Tuesday, March 19, 2024
EditorialSuperstars Missing from WWE WrestleMania 33 Card

Superstars Missing from WWE WrestleMania 33 Card

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WrestleMania is the absolute biggest show of the year for WWE and everybody in the company is always hoping to be featured at some point so they can have their “WrestleMania moment”.

Sadly, even with six hours to play around with, there are always going to be people who have to sit this year out, whether due to injuries, a lack of importance or something else getting in the way.

It’s important to note that the field for the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal is not yet 100% set, as WWE could always put a few more people in at the last minute, so the normal “superstars missing” list needs to have that asterisk that any name below may possibly still show up in some fashion.

Outside of that match, however, it appears as though we know a handful of names who might not be making any kind of appearances at this year’s WrestleMania—at least according to what is currently being advertised as scheduled for the night.

In no particular order, here are the superstars on the sidelines for WrestleMania 33:

Samoa Joe / Finn Balor

If you’ve read some of the most recent articles I’ve posted here and elsewhere, you’re already well aware of why I’ve grouped these two together. If not, here’s the short version: I think it’s a guarantee Samoa Joe will be making an appearance during the non-sanctioned match between Triple H and Seth Rollins, particularly as he hasn’t been announced for anything else to distract him from doing so. Even if he were in the battle royal, it would still be possible for him to do two things in the same night, but since he has nothing on his plate, it would be foolish to assume he just doesn’t show up at all during the six hours WrestleMania has to offer.

If he does indeed show up, Triple H and Samoa Joe will double-team Rollins, who is already going into this at a severe disadvantage. To offset that, Finn Balor will make his return to even the odds and get a huge pop out of the crowd. Seeing him show up will make up for how this segment isn’t likely to be as long or as intricate as many of us would like it to be, since WrestleMania is stacked this year and Rollins undoubtedly is not in the best shape whether he’s cleared or not. Balor will be able to take more bumps and will keep the energy up, allowing Rollins to stand tall in the end and giving Joe someone to feud with going forward.

However, even though I think this is something you can bet your house on, both Balor and Joe do still qualify as people to add to this list, as they haven’t been announced for anything in advance. Right now, if you go into this blind when it comes to predictions and you judged the card based solely on who was advertised, you wouldn’t be expecting either one of them to show up, and to be perfectly fair, there’s still a chance they might not make an appearance…even though they clearly will.

Raw Women’s Division

The broken record repeats itself with the women on Raw as once again, this show is only going to feature Charlotte Flair, Bayley, Nia Jax and Sasha Banks. Per usual, Alicia Fox is nowhere to be seen, Emma is doing nothing at all, and both Paige and Summer Rae are lost in oblivion.

Dana Brooke is a strange case, as there was potential for her to join in on the title match after she broke off her allegiance to Charlotte, although nothing seems to be coming out of that as far as WrestleMania is concerned.

It appears as though WWE’s creative team stuck to the only four names that matter in their minds—something that either means they see little to no value in anybody else or they don’t have the creative capacity on Raw to do anything with the other women. This is in stark contrast to what is happening on SmackDown, so if I were Emma and the bunch, I would be crossing my fingers for the draft to come as soon as possible.

Cruiserweight Division

There simply isn’t enough time to have more than one match featuring the cruiserweight division, as Neville’s title defense against Austin Aries has already been bumped to the pre-show as it is.

As such, every other person on the 205 Live roster isn’t going to be making an appearance in any way save for possible inclusions in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, although even in that scenario, it’s unlikely WWE would add more than a handful of the most prominent people, such as Akira Tozawa, Brian Kendrick, TJ Perkins, Noam Dar, Rich Swann and Jack Gallagher.

Cedric Alexander is definitely out as he has an injury to heal from, while Tajiri hasn’t been brought back from his injury either. Gran Metalik has been missing for most of the time since the show started airing, so he has no momentum to take someone else’s spot. Meanwhile, it’s not too surprising to see those who are more on the midcard spectrum such as Ariya Daivari, Lince Dorado, Mustafa Ali, Tony Nese and in particular Drew Gulak (the resident jobber of the division, it seems) on the backburner as they haven’t made as much of an impact in comparison to the other names who are more in the running.

