Arnold Schwarzenegger Is the Terminator for Latest WWE 2K16 Spot

As he famously promised 30 years ago, Arnold Schwarzenegger is back. He stars in advertising agency barrettSF’s latest global campaign for publisher 2K, which produces the WWE 2K16 video game.

Announcing his character in the game, the WWE Hall of Famer, global action film icon and former 38th Governor of California resumes his most iconic role as the Terminator in the spot, which debuted nationally on Monday Night Raw on USA Network, as well as with IGN.com, WWE.com, Adult Swim, Crave Online, Woven and more.

The film is an homage to the iconic bar scene from Terminator 2 in which Arnold Schwarzenegger walks into a seedy biker bar – stark naked – and demands the clothes, boots and motorcycle from the toughest looking guy in the room. 

In the barrettSF version, the action, dialogue, set and lighting are true to the original movie, but nearly every character in the biker bar has now been replaced with a familiar WWE personality.

The woman bopping along to the jukebox is WWE Diva Eva Marie, while the quiet cowboy at the bar is WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan. WWE Divas Champion, Paige, then walks in, portraying the role of a waitress, as Arnold passes NXT Champion Finn Bálor and ultimately faces off against WWE Superstar Dean Ambrose.

Ambrose stands up to Arnold, sarcastically telling him, “You forgot to say please,” and proceeds to put out a cigar in the cyborg’s chest. The video cuts out right before the fight starts.

“Now entering the WWE: Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator,” the art card reads. It then announces that the game is available for pre-order prior to its October 27 launch in North America and October 30 worldwide.

Schwarzenegger is featured as two playable characters in the video game – the T-800 from The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day – as an exclusive feature for fans who pre-order at any participating retailer.

“It’s a nerd’s dream: a painstaking recreation of a classic film with a relevant twist to the cast,” says Pete Harvey, Partner and Creative Director at barrettSF. “Our hope is that people pull up this scene with the original to compare what stayed absolutely consistent and what subtly changed.”