RAW - WEEK 1

We're off. With everything changed; titles, rosters, rivalries, we can finally delve into the Universe Mode with our current brands: RAW, NXT and Smackdown.

The first show on the agenda is RAW on a Monday night, and here we begin our rivalries which will be the main highlight of the show for many weeks to come.

To kick the show off we saw the two Uso's compete for the first time in singles competition against the two Wyatt family members Luke Harper and Erick Rowan.

• Erick Rowan defeats Jimmy Uso via interference from Luke Harper
• Jey Uso defeats Luke Harper vs pinfall

 - A mixed set of results for the Uso twins. Luke Harper set up a distraction which cost Jimmy Uso his first singles loss on RAW. The same happened again in Jey Usos match, only this time his brother was there to prevent the same outcome.

- After this match the camera went backstage where AJ Lee was speaking to Renee Young about her match against Kaitlyn which was up next. AJ Lee tells Renee that there is no diva in this division which can hold a torch to her, she has worked her entire her life to become the Diva's champion and she will not lose out to a second rate wrestler such as Kaitlyn.

• AJ Lee defeats Kaitlyn via pinfall

- After the diva's match had finished, we saw  Goldust and Cody warming up for their up and coming match against The Shield. Just then the camera turned back to the audience where immediately The Shield's music played and Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Deam Ambrose enter arena through the audience. 

• Cody Rhodes and Goldust defeat Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns via pinfall

- As Cody Rhodes and Goldust are celebrating their victory, all members of The Shield attack the tag team champions. While Cody and Goldust made a valiant effort to gain the upper hand, the numbers game finally caught up with them leaving the Rhodes brothers battered and bruised in the middle of the ring. 

- As the match finished, the camera cut back to The Big Show where he was making his way to the arena for his match against current WWE champion Randy Orton.

• Randy Orton defeats Big Show via pinfall

- Just as the Big Show was getting ready to land the knock out punch on the WWE Champion, The Shields music hit prompting the Big Show to search for where the members of The Shield are. No members show up causing Randy Orton to land the RKO causing an upset, leaving the fans disgruntled at the Viper winning the match.

 

After the match has finished, Monday Night Raw ended Randy Orton stood over the Big Show holding his WWE title.

SMACKDOWN RIVALRIES

Introducing the brand split has allowed both RAW and Smackdown to have a large portion of talent to fill the show. Unlike before where almost the same wrestlers would be on both RAW and Smackdown, the brand split has allowed each show to have its own rivalries and own class of talents.

The same amount of matches are used for both of the shows and the same amount of rivalries as well., Here are the rivalries which will be used on the Smackdown brand:

• John Cena vs Alberto Del Rio - 12 weeks

A long storyline with John Cena the face and Del Rio being the hell in this storyline. After John Cena returned from his elbow surgery and claimed the WHC from Del Rio himself, the Mexican is looking to exact his revenge on one of the biggest stars in world wrestling.

• Curtis Axel vs Dolph Ziggler - 4 weeks

A short rivalry which looks set to keep Dolph Ziggler in the public eye. After cashing in his money in the bank title, things have not looked rosey for the self proclaimed show off. A fresh start is needed and who better than the Intercontinental champion Curtis Axel.

• Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara vs Wade Barrett and Drew Mcintyre - 8 weeks

A medium length feud which will see Wade Barrett and Drew Mcintyre who are now known as The Union have a chance to impose themselves upon the current Smackdown tag team champions; Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara. 

This will be a chance for both tag teams to show case their talents with The Union looking set to make an impact as a serious tag team, and Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara to showcase their own style of wrestling in the ring. 

NXT ROSTER AND FEUDS

After unveiling that I was to have RAW, NXT and Smackdown as my major brands, I failed to mention the NXT's roster that I would be using. After searching through the Custom Creations I managed to build a solid foundation for the show. 

I have included the ECW championship as the shows main title as well as including the second Diva's championship as a minor title.

The current NXT roster stands as this:

• Bo Dallas - NXT Champion
• Paige - NXT Diva's Champion

• Adrien Neville
• Alexa Bliss
• Alexander Rusev
• Angelo Dawkins
• Baron Carbon
• Bayley
• Charlotte
• CJ Parker
• Conor O'Brian
• Corery Graves
• Emma
• Enzo Amore
• Kassius Ohno
• Leo Kruger
• Mason Ryan
• Rick Victor
• Sami Zayn
• Sasha Banks
• Scott Dawson
• Tyler Breeze
• Xavier Woods

As we can this is a solid roster which is capable of creating memorable matches. The current rivalry's I have set concern the two current champions and two of the best stars not holding a title.

• Bo Dallas vs Sami Zayn - 12 week rivalry

A long rivalry but two of the hottest properties in this roster as of right now. A great rivalry will see exciting matches between the two wrestlers. 

• Paige vs Sasha Banks - 12 week rivalry

Another long rivalry, but I don't feel the others are quite ready yet to face Paige for her Diva's Championship. 