I would be surprised to not see any 205 Live people in the battle royal, but there’s only so many people that ring can accommodate and there’s already well over 20 names on the main roster who should be in the mix as well and for all intents and purposes, should have seniority when it comes to those spots.

SmackDown Women’s Division

Yes, despite the SmackDown Women’s Championship being on the line in a match that specifically leaves things open to including every possible woman on the SmackDown roster, there is still a chance a few people who are technically on that brand still may not be on screen.

Tamina Snuka is an interesting story. Supposedly, she’s been ready to come back for at least a number of weeks, but WWE has held off on reintroducing her. Might this be a sign that she’ll make her grand return at WrestleMania? It’s not a stretch, as that’s a great time to create some buzz.

Then, there’s Eva Marie. She hasn’t been seen since her suspension and doesn’t appear to have anything to do with WWE anymore, never referencing it, never really being referenced by WWE, and possibly even being busy going through rehab to deal with issues of alcoholism. All signs point to the current trend of her being M.I.A. continuing here as it’s tough to imagine WWE would want to put any spotlight on someone with so many negatives going against her in this climate.

Kane

The Big Red Machine has been missing in action for months now, not even showing up in the Royal Rumble where he normally plays a rather big part in. Supposedly, he’s dealing with nagging injuries, working on his side business and getting the paperwork ready to run for office, which means he’s certainly keeping himself busy despite not competing in the ring.

It would be strange for Kane to miss WrestleMania, as he could easily take part in the battle royal just to make an appearance, but if his career is truly winding down at the rate it seems to be going, he may not want to take part in the festivities.

James Ellsworth

I would be completely shocked if Ellsworth didn’t find his way into the battle royal, but there’s also a second option that might get him on the card at least in a visual capacity: introducing Carmella during the SmackDown Women’s Championship match.

Outside of those two scenarios, the only other way I can see Ellsworth making his way onto the screen is in a backstage comedic segment with a legend, as those pop up from time to time and he’s a great sacrificial lamb to eat some Sweet Chin Music or take a Stone Cold Stunner.

The Injuries

While Erick Rowan may be cleared to compete and there’s a chance he could make a surprise appearance in the battle royal, we can write off both Darren Young and Zack Ryder as being definite no-go situations. Neither of them are going to be healthy enough to wrestle and still may not be back in the ring for several more months, depending on how their recoveries go.

Supposedly, Rusev is also out with an injury, which is why he was wrecked by Big Show at Fastlane—a rather lame way to be written off the show, but at least it gave Show something to do in the process. This is a shame for Rusev, but he wasn’t being primed for a big role in anything anyway, so it doesn’t appear as though his absence will be really noticed. He likely would have just been another cog in the machine when it comes to the battle royal and probably didn’t stand much of a chance of winning it.

The Extras

The two pay-per-views throughout the year where even the jobbers have a chance to get on the card are the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania as both matches allow for a huge number of people to at least pop up for a minute or two.

Kalisto and Luke Harper are currently the only people on the main roster who aren’t injured, are missing from the card (at least as far as promotional material has indicated) and aren’t mentioned above in this list in any capacity. Why they still haven’t added their names into the battle royal list is beyond me, but I have to assume they’ll be popping up there. Luke Harper just had a match against Bray Wyatt and was even in the title hunt for a few weeks, so if he isn’t at least in the battle royal, something’s wrong.

When it comes to the others who could show up in that match, anybody from the NXT roster or the United Kingdom side of things might be an entrant, although it wouldn’t be surprising to see WWE ignore both of those sections of the talent pool in order to keep things from getting out of hand. There are already 30 people in the match and to add another handful of competitors just seems unnecessarily overpacked..

Do you think these men and women deserve to be booked on the card? If so, how would you utilize them? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

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