The Corner Penthouse

WWE and 2K released a new trailer for the new WWE 2K17 video game (due out in two weeks), and as I was watching it last night on Raw, I couldn't help but notice a bunch of Easter Eggs. I knew that I would have to get an HD copy from the web in order to even try to catch them, and BOY were there some good ones that you would miss unless you went through this sucker frame-by-frame like I did. I'm also tagging this as a filming location article because I actually identified one of the central locations used in the trailer. That was completely unintentional. Sometimes I'm just that damn good. Lots of images after the jump, click on them to enlarge.

We start off with the dulcet tones of Petula Clark's "Downtown". I always loved this song - it was one of my mother's favorites as well - and I was pleased to hear it used here. I doubt that most of the game's target audience were alive when Petula first released it in 1964. Heck, I doubt they even know who Petula Clark is. It was actually before my time, too, but my parents raised me with a great appreciation for older pop culture. This is also not the first time that song has been contrasted with brutal imagery in an advertisement, though off the top of my head, I can't remember the other use(s).


The video opens on a car set ablaze with "Suplex City" graffiti on the side, before moving over to show us a destroyed amusement park and a warehouse. The warehouse, on the left, says "Del Rio Import and Export" on it - a reference to wrestler Alberto Del Rio (whom is no longer with WWE). The Ferris wheel says "Spinnaroonie" (the "E" is unlit in my screen), which is the name of Booker T's finishing move.


Panning across a Dumpster (to hide the cut), we're now in another rundown part of town where a billboard for "Big Show's Really Big & Really Tall Menswear" looms large, featuring a photo of its namesake, Paul "Big Show" Wight. It gives a phone number of 1-844-SUP-LEXC, which translates to 1-844-787-5392. I didn't have the courage to try it out to see who's on the other end. The "Suplex City" water tower dominates the background.


Now we're on a rooftop with Seth Rollins, soon to be joined by the Big Show. I actually figured out where they actually are, but I'll explain that in a bit. Let's wait for the Big Show to come up the stairs so we can spot a few more eggs.


Inside the stairwell, between his leg and the door, you can see Sting's face. On the right side of the structure, you can see The Ultimate Warrior's facepaint in red.


As the camera pans away, we see a shot of the building across the street. The writing on it is only visible in half, but I was able to determine that it says "Bailey Schmitz Co." on it. That means that Seth and Big Show are standing on the three-story building across the street at the corner of E. 7th St. & Santa Fe Ave., Los Angeles, California. In the image above, taken from Google Maps, they're standing on the building on the right (the one with the satellite dish on it). Bailey Schmitz Co. is on the left, and a building seen in the Big Show shot is in the far background.


As the camera continues its pan, we see a neon heart with a zebra print in one of the windows - elements typically associated with Shawn Michaels.


Camera pans down to a homeless person, which hides the cut to a hearse bearing the vanity plate "DEADMAN" - a nod to The Undertaker, as is the hearse itself.


Said hearse is actually around the corner from where the homeless person was standing. The hearse drives from E. 7th onto Santa Fe, giving us a glimpse at some colorful graffiti on the building Seth and Big Show are standing atop.


The camera then pushes forward into the doorway of that building, which is the Brogue Kick Saloon. If you ever want to visit the bar that Shamus owns, now you know where to go. I would bet that they filmed inside of it (it says "BAR" on the building), but I don't know for sure, since Google Maps only shows the exterior of it.


Inside we go, and plastered on the wall behind the bar is the 2K logo.


Sitting at the bar is Alberto Del Rio, who left the company a few weeks ago. The roster in sports games is always outdated even before the game is released.


Shamus throws the bartender into the jukebox. This is how he treats his employees and his property (the jukebox, not the bartender)? I wouldn't want to work for him. On the wall to the left is a license plate bearing the flag of Ireland, Shamus' homeland. There are also flyers with Stone Cold Steve Austin's smoking skull logo and a Big Show poster, both of which we will see again in the trailer.


As Shamus picks him up, we see what may be Seth Rollin's "SR" logo on the wall to the right (right above the shopping cart).


We enter the men's room to find a fat topless man wearing coveralls standing in the corner. He could be a reference to one of the many hillbilly characters that have appeared in WWE over the decades. He might be a reference to the ending of The Blair Witch Project. He could be a reference to nothing at all. Oh, and a "no way in Hell will you catch this in real-time" egg is on the towel dispenser: the "sawft" cartoon bubble logo of Enzo and Cass.


As we pan over to the stalls, we see graffiti representing Dolph Ziggler ("DZ"), Kevin Owens ("KO"), and Shamus (the Celtic cross).


Out the back door, and in the back alley we are greeted with a wall full of eggs. This was what inspired me to grab an HD copy of the trailer and write this article, because I wanted to see all that I couldn't catch in real-time last night on Raw. Okay, the copy uploaded to YouTube is a bit soft due to recompression, so I can't ID all of these, but here's what I see from left to right: Dean Ambrose, Big Show, Smoking Skull, Balor vs. Owens, Brock Lesnar "Welcome To Suplex City", NXT event poster, looks like Samoa Joe on another poster.


Dean Ambrose dumps a guy in a Dumpster, while his "DA" logo adores the nearby wall.


It's Bray Wyatt's family of sheep carrying his trademark lantern.


In the sewers we find a bunch of ninja-loving turtles. No, actually, we find a literally underground fight club. Coming down to fight is The Beast himself: Brock Lesnar.


The crowd is excited. So excited they may not have noticed the 2K logo on the wall to the right.


A close-up of the fence gives us a better look at the Smoking Skull logo we've been seeing throughout. Turns out that it has the WWE logo on its forehead.


Another shot of Lesnar in the elevator, and this time we see his advocate Paul Heyman standing in the background.


Mr. Heyman implores us to "enjoy our stay" in Suplex City. That was the same advice the late, great Gorilla Monsoon once told me before I awoke in a hospital bed.


Lesnar and lots of game footage are seen on a bunch of retro TVs in an electronics store window.


That would be "Y2J Electronics", purveyors of cheap Canadian "TVs & Appliances" that only stupid idiots would buy. I always shop at Funaki's, the #1 retailer this side of the Atlantic. The electronics store is actually the front window of the bar used for the Brogue Kick Saloon seen earlier. I could tell this by looking at the doors on the right in the shot above.


If you couldn't, the shot above of the real building from Google Maps will make it very obvious. In going through the trailer frame-by-frame, I rewatched the shot of the hearse, and as the camera pushed into the doors, you can glimpse the electronics store window right where it would be in real life. That's quite an attention to detail that the editor of this trailer didn't need to do.


The camera pans up, and if you still had doubts that I found the building, they should be squelched with the above image. There's some kind of poster with John Cena on it (you knew he wasn't going to be left out of the trailer) on the left. I wanna say it's for the Judgement Day event, but I could be wrong. It does look like something I've seen before.


The camera stops at the top of the building, where we see the city in ruins, while a billboard for the game dominates the landscape, and a "Welcome To Suplex City" sign alerts us to game's release date and prompts us to "pre-order now". Below is the building in real-life, and as you can see, the destroyed building on the left doesn't actually exist. Of course, the Welcome sign isn't actually on the building, either, but you knew that.


If you'd like to do as the sign instructs, you can pre-order the game for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. It is due to be released in two weeks, on October 11th. Pre-orders will give you a code so you can play as Goldberg.

UPDATE 10/4/2016 - WWE 2K just posted a short behind the scenes video of the filming of the TV commercial.