Grand Theft Auto VI has backyard wrestling in it. That’s the headline from Rockstar’s 26-minute “Extended Look” showcase, which premiered on Netflix Thursday, August 27, ahead of the game’s November 19 release.
Backyard wrestling appears in a montage of side activities alongside basketball, kayaking and scuba diving. Fightful reported that one clip shows a wrestler hitting a Death Valley Driver during the sequence, and other outlets described protagonist Jason Duval getting bodyslammed in a makeshift ring.
The activity ties into GTA 6’s returning fitness systems, first confirmed in a Dazed interview with Rockstar. Eating, working out and sleep patterns will visibly change how Jason and Lucia Caminos look, a mechanic dating back to San Andreas. Lucia has also been shown in earlier footage doing kickboxing-style striking work in a cage, consistent with her official character bio, which describes a father who taught her to fight and a past that included prison time.
This isn’t a licensed WWE or AEW mode. There’s no create-a-wrestler feature confirmed, and no promotion is officially attached to the ring. Rockstar is treating wrestling the same way it treats basketball or jet skiing: as one more activity in a Florida-inspired open world that happens to have a real wrestling scene of its own.
The wrestling crossovers that aren’t actually connected
Two real-world wrestling stories have collided with GTA 6’s marketing cycle by coincidence rather than design. WWE filed a trademark application for “Vice City” on August 4, and outlets including Fightful and Cageside Seats tied the filing to Lola Vice, the NXT Women’s Champion who said goodbye to the brand that same night after losing to Kendal Grey. The phrase has been part of Vice’s branding since her arrival, referencing her Miami roots, and Bryan Alvarez of F4WOnline has reported she’s headed to the SmackDown roster. The trademark’s category covers wrestling exhibitions and entertainment services, not video games, and outlets covering the filing noted it isn’t an attempt to block Rockstar.
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick was added as a secret playable character in WWE 2K26 in June, complete with a custom entrance, commentary from Michael Cole and Wade Barrett, and Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” as an exclusive entrance theme. He carries a 77 overall rating. Zelnick has since confirmed he won’t be showing up in GTA 6 in any form, telling IGN “you will not” when asked directly.
TNA World Champion Joe Hendry made his own pitch to Rockstar back in February 2025, posting “Dear Rockstar Games, You can use my song. Send me the paperwork” on X in reference to his entrance track “I Believe in Joe Hendry.” Rockstar never publicly responded, and nothing has connected the song to the game since.
The takeaway: GTA 6 treats wrestling as a physical activity that factors into its fitness and combat systems, set in a state with its own wrestling scene. There’s no confirmation that WWE, AEW or any specific wrestler is actually built into the game itself.
