There are a variety of ways the WWE can let a superstar know he is the face of the company. From putting a championship belt around his waist to having him headline a pay-per-view, there are several paths to reaching the summit.
Since "WWE 2K14," the first WWE 2K video game title, the company has chosen just one superstar to grace the cover.
In 2014 it was The Rock, followed by John Cena, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Brock Lesnar. If you were to rank the top five superstars in the WWE over the past 20 years, there's a good chance all four would be in there.
Now Seth Rollins can add his name to the list. Rollins will be on the cover of "WWE 2K18," the WWE and 2K Sports announced Monday. The game will be released worldwide on October 17.
"It was an honor for me," Rollins told ESPN of discovering he would be on the cover. "You look at some of the previous names who have graced the cover of WWE video games over the years and to be amongst those is truly an honor and I'm humbled by it.
"I'm also just excited for our generation of guys, the new generation of up-and-coming guys, to be the first of us to be on the cover. It's cool and not just exciting for me but our entire locker room."
The previous four superstars to grace the cover have either retired from wrestling (Rock and Austin) or are now part-time performers (Cena and Lesnar). The WWE is now trying to promote a new generation of superstars whom fans can embrace and follow as they did those previous four and Rollins is seemingly the face of that new generation.
In the trailer for the game, Rollins is in an abandoned warehouse filled with WWE artifacts, among them Triple H's skull mask, Dusty Rhodes' boots, Ric Flair's robe, Bret Hart's glasses and The Undertaker's urn. As Rollins walks through the warehouse, he begins to destroy each piece of WWE history.
"This is me putting my own spin on WWE history so to speak," Rollins said. "The catchphrase for 'WWE 2K18' is to 'Be Like No One.' So it's me just putting my foot through the door and not taking anybody before me."
Rollins made his WWE debut in 2012 and was first included as a character in the video game with "WWE 2K14."
"That was very surreal to be in the WWE video game," Rollins said. "Growing up I played WWE Smackdown vs. Raw and all the WWE video games, and I had to do my best to create what I would look like as a grown adult. So to be in the game as a playable character and the way graphics are nowadays, the likeness is almost uncanny. It was very surreal to see myself in the video game and being on the cover this year is going to be even crazier."
While Rollins looks forward to playing himself in "WWE 2K18," he spends most of his time playing Madden, where he is still trying to lead his Chicago Bears to a virtual Super Bowl.
"I like sports games. I grew up playing Madden and some of the baseball games like Ken Griffey Jr.'s baseball game and R.B.I. Baseball," Rollins said. "I like first-person story games as well. I can't get into Call of Duty and third-person games. It makes me dizzy and crazy. But Resident Evil and Metal Gear Solid were my jams growing up. When I play Madden, I play at a very high level so it's competitive. I'm currently in the fourth year of my franchise and I haven't gotten to the conference championship game but I'm still building. We're a young team, we're coming around and sooner or later we'll make our Super Bowl run."