How to counter in WWE 2K24
Kick, punch, it's all in the mind, and so is countering in WWE 2K24.
To be the man, you gotta beat the man. And to beat the man, you have to know how to counter in WWE 2K24. Turn an opponent’s momentum back at them isn’t as simple as pressing the assigned counter button. Follow this guide to explore the intricacies of defense in the squared circle.
It doesn’t matter if you counter!
Thanks for your input, Rocky, but it really does. There are three primary methods of countering in WWE 2K24. The first is by pressing your version’s assigned counter button. That’s triangle on PS5 and Y on Xbox Series X|S. If you see “Early” or “Late” appear, that means your timing was off. You’ll know when to counter when the counter button icon appears over your head. Press it quickly—you won’t have much time to defend yourself, although that’s something you can change. More on that later.
The second window for countering occurs during combos. Combos in WWE 2K24 come in three flavors: light, heavy, and grabs. You perform combos by pressing the buttons associated with those types of attacks, but countering them is more complicated. Let’s use the most basic light combo as an example, performed by pressing light-light-light-light four times in a row. To counter the first hit, you’ll want to look for the counter button icon above your character’s head. If you miss it, you can press the same attack button your opponent is using in the combo.
In our example, you would press the light attack button to counter the next attack in the light combo. You can counter combos up until the very last hit, but if you attempt to turn the tide and press the wrong button—say, pressing heavy instead of light in our example—you won’t get another chance to go on defense until your opponent finishes their combo string. If the combo goes light-heavy-grab, and you miss the first hit, be ready to counter by pressing the heavy attack button (X on PS5 or A on Xbox).
The third window, for countering grapples/grabs, is hard to recognize because no counter icons appear at all. When your opponent grabs you and locks up, they’ll go for either a heavy (X on PS5 or A on Xbox Series X|S) or light (square on PS5 or X on Xbox), respectively. To counter, you must press the same grapple type they’re going to perform. If your timing is right, you’ll fight your way out of the grab and have a chance to attack. Ground attacks are countered in a similar fashion: press light attack to counter a light strike while on the ground, or heavy attack to counter a heavy strike.
Beware: Some moves cannot be countered. Grabs, for instance, almost always end with you locking up, but you’ll want to keep your eyes peeled to counter what your opponent does next. Other attacks simply have to play out, so be ready to go on the offensive once you’ve shaken off the blows.
Window of Opportunity
You might notice as you play that some windows for countering are extremely, almost unfairly, short. The counter button flashes for half a second, and then your opportunity is gone. You can shorten or lengthen those windows against the AI by going to the main screen and selecting Options from the menu at the top. From there, choose Gameplay and go to the second tab, Balancing. This opens a list of sliders that let you dial in what the AI can do and how often they can do it.
To widen the window for countering, increase the following options:
- Basic Reversal Windows
- Ground Attack Reversal Windows
- Signature & Finisher Reversal
- Weapon Reversal
Don’t feel bad about bumping up your odds to around 90. You can always tweak these meters once you’ve got the hang of countering, but you’ll find that some of the AI’s moves still hit fast with almost no time to shake them off. Longer combo windows will give you a fighting chance, especially if you turn the difficulty up to Hard or Legend.
Finish Your Story
With this information, you should have everything you need to know about countering in WWE 2K24. For details on how to play hidden characters, learn how to unlock CM Punk when he becomes available, and how to play as Brock Lesnar in certain gameplay modes.