• Adrian Neville vs Xavier Woods - 8 week rivalry

A shorter rivalry than the rest and one of the ones I'm most excited for. The up and coming matches between this pair should be interesting to watch to say the least.

RAW RIVALRIES

In my first post I covered the rosters and the shows I would be using in my Universe Mode, along with these rosters 2K have introduced a new rivalry system. The rivalry system can be set to automatic to allow the AI to control what feuds happen with different wrestlers, or you can choose to set these yourself.

Instead of going for the automatic settings I tried to implement some current storylines which are on-going within the WWE right now. 

With only a limited amount of rivalry's available, I opted for some of the biggest ones happening right now:

• Randy Orton vs Big Show for the WWE Champinship

This is the angle I feel the WWE is aiming towards and I have set this rivalry to 8 weeks, which seems the right amount of time for this feud to blossom.

• Cody Rhodes and Goldust vs Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns for the WWE Tag Team Championships

Another feud set for 8 weeks, these are the two best tag teams in the WWE currently and I feel this angle will be exciting enough to continue for this long.

• AJ Lee vs Kaitlyn

A 4 week feud between these two is just enough time to wrap everything up between these divas. The feud doesn't need to be any longer. 

These are good enough feuds with a nice length of time to be getting on with. When the AJ and Kaitlyn story ends, I will try to introduce the Wyatt family angle along with CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. 

WWE 2K14 THE SHOWS AND ROSTERS

Whenever a new game comes out that is sport related, we all like to play Exhibition games to get a general feel of the controls and what suits you best whether it is in terms of wrestling characters or football teams.

WWE 2K14 is no different and after trying both the beginning of Road to Wrestlemania and Exhibition mode I ventured into the Universe World which has had some significant changes from the last WWE game which was made by THQ.

To begin with I decided which I was going to use for my weekly episodes. I could go for the vintage; The Monday Night wars or I could go for the more basic and simple option. I opted for the simpler option preferring to keep my game basic rather than changing it dramatically.

The shows that I decided to use are:

• RAW - Monday Night
• NXT - Wednesday Night
• Smackdown - Friday Night

Along with the monthly PPV that differs depending on the month in hand. I wanted a more authentic game more than the weird and wonderful. I wanted to see if the WWE in its current state could create two rosters with sufficient talent, which would keep audiences hooked with each passing week. 

------

After the shows where decided, it was on to choosing the rosters for each respective brand. To begin with I used the current champions currently as a way of beginning the roster changes.

RAW

• Randy Orton - WWE Champion
• Goldust + Cody Rhodes - WWE Tag Team Champions
• Dean Ambrose - United States Champion
• AJ Lee -  Divas Champion

From here we have a good solid foundation and with fewer titles in just the one show it will allow other stars to try and gain momentum and help make the so called 'lesser titles' important once again.

Smackdown

• John Cena - World Heavyweight Champion
• Rey Mysterio + Sin Cara - Tag Team Champions
• Curtis Axel - Intercontinental Champion

The biggest change is changing John Cena to be the main focal point on the Smackdown brand. While this may be a strange choice, I thought it would help create a sense of importance for the show to have such a high profile star to headline the show.

------

After deciding the champions for each of the brands, I decided to choose 10 wrestlers who I feel are main stream stars and divide them into the different shows.

RAW

• CM Punk
• Big Show
• Brock Lesnar
• Daniel Bryan
• Chris Jeircho

As Brock Lesnar is a part time wrestler in the real world, I have decided not to include him in the shows current feuds. 

Smackdown

• Sheamus
• Mark Henry
• Dolph Ziggler
• Rob Van Dam
• Alberto Del Rio

Alberto Del Rio is one of the best wrestlers for putting on exciting and talented matches, but he doesn't always get the credit he deserves in terms of lacking mic skills (although he has been working hard to impress on this). With him joining Smackdown it should help him hone is promo skills along with being a consistent worker with a variety of wrestlers. 

------

With the main stars out of the way, it is time to move on to the rest of the rosters. 

RAW

• Seth Rollins
• Roman Reigns
• Titus O'Neil
• Darren Young
• Jimmy Uso 
• Jey Uso
• Erick Rowan
• Luke Harper
• Bray Wyatt
• Jinder Mahal
• The Great Khali
• Kane
• Ryback
• Damien Sandow
• Kofi Kingston
• The Miz
• Antonio Cesaro
• Tamina Snuka
• Layla
• Kaitlyn

Smackdown

• Rey Mysterio
• Sin Cara
• Brodus Clay
• Tensai
• Santino Marella
• Zack Ryder
• Diego
• Fernando
• Wade Barrett
• Drew Mcintyre
• Heath Slater
• R-Truth
• Justin Gabriel
• David Otunga
• Christian
• Big E-Langston
• Jack Swagger
• Aksana
• Natalya
• Summer Rae

------

While it seems RAW does have the stronger brand in terms of quality, it will be interesting to see what wrestlers can make an impact on the brands.