Prerelease:WWE Raw 2

This page details prerelease information and/or media for WWE Raw 2.

WWE RAW 2 is the sequel to WWE RAW, and went through significant changes during development.

Very Early Beta Footage

This is the very early beta gameplay trailer from August 2002. The game was going to reuse the Raw Is War engine but it was reworked from scratch a few months into development. A ton of differences can be seen. What is presented here reflects the programming going on at the time.

• The NWO titantron is visible.
• Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash's facial models are different.
• Originally, Jeff Hardy was supposed to be playable in the WWE RAW 2 video game for Xbox, but was cut before the game could be completed for drugs & alcohol reasons, as well as refusing rehab. They even removed an animation of him doing a swanton bomb from the ladders, like he does in real life as a result of his carelessness.
• Scott Hall was originally supposed to be playable in the game, just like the aforementioned Jeff Hardy, but he was removed from the game for similar reasons.
• Earlier in the game, the RAW arena from the previous game was to be accessible, as well as a 2001 version of the SmackDown arena, but both were replaced by the 2002-2005 RAW arena, & the 2002-2007 SmackDown arena.
• Stacy Keibler is with the Dudley Boys and is in her Duchess of Dudleyville attire.
• Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy were in their Hardy Boys attire.
• Booker T has two different models, one of which is his WWF Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth model.
• The Dudley Boys are in their classic attire.
• The Rock is in his Pre-Hollywood Rock persona and his model was different.
• Kurt Angle has his hair and his attire was very different. His head was shaved at Judgement Day 2002 in May, meaning that they weren't changed after that happened.

(Source: Wrestling Video Games)

Beta Preview

This is beta preview footage from early 2003. It looks much closer to the final game and reflects the programming going on at the time a bit better but had some differences.

• Much like in the previous games, Christian, Kurt Angle, & the Rock would've had their previous hairstyles. Also, Matt Hardy would have looked no different from how he looked in the first game. In addition, the graphics were also a bit more bland, like the previous game, before going with the final over-exaggerated sheen, making all the WWE superstars look like something straight out of Street Fighter IV, despite the shows taking place at night.
• Big Show is in his Survivor Series 2002 attire.
• Rey Mysterio had a different attire.
• The prompt to skip was a different command and in a different position.

(Source: Carlos Aparicio)

Exhibition Trailer

This trailer came from Xbox Exhibition Volume 4 Demo Disc, dated November 26th, 2003, two months after the game was already released in America on September 15th and a month after it was released in Europe on October 10th. It has some weird and very noticeable differences, the majority of which can already be seen in the beta preview footage.

• The Rock was in his Pre-Hollywood persona even though he was a heel in 2003 and his model was different.
• Big Show is in his Survivor Series 2002 attire.
• Kurt Angle is in his American Hero attire.
• Rey Mysterio had a different attire.
• Christian is in a red singlet and had long hair.
• Jeff Hardy is present and his model was his WWE Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth model (!)
• The prompt to skip was a different command and was in a different position.

(Source: VgBounceHouse)