Hype/DC: Moveset Creation Guidelines

This guide is meant to help users who are creating or editing wrestler movesets. The goal is to share this resource with as many creators as possible, so we can move toward a more unified and thoughtful approach to moveset creation across the community. While Community Creations has been an incredible tool over the years, the quality of downloads can vary depending on the Content Creator. In this guide, we’ll provide basic suggestions on how to build more effective movesets, with a focus on move placement, timing, and logic. These tips are meant to be helpful—not final rules—so if you notice anything that seems off or could be improved, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the authors with feedback.

General Guidelines

Evolving Wrestlers: One common mistake people make when creating movesets is mixing up different eras of a wrestler’s career. A good tip is to show how a wrestler’s style changed over time by adding or removing moves depending on the era you're focusing on. For example, if you're making a 2017 Jushin Liger moveset, including the Shooting Star Press wouldn’t be accurate, because he didn’t use that move anymore. Try to match the moves to the time period the wrestler was active in to keep things true to their career.


Repeat Moves: Sometimes, a wrestler’s moveset is hard to finish because they don’t have enough moves. In these cases, it’s okay to use the same move more than once to fill empty spots. The AKI wrestling games from the late '90s and early 2000s often used this trick—assigning the same grapple move to more than one direction on the controller. WWE 2K25 doesn’t have a rule against this, so if you’re having trouble filling all the slots, feel free to double up. This works for any type of move. If a wrestler is only known for one Top Rope Dive (Standing), it’s fine to use that same move in both spots.

Grapple Move Placement: While there isn’t an official guide on how or where moves should be slotted within a wrestler’s moveset, traditionally there has been a few consistencies.

Things to consider when mapping a move to a certain direction;

Grapple + Up: (Snap) Suplexes, Brainbusters, Frankensteiners or any high lifting moves are recommended to be slotted in this location.

Grapple + Down: Here is where Piledrivers, Powerbombs, Scoop Slams should be placed.

Grapple + Left/Right: DDTs, Lariats/Clotheslines from Grapple Positions,

Foot Catch Counters (Reversals): There are two kinds of counters when a foot is caught: ones that knock the opponent down and ones that leave them standing but groggy. The general rule is to use knockdown counters early in the match. Save the groggy ones for later since they leave the opponent open for a strong follow-up. Unless a wrestler usually wins by using ground submissions, it’s better to keep the opponent standing to allow for a powerful grapple near the end of the match.

Grounded Opponent Deadlift/Power Moves: Unless a wrestler has shown the ability to perform these moves, refrain from assigning moves from this category for the sake of filling up slots. Deadlift moves should be reserved for powerful wrestlers only; trust that it’s fine if your 125 lb Luchador-based CAW doesn’t get the Deadlift German Suplex assigned to them.

Environmental Slots: Before giving a wrestler a move that happens outside the regular ring — like on cages, stages, barricades, or through tables — you need to think carefully. If the wrestler doesn’t usually do that kind of move, it’s better to leave it blank if you can. Also, remember that the game doesn’t check if moves make sense based on weight. So if a small cruiserweight wrestler doesn’t normally use powerbombs, it wouldn’t make sense to suddenly give him one as his table finisher. Instead, pick something more realistic, like a simple suplex. A good rule is to keep moves simple whenever you can. One more thing: some wrestlers jump (or "hop") onto the barricade before doing diving moves. If it looks weird to see a wrestler bounce up there, you might want to skip giving them dives from the barricade.

Royal Rumble Finishers: If your wrestler is in a lower weight class, opt for Non-Lifting Moves in those RR Finisher slots to promote more realistic eliminations. Reserve the assignment of power/lifting moves for wrestlers that are power-based.

Corner Moves: When setting up moves, give extra attention to wrestlers who are tag-team specialists. It’s a good idea to focus on standing corner moves for them. This helps them stay in their team's corner and "cut the ring in half," making it harder for their opponent to escape. It also leads to more chances for double team moves, which fits their style better.

Top Rope Stunned (Rear): Back Superplex 1 for most wrestlers since this is such an uncommon move situation for most wrestlers. Staying true to the suggestion that repeat moves are ok, it’s perfectly fine to assign a wrestler 2 slots of Back Superplex 1 for their back strong grapple corner moves.

