From the hard hits to high-flying maneuvers, there are few people out there capable of performing the feats of athleticism professional wrestlers are capable of. It is this athleticism that is on full display in WWE 2K22, a game which is already proving to be a notable improvement over the problematic launch that was 2019’s WWE 2K20. That said, bringing this athleticism to life within the confines of a game often means developers need the aid of professional wrestlers for motion capture, and Impact Wrestling star Chris Bey gave fans a taste of his work on WWE 2K22 on Twitter.
Bey, nicknamed the “Ultimate Finesser,” is a 26-year-old rising star in the world of professional wrestling who made his in-ring debut in 2017 for the Los Angeles-based promotion PCW Ultra. He would be signed by Impact Wrestling in 2018, where he can be seen regularly on Impact’s weekly TV show and is a former X-Division Champion. Bey is also the newest member of the Bullet Club, a popular faction which began in New Japan Pro-Wrestling and previously featured stars AJ Style, Kenny Omega, Cody Rhodes, and The Young Bucks, to name a few, and is currently led by “Switchblade” Jay White.
With players getting their hands on WWE 2K22, Bey took a moment on Twitter to highlight his contributions in developer Visual Concepts’ motion capture studio. The clip features a recreation of WCW Halloween Havoc 1997, in the 2K Showcase mode, where Rey Mysterio took on Eddie Guerrero for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. Bey said he was proud to contribute the flipping DDT seen in the clip, a move he said he was proud of nailing in only four tries.
While Bey’s involvement may come as a surprise to some players, it has been the norm for studios working on WWE games for several years. AEW and independent wrestlers like Brian Cage, Jeff Cobb, Kris Statlander, Kylie Rae, Scorpio Sky, and Nicole Savoy are just a few of the names credited with performing motion capture during WWE 2K20’s development.
The same can be said of WWE 2K22’s list of motion capture performers which, beside Bey, includes a whose-who of wrestlers from outside WWE. Names include the aforementioned Scorpio Sky and Nicole Savoy, alongside independent stars like Jacob Fatu, Jack Cartwheel, Kenny King, and Jorel Nelson. The motion capture credits also include several former WWE superstars including Lio Rush, TJP, Fred Rosser, Paul London, and Katie Lea Burchill.
WWE 2K22 is scheduled to release March 11, 2022, on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
