WWE 2K26's Ringside Pass Season 4 is here, and it's bringing a loaded roster of new playable superstars — headlined by the iconic Hardy Boyz and country musician Jelly Roll.
The Season 4 Roster Breakdown
Visual Concepts announced the latest batch of DLC characters today, and it's a mix of legends, current stars, and a notable crossover act. The Hardy Boyz — Matt and Jeff — finally arrive as a tag team, alongside a solo Jeff Hardy alt. Jelly Roll, who has become a fixture at WWE events over the past year, also makes his in-ring debut as a playable character.
The full Season 4 lineup includes:
- The Hardy Boyz (Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy) — tag team and separate singles variants
- Jelly Roll — playable wrestler
- Lyra Valkyria — NXT Women's Champion
- Dragon Lee — high-flying luchador
- Jade Cargill — undefeated powerhouse
- Ilja Dragunov — "The Mad Dragon" from NXT
- Carmelo Hayes — NXT standout
- Trick Williams — rising NXT star
- Baron Corbin — returning veteran
- Von Wagner — the imposing big man
That's a deep bench of 11 characters, assuming you count the Hardy Boyz as two separate entries with their team slot. It's one of the bigger single-season drops the game has seen, and it tilts heavily toward NXT talent — a sign of where WWE's developmental brand currently sits in the company's focus.
Why The Hardy Boyz Now
The Hardy Boyz are arguably the biggest names in this batch. Matt and Jeff's return to WWE in 2024 after Jeff's AEW run reignited interest in the tag team division, and their inclusion in Activision's wrestling sim (via 2K's publishing, that is) was an inevitability. For longtime fans, this is the first time the duo has been properly represented in a WWE game since WWE 2K19 — missing entirely from the 2K20 and 2K22 rosters due to their AEW stints and Jeff's legal issues.
Jelly Roll's inclusion is the curveball. The Grammy-nominated musician has been a regular at WWE events, performing entrances for wrestlers like R-Truth and appearing ringside at premium live events. He's not the first musician to get a virtual wrestler slot — Machine Gun Kelly and Post Malone have appeared in previous titles — but his inclusion signals WWE's continued push to blur the lines between sports entertainment and mainstream pop culture.
How The Ringside Pass Works
Season 4 is part of the Activision Blizzard-published WWE 2K26's broader Ringside Pass — a premium DLC subscription that drops new characters across multiple seasons. Each season typically includes 4-6 characters, making Season 4 one of the most substantial. Players who own the Ringside Pass get these characters automatically. Individual purchases are available too, though pricing hasn't been announced per character.
The pass model has been controversial among the WWE 2K community. On one hand, it ensures a steady stream of content post-launch. On the other, the base game's roster already includes over 180 wrestlers, and locking popular names like the Hardys behind a paywall stings — especially when the base game shipped without them despite them being active on WWE television.
What This Means For Players
If you've been waiting to run tag team matches as the Dudley Boyz vs. the Hardys, your time has come. The Hardys' inclusion opens up nostalgia-driven matchups that fans have been begging for since 2K19. The addition of NXT standouts like Lyra Valkyria, Dragon Lee, and Ilja Dragunov also means the game's roster is now more reflective of WWE's current programming than ever before.
The NXT-heavy lineup suggests Visual Concepts is committed to keeping the roster current — a smart move given how quickly WWE's developmental talent cycle turns over. Valkyria, for instance, wasn't even on the main roster when Season 3 dropped.
The Skepticism: Is This Worth The Price?
Here's the thing — the Ringside Pass costs $39.99. That's a significant ask for what amounts to about a dozen characters spread across multiple months. For context, that's nearly the price of a full game on sale. And while Season 4 is generous, earlier seasons were thinner — Season 1 gave players five characters, including CM Punk (a great get, admittedly) and two female wrestlers.
The bigger question is whether the ASUS ROG Ally crowd and PC players feel left out. The game runs fine on handheld PCs, but wrestling games on those platforms still have an awkward control scheme fit. Not a dealbreaker, but worth noting.
There's also the inevitable "why isn't X in the game?" complaint. Season 4 notably lacks any women from the main roster beyond NXT champion Valkyria. No Rhea Ripley alternate attires, no Bianca Belair variants. For a game that prides itself on roster depth, that omission feels odd when you're pouring 11 characters into one season.
What Comes Next
Season 4 likely wraps up the Ringside Pass's major character drops, though Visual Concepts hasn't confirmed if a Season 5 is in the works. Given that WWE 2K26 has been out since March and the next annual installment is due early next year, this may be the final significant content update for the game.
The real question is whether 2K will carry these characters over to WWE 2K27 — or if we're back to square one with another roster reset. For now, though, Season 4 gives players plenty of reasons to fire up the ring one more time.
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