The WWE video games take a long time to create, and they have to be prepared in advance. Because of that, the roster is something that often isn't 100% accurate. There are normally wrestlers who have joined the company during the year that signed too late to be featured.
On the other hand, there are also plenty of wrestlers that end up being on the game despite not being part of WWE anymore. This is down to the fact that they get released between the time their characters are created for the game, and when it is made available for people to purchase.
10 Alberto Del Rio (WWE 2K17)
WWE 2K17 featured Alberto Del Rio, which was the final video game that he was involved in during his wrestling career. He had been part of the roster that year, but his time with the company came to an end in September.
Issues behind the scenes caused WWE to make a change and let him move on. His second run wasn't as successful in the first place, but he was still part of the game, with his release happening just a month before the game came out, which was too tight of a turnaround.
9 Emma (WWE 2K18)
Emma had been a featured part of WWE before she was released by the company. Her being let go was something that took a lot of people by surprise as she had just competed against Asuka on a PPV before being cut by WWE.
Because of the shock, it is no surprise she was still featured in WWE 2K18. However, this wasn't a glaring issue because even though Emma was part of the main roster, she wasn't someone involved in the title picture.
8 CM Punk (WWE 2K15)
Of course when WWE 2K15 was being put together, CM Punk was a huge part of the roster. He was one of the biggest names in WWE, so the game was always going to feature him. However, nobody would have predicted the major fallout he and the company had in that period.
Because of that, by the time the game was released to the fans, Punk had been officially released. This meant that he was part of the roster on the game, which is something that Vince McMahon was likely not happy about due to how big of their issues were.
7 Bubba Ray Dudley (WWE 2K17)
While Bubba Ray Dudley hadn't been released, his time with WWE was over by the time WWE 2K17 came out. While D-Von continued to work for the company, that was a choice that Bubba didn't make, which was why his inclusion in the game was surprising.
Bubba Ray had decided to continue working as a wrestler, and he went on to work on the independent scene and with Ring Of Honor. Normally, that would lead to WWE taking him out of a game, but that wasn't the case for him. This is likely because their run had only just ended before it was released.
6 Ricardo Rodriguez (WWE 2K15)
While Ricardo Rodriguez was only a ring announcer, he was a key part of the product during his time with the company. Working as Alberto Del Rio's ring announcer, there was a lot of opportunities for him within storylines, and he did wrestle at times as well.
Because of that, he was featured in the video games, but by the time WWE 2K15 was available, he had been released. His time with WWE came to an end in August, with the game coming out in October, which made his inclusion a surprise.
5 Alberto Del Rio (WWE 2K15)
Alberto Del Rio was also released before the video game coming out, which means he has featured twice while not being under contract. However, the fact he was involved in WWE 2K15 was surprising, because there wasn't just one version of him.
During this time, Del Rio was a main event name, so the developers made a bigger deal out of him. That's why there were three playable versions, which then looked quite foolish when he wasn't even part of the roster when the game came out.
4 The Bella Twins (WWE 2K13)
A lot of people often forget that Nikki and Brie Bella did spend a year out of WWE during their main years as wrestlers. They were released in 2012, and while they returned just a year later when WWE 2K13 came out, they weren't under contract.
Despite that, the twins were kept in the video game. Whether this is because there was knowledge that they would return is unknown, but the ladies were able to be part of the game, which did have a small women's roster, to begin with.
3 Goldust (WWE 2K13)
Goldust was in a similar situation to the Bella Twins in the fact he was released by WWE in 2012, but it wasn't long before he would make his return to the company. He didn't stay away long, and his return saw him put together some of the best years of his wrestling career with Cody.
When 2K13 was released, Goldust wasn't involved in the product. However, he did get featured in the game, perhaps because by that point in his life, he had already reached legendary status.
2 Mike Knox (SmackDown vs. Raw 2011)
Mike Knox was a surprising name to still see involved in SmackDown vs. Raw 2011. The video game was released in October of the year yet the giant wrestler had been let go by Vince McMahon in April of that year.
With so many months between when his WWE career came to an end to when the video game was made playable, it is surprising that he wasn't removed from the game.
1 Vladimir Kozlov (WWE 2K12)
By the time that WWE 2K12 rolled around, Vladimir Kozlov was not the same star that he once was. He was no longer dominating the main event scene, and instead, he had slipped down the card to the point of being a comedic jobber.
Because of that, it wasn't a big surprise when he was released in August of 2011. However, he was still part of the video game that was released in November of that year, with the decision being made to keep him involved.