Notable Superstars Missing from the Card
Note: This is not a full list of everyone on the roster who is not scheduled for the show. It excludes some people who wouldn’t have normally been expected to appear on the show for some fashion, such as some jobbers, injured talent, etc.
Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal Competitors = Akira Tozawa, Apollo Crews, Cedric Alexander, Commander Azeez, Damian Priest, Drew Gulak, Erik, Finn Balor, Ivar, Jinder Mahal, Madcap Moss, Mansoor, Reggie, Robert Roode, R-Truth, Shanky, and Shelton Benjamin will be competing in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on “WrestleMania SmackDown” instead of being on the true WrestleMania card. Contrary to what WWE likely pitches it as, it’s not the same.
Angel Garza / Humberto Carrillo / Ricochet = In a similar situation, the Intercontinental Championship will be on the line on SmackDown with Ricochet against Los Lotharios in a Triple Threat match. In another world, this would have been a match that would have meant something and wouldn’t have been “built” with a rush job the week before and completely meaningless, and it would at least be on the kickoff.
Gable Steveson = For all we know, Steveson is going to be the one who fights Seth Rollins, rather than Cody Rhodes. But while Steveson is a Monday Night Raw Superstar based on the WWE Draft last year, he’s never stepped in the ring and started his career just yet. That is a good excuse to not be booked on this card. I still think we’ll be seeing him in some fashion, though.
Mace / T-Bar = These two were split up as a tag team in the last draft, but arguably should have just stayed together. Mace hasn’t been seen since, outside of cheering for that stupid golden egg at Survivor Series. T-Bar only wrestles on Main Event and loses most of those matches. Neither were even deemed worthy of spots in the ATGMBR. Wow. That’s low. These guys deserve better.
Veer Mahaan = Technically speaking, after months of saying Veer is coming, WWE finally said he’d appear on the Raw after WrestleMania. That’s no excuse for waiting forever to re-debut someone who was already on Raw before, but it’s at least something to somewhat rationalize why he’s not on this card or at least in the ATGMBR.
Women’s Division MIA = There used to be a WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal (a hill I’ll die on that should be renamed the Chyna Memorial Battle Royal), but this year and last year, WWE’s alternative was to just toss lots of tag teams together for those belts. This time around, several women were still left out of the mix. That includes Alexa Bliss, Aliyah, Dana Brooke, Doudrop, Nikki A.S.H., Shotzi Blackheart, Tamina Snuka and Xia Li. It’s understandable women like Asuka and Bayley aren’t here, as they’re still on the injured list. But why couldn’t WWE just throw Doudrop and Nikki A.S.H. in a random tag team, for instance, considering how random the other pairings were? Strange choice to tell people they don’t matter enough to get into an already crowded match.
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