WWE 2K22 is finally out in the wild, and there are many who are putting the long-awaited My GM mode through its paces. My GM Mode is one of the game’s most addictive elements for a variety of reasons, including the fact that you can go about building your dream WWE show in several different ways. From the WWE Draft all the way to WrestleMania, you’ll look to build a powerhouse roster and put on a memorable card while keeping track of contracts, costs, rosters, ratings, fans, and more. While there are several ways to go about becoming the top show, we’ve got 7 tips that should help you along in your quest for brand supremacy, and you can check them all out starting on the next slide.
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When building your roster through the draft, you’ll have several options regarding how you build it and how you approach your initial budget, and what it should be spent on, so even from the first screen, you are making decisions that will have ripple effects throughout your GM journey.
You’ll need to pay attention to what you’re spending but also how you’re spending and if what you are spending money on is rewarding that investment. The same goes for booking, as putting a rocket on one Superstar that’s a favorite is fine, but you will need to be mindful of who you are pairing them against and if that rivalry is getting over with the fans.
Plus, you’ll need to factor in what the Superstars themselves want and how that affects your everyday booking. Then you’ve got Commissioner goals, Power Cards, and Legends in the mix to put you over the top, but it’s all about knowing how to get the most out of the tools to help you succeed.
Hit the next slide to find our 7 tips on My GM Mode, and let us know what you think of the new mode in the comments or on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!
Draft a Balanced Roster
One of the earliest choices to make that will affect your ability to put on great shows is the WWE Draft, which is literally the first thing you do in My GM. After 8 rounds you can stop drafting, though the opposing brand probably won’t, so you might lose a few people if you opt-out too early. I would recommend at least 12 Superstars, which should fill your roster nicely and allow some flexibility from week to week, which is paramount because Triple H will throw you curveballs that will leave you without certain people randomly at times and there is always the threat of injury that could sideline someone.
Balanced is also the way to handle your ratio of babyfaces and heels, as having enough of both is key to creating compelling rivalries. Splitting your 12 superstars into 6 Men and 6 Women and then splitting that into 3 faces and heels for each division should provide enough wiggle room early on, as some of your proposed combinations probably won’t mesh so you’ll want to experiment a bit. This should get you at least 2 rivalries to work with for your first few weeks and pay-per-view.
Don’t Blow Your Whole Budget on the Roster
So there are typically two major schools of thought in the Draft. One is to either spend all your money and keep drafting until it’s all gone, while the other is to only draft who you absolutely have to and then have all this money left over to do other things.
The true answer is somewhere in between but leans more towards building a roster that holds expensive heavy hitters and more affordable stars that will deliver great matches and feuds to help build your ratings. I would say once again split this, with 6 more expensive stars and 6 less expensive stars. This should leave you plenty of money to build your first few shows with and invest in some upgrades and power cards, which will be key to you getting off to a hot start.
Also remember that you can sign free agents and bring in Legends whenever you want, so leaving some money in the account will benefit you so much in the early going.
Experiment with the Mid Card
So in My GM mode, each show has 5 sections, split into the Opener, a promo, the Mid Card, a promo, and then the Main Event, and the game grades you on your booking prowess, telling you to make sure you book a high energy opener and then a satisfying main event. This will be key to beating the opposing brand, but also gives you a built-in spot to experiment and test out new matchups, so take advantage.
If you sign a new free agent, stick them in the second match against a new opponent to see if you can kick off a rivalry. You can also take someone who you want (or need if they’ve requested it) to get more TV time and have them jump into a Tag Team and see how it goes. Even if it’s a little lower-rated, this is the perfect spot to find potential new rivalries and fan favorites, so don’t forget to always maximize it each week.
Maximize Your Promos
Promos in My GM are just as essential (if not in some ways more so) than a standard match, as they allow you to build rivalries, earn extra cash, gain popularity, switch between face and heel, and gain extra fans. You only have two slots, so don’t just waste them at random.
Promos are the perfect way to build rivalries if you’ve got a pay-per-view around the corner. If you want the match to act as the conclusion to the rivalry, having one superstar call out the other has a high chance of knocking the rivalry rating (1 – 4) up one more level before the next week rolls around, and then you can have them in the opener or main event and should net a fantastic rating.
Also pay attention to their mic rating, and if you do a callout, have the person who has a higher rating call their opponent out. The same goes for Charity, which is a great promo to use on a week where you want to either get ahead of the other brand or catch up, as these will normally net you some big fan numbers if the person can knock it out of the park.
Don’t Skimp on the Power Cards
Power Cards are a lifesaver, especially early on when you don’t have as robust a roster and are trying to gain substantial amounts of fans each week. You can gain Power Cards either by purchasing them from the marketplace (which randomly presents 3 different cards each week) or by achieving the Commissioner Goal. Each week Triple H will tell you something different to do and if you fulfill that request you get a valuable Power Card.
It might seem like a hassle to do that some weeks, and sometimes you simply can’t make it happen, but if you can find any way to get it done, do so. Those cards are invaluable, and if you need to spend some spare cash on a few from the marketplace, don’t hesitate.
Spa Cards are typically pretty cheap and can help a superstar recover their stamina more quickly, while other cards allow you to upgrade your shows that week without an additional cost. Others help you sign Legends without having to pay the cost in the first week, while others affect the opponent by doubling costs or knocking a superstar out of use for them this week. If you see these cards available, pounce on them, even if they are a bit pricey, as they will substantially help you that week in gaining momentum on your opposing brand or help you build your lead on them.
Pay Attention to Optional Goals
When putting together your show you can upgrade it in four different ways, including Road Crew, Lighting and Effects, Arena, and Advertising Campaign. Each of these carries their own costs and can be upgraded, and while sometimes the cost of that can be high, they are more than worth the cost at times if you can maximize what they do for your show, and the key to that is Optional Goals.
Each option (aside from the free ones of course) carries an Optional Goal, like some that ask you to book a certain number of level 1, 2, or 3 rivalries in your card for instance. If you do, these will net you an additional reward, which come in the forms of superstars gaining extra popularity, retaining more fans, or increasing superstar morale. Gaining extra fans is gold if you’re on a week where you are limited in your booking options, and if you have someone that needs a morale boost or could use some extra popularity, spend the extra money to help them out and help your overall show, as each of these also give your show quality score a bump up.
Listen to Your Roster and Don’t Be Afraid to Have Fun
After each show, you will probably get a few messages from superstars on the roster, and these can range from someone asking for a match on next week’s show or against a particular opponent to a request for a Tag Team or a switch to Face or Heel and everything in between. Some weeks you will likely get several at a time, and while I wouldn’t go as far as to say always say yes, don’t be afraid to say yes more often than no.
These conversations and the managing of personalties that they often entail are what keep My GM mode so fresh and immersive as you move through your year, and while I had a few instances where it came back to bite me because I couldn’t get one done, it also made it feel all the more real and kept me adjusting and pivoting to make sure my roster was as happy as possible and pushed me to experiment with the card and the overall shows.
Sometimes superstars will even ask you to personally intervene in a match, and while some of the fans won’t like that, it was fun to get in the mix and shake things up, so don’t forget to have some fun with the whole thing and throw some risk to the wind. You might fall on your face, but more often than not you’re going to find it all worked out and you got far more out of the risk than you expected.