Weight Detection: A lot of CAW creators skip this section, but that’s a mistake if you want the cleanest and most realistic movesets. The moves in the Weight Detection category should only include non-lifting moves that are already part of the wrestler’s regular moveset. It’s not totally clear how the game decides which moves show up here, but it’s a good idea to double-check this section before finalizing any wrestler. That way, you can make sure everything matches up and stays consistent with the rest of the moveset. Much like Combo Enders, it would be very helpful to keep track of the non-lifting moves the wrestler has in his/her moveset so that there is seamless implementation transferring those moves to the Weight Detection section.

Please see our guide on maximizing the use of movesets by CPU controlled characters by browsing our "AI Move Settings Guide."

Combo Enders

Combo Enders that use grappling moves should only include light grapples, light strikes, or heavy strikes. Avoid giving a wrestler a strong grapple at the end of a combo. Try to choose moves that the wrestler already uses in their regular move list. These moves should feel like they belong and match the wrestler’s style. If there were light grapple moves that didn’t fit anywhere else, this is a good place to use them. It’s a smart way to get more out of the wrestler’s full moveset.

Here’s a helpful trick: open a blank Word document and take screenshots of the following screens for the wrestler you’re editing—Light Strikes, Heavy Strikes, Light Front/Back Grapples, and Running Strikes. That way, you’ll have a quick guide to help you pick the right moves for Combo Enders.

Combo Ending With Button	Moves Associated
X	Light Strike
A	Light Strikes / Heavy Strikes
B	Light Grapples / Non-Lifting Heavy Grapples

Any combo ending using the X button should be reserved for Light Strikes only.
Any combo ending using the A button should be reserved for Light Strikes or Heavy Strikes.
Any combo ending using the A button should be reserved for Light Grapples or Non-Lifting Heavy Grapples.

Tag Team Moves

Tag Team Moves: Keep Double Team Moves simple to help avoid weird or unrealistic moments during matches with more than two wrestlers. The best setup is to give each wrestler two pairs of moves—one for Up/Down and one for Left/Right. If the team isn’t a known tag team with signature moves, use basic ones that any wrestler could realistically perform. The game doesn’t use weight detection here, so be careful not to assign moves that wouldn’t work for every wrestler. This thinking is especially important for Intergender tag-team moves. The honest recommendation is to remove these moves entirely unless they’re something you really want in the game. If realism matters, it’s strongly suggested to take all moves in that category out.

These moves don’t involve lifting and can be used by almost anyone. When picking who uses them, think about how real it would look if a big guy (like Kevin Nash or The Giant) had to take the hit. If it doesn’t seem believable, skip it. That’s why this list is short. We’ll also list which fighting styles usually use these kinds of moves.

Please note: Since our system does not recommend Mixed or Inter-Gender matches, we advise disabling all Mixed Tag Moves.


Normal Tag Attacks

Move	Best Used By
Assisted Big Boot	Bigmen / Big Boot Users
Assisted Dropkick	Juniors/Lucha
Assisted Headbutt	Headbutt Users
Assisted Lariats	Power
Assisted Rebound Dropkick	Juniors/Lucha
Assisted Savate Kick	Kick-based Strikers
Assisted Stump Puller	Agile Leg-Target Based Wrestlers
Body Splash/Leg Drop Combo	Juniors/Lucha
Corner Trapped Forearm Smash	Anyone
Diving Axe Handle	Anyone
Flying Shoulder Block	Power/American
Gut Punch/Double Axe Combo	Power/American
Low Kick 1	Anyone
Pinioning Body Blow	Anyone
Stereo Back Elbows 2	Anyone
Stereo Corner Hammer Throw 1	Anyone
Thrown into Big Boot	Big Boot Users
Whip Clothesline	Power/American
Wishbone	Anyone

Double Team Moves

Move	Best Used By
Body Blow 1	Anyone
Knife Edge Chop 1	Chop Users
Stereo Punches	Anyone
Tag Punch	Anyone

[Colin Valentine]

Fantstic piece thank you for the suggestions this helps!