WWE 2K26 Teaser Spells Randy Orton's Name Wrong, Sparks…

WWE 2K26, the latest entry in the venerable WWE 2K franchise, has released a new teaser that has raised questions regarding its potential use of generative artificial intelligence. Set to be the 26th entry in the long-running wrestling series, WWE 2K26 arrives right as the franchise has regained its footing after a particular low point. While the quality of the wrestling series had already taken a hit before 2K acquired the license from THQ in 2013, 2019’s WWE 2K20 was one of the year’s worst-reviewed games, quickly becoming notorious for its frequent technical hitches and overall lack of polish.

The poor quality of WWE 2K20 had an impact on 2K itself, which led to the cancellation of WWE 2K21's release in an effort to get the series back on track. Since the release of WWE 2K22, the franchise has been back on a solid run of quality titles, and the struggles of 2019’s game appear to be squarely in the rearview mirror. WWE 2K26 looks to continue that momentum with continued refinements to the gameplay, as well as a roster that currently includes 32 WWE stars, with more surely to be revealed before launch.

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By LB Beistad

WWE 2K26 Sparks AI Concern With New Teaser Misspelling Randy Orton’s Name

The official WWE 2K Twitter page posted a four-second teaser for WWE 2K26, featuring a VHS tape that misspells WWE legend Randy Orton's last name as "Ortan." The trailer begins with a glass-breaking effect that reveals a desk with several items on it, including a WWE microphone, a calendar featuring the word “draft” marked on January 30, 2026, and a picture of an iguana, the latter of which appears to be a reference to rumored roster addition Mr. Iguana. The desk also features five video tapes with references to real-time WWE matches, including the triple threat match between CM Punk, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 41, and the Wrestlepalooza event, which returned in 2025 after a 25-year hiatus.

However, this new teaser has sparked concern over whether it was created using generative AI. Noticeably, one of the five videotapes mentions John Cena’s fight with Randy Orton at WWE Breaking Point 2009, but the tape misspells Orton’s name as “Ortan.” This is the only videotape of the five to feature a glaring grammatical error, as the other four are spelled correctly, even as their text gets cut off in the image.

WWE 2K26’s new teaser using generative AI would be disappointing, but the misspelling of Randy Orton’s name may not mean the technology was used in this advertisement. While generative AI is known to make mistakes of this ilk, the fact that this VHS tape is the only one misspelled in the picture could have been little more than a mistake. Beyond “Ortan” being a common misspelling of his name, speculation has also mounted that this may be an intentional reference to how tan Randy Orton was during his “I Quit” match with John Cena at Breaking Point 2009.

Additionally, several of the other hallmarks of generative AI images are not featured here. Notably, all of the dates written on the calendar are correctly marked, where an AI image would either feature the numbers out of order or replace numbers with indecipherable symbols. WWE 2K26’s teaser clip’s misspelling of Randy Orton’s name thus speaks to the growing concern that generative AI has caused, where even the smallest mistake is scrutinized to the strongest degree.

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