a hugely upgraded superstar that will be able to take on even the most difficult opponents.

Roman Reigns, we’re coming for you!

Can you switch brands?

Yes but only at certain times.

There will be a Superstar Shake-Up every year that will allow you to change from one brand to another.

For example, we started on NXT and then moved over to SmackDown once we were granted the opportunity.

To do so, we had progressed throughout a number of stories in NXT and we actually held both the NXT Championship and the NXT North American Championship.

We went into William Regal’s office and were given the chance to participate in the Shake-Up. It was made clear to us that if we wanted to go to RAW, we’d need to win a tag team match. If we wanted to move to SmackDown, we’d need to win a singles match. We were matched up with Johnny Gargano and won the match, allowing us to move to SmackDown.

Be aware that if you do choose to move, you’ll automatically forfeit any championships that you hold. We vacated the NXT and North American Championships upon our move to SmackDown.

Can you edit your character’s look on the fly?

Yep, absolutely!

We’d recommend it, too, as you’ll be spending a fair amount of time wrestling as one character in MyRise.

The hub menu allows you to edit your appearance, so you can change the way you look, potentially based on unlocks in the mode, and also alter your entrance, so you change the way you walk down the ramp.

If you’re a babyface at the start of your journey but then turn heel, we’d recommend altering your attire. You don’t have to, but it adds a layer of realism to the experience.

Can you edit your moveset?

Yep.

Again, we’d absolutely recommend this, because it will offer you the ability to completely change the way your superstar performs.

At the start, you’ll have a very limited selection of potential finishing moves, but once the moveset editor is unlocked, you can make significant changes to everything about your moveset, including your light, heavy, and special attacks.

We went through NXT with the Batista Bomb as our finisher but we changed it to a very cool looking F10 – like Brock Lesnar’s F5 but twice as impactful – when we got to the main roster.

How many locations are there?

A fair few!

Once you’re in the MyRise mode, you can hop between various locations, from the GM’s office, to a pool hall, to hotel rooms.

Going to speak to the GM will likely grant storyline bonuses – like title matches – but going to the pool hall will give you the chance to speak to fans, who might ask you to do some very random things.

We, for example, fought Cameron Grimes in NXT because he was leaving bad reviews for a fan’s podcast. Like we said, it can be random.