What’s in the hatch?
That’s what WWE’s Twitter account was teasing in the days leading up to last night’s RAW. Fan imagination obviously went wild, with people guessing everything from the return of the Wyatt Family to the debut of Finn Balor.
Well, it turns out the big mystery had nothing to do with any wrestler on the current roster, but it did have something to do with one of the industry’s most controversial talents: Goldberg. See, the whole “What’s in the hatch” mystery turned out to be a commercial for the upcoming WWE 2K17 video game, where it was revealed that you can preorder the title and get Goldberg as a bonus.
Much like Sting’s preorder bonus from 2K15, this one also has two versions of Goldberg: the black-trunked version from WCW and the black-and-white trunks from his WWE run. Talk about variety, eh? To make up for the lack of color palette on Goldberg, 2K is also throwing in two retro WCW arenas to play in: WCW Nitro and Halloween Havoc.
It’s not known which Halloween Havoc ring it will actually be, but my money is on the 1998 version, which is where Goldberg had perhaps his best match against DDP for the WCW World Heavyweight Title.
As any WWE 2K fan knows, news on the annual preorder bonus is only the first shot in the marketing campaign for the title that usually culminates each year in a giant roster reveal around SummerSlam. We still have two months before that, so expect small bits of news to trickle out over the next few weeks.
Outside of a vague Fall 2016 release date window and the latest news about Goldberg, we know very little about WWE 2K17, but it’s clear 2K is still leaning heavily on the nostalgia factor for its annual grappler. The inclusion of Goldberg could point toward even more WCW content to come; maybe even a full-blown Monday Night War Showcase Mode like we saw last year with the Stone Cold Steve Austin Showcase.
We’ll probably find out by the time SummerSlam rolls around. For now, you can preorder the game here.
