Normally on our regular editions of the recurring “Superstars Missing from the Card” series, there are just a handful of wrestlers left off the pay-per-view that are a surprise. However, with the chaotic build to this year’s Survivor Series, WWE is in as odd of a place as ever.
As it stands at the time of my writing this article, no pre-show match has been announced, we don’t know who will compete in the finals of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship tournament, and WWE still has not announced a single participant in the traditional elimination match. That is mind-boggling considering how there are over 20 people that could fit those 10 spots, but we’re only a day away and we have zero build.
With that in mind, writing up this type of article is a little more difficult, as we know 10 more men will be added to the card. Thus, there will be a slightly different approach this time, and instead of pinpointing a couple individuals, I’ll be sectioning them off into 3 different categories: Inactive, Limbo and Divas.
THE INACTIVE OR INJURED
The biggest loss felt at the moment is Seth Rollins, whose injury created the scenario we’re in right now with WWE running around like a chicken without its head. Rollins has been at the top of the card for every event this year, so it will be odd to not see him compete.
I’m inclined to believe if Randy Orton and Sting were well enough, they would have teamed with The Brothers of Destruction to face The Wyatt Family. Perhaps that’s just in my mind, as I have no facts to back it up, but with the way Sting’s been booked into his previous two feuds as the vigilante to right the wrongs going on in WWE, along with Orton being taken away by The Wyatt Family, it just makes sense to me. A 4-on-4 match would have been much more anticipated than the standard tag match we’ll be getting, which is just underwhelming.
Then, there’s Rusev, who has just had a terrible 2015 in general. It’s as if he’s being punished for the awful angle with Lana and Dolph Ziggler, as he’s unable to team up with his compatriots in Sheamus and King Barrett. Those three could have made a good start for a Survivor Series team, but Rusev is sitting this one out.
Thankfully, not all of the inactive wrestlers are injured, as John Cena is off filming a TV show instead of wrestling here. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him return for TLC if WWE panics enough, but while his absence is noticeable, I don’t actually think adding him to the mix would really have made that much of a difference. One guy that would have brought a lot of buzz if he were to show up would be Brock Lesnar, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. If WWE had any plans to use him, he would have been in the title hunt and an alternative to the tournament concept would have been pitched.
IN LIMBO STATUS
Plenty of people could be competing in our traditional Survivor Series elimination match, but there’s only room for 10 and I count 25 noteworthy enough names without a match.
Some, like Mark Henry and R-Truth have only been used sparingly, so it’s not a drastic shock if they weren’t to be involved. The same goes for Jack Swagger, who I feel was originally scheduled to face Alberto Del Rio for the United States Championship if the tournament didn’t need to take place.
Many tournament participants themselves are missing to various degrees. Of the lesser important are Big Show and The Miz. The former doesn’t appear to be a priority and the latter spends more time cutting promos and doing media tours than wrestling on pay-per-views anymore, but it’s still odd to see them just drop off the face of the earth.
To go from fighting in contention for the top prize in the company to not even appearing on a pre-show match is a massive shift. That is why I have to believe at the very least, Cesaro, Ryback and Neville will be in the elimination match. Considering the amount of support Cesaro has gotten in the past few weeks alone renders it an absolute joke if he were to be skipped over for this event, and it would be a shame to see Ryback or Neville suffer the same fate.
Also in said tournament, some focus was put on one half of two different tag teams, with Titus O’Neil and Kalisto competing for a chance to win the title while their tag team partners (Darren Young and Sin Cara respectively) weren’t to be seen. If WWE planned on giving either O’Neil or Kalisto a push, the creative team would have to follow it up with something significant and definitely couldn’t afford to skip one of the Big Four events. That would devalue them so much in one fell swoop that any semblance of a credibility boost would go back to square one.
Other tag teams and stables could fall by the wayside, as there simply isn’t enough room to include all three members of The New Day, Stardust and The Ascension, The Dudley Boyz, The Usos, and the duo of Sheamus and King Barrett. I would have to imagine our tag team champions and their #1 contenders won’t be left off the card, but that doesn’t mean good news for everyone other than The New Day and The Usos.
The insanity of WWE not announcing the elimination match’s teams does no favors for anybody, but for those unlucky names that aren’t picked out of the hat even when the roster is so thin, they can’t possibly have faith in their careers.
THE DIVAS DIVISION
It’s not just the men who are being left off the card, but many of the women as well. After declaring the Divas Revolution, things have gone downhill over the past few months—or, at best, become stagnant. Currently, the division is under fire for the feud between Charlotte and Paige and the use of Reid Flair in the final promo leading up to their match. It seems like fans are either complaining about how distasteful that was, or they care so little that they’re spending their time chanting “We want Sasha” instead.
Recently, Sasha Banks has had two of the best women’s matches in the history of the company, but where is she? Rumors and speculation pointed that she could wrestle on the pre-show, but nothing was announced and that concept is probably dead, if there was ever any truth of it to begin with. All of the other prominent women such as Becky Lynch, Natalya, Alicia Fox, Naomi, Tamina Snuka, and The Bella Twins are nowhere to be found as well. Couldn’t there have been an elimination match on the pre-show? I suppose if that were the case, WWE wouldn’t have mentioned which divas would be involved beforehand anyway, right?
That does it for my breakdown of the stars missing from the card, but what do you think about the names listed above? Are there any others that I’m missing? Who are you hoping makes some sort of appearance the most? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
