Despite how big the two-night extravaganza is, not every WWE Superstar manages to find a spot on the card for WrestleMania.
At the moment, only 5 matches are truly official, though one of those has no challenger for Gunther and there’s a sixth match that just needs to be signed off on. But that sixth match sees Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes pulling double-duty, meaning they’re taking up a slot some other Superstars could have used to get on the card.
When we consider the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal (hereby shortened to ATGMBR for brevity) has been relegated to SmackDown instead of WrestleMania over the past few years, and has yet to be announced in any fashion, spots are filling up fast for The Showcase of the Immortals.
This post will track the wrestlers on the Monday Night Raw brand who are not yet scheduled for the show, while this SmackDown post will deal with the Friday night crew. When something is added, these posts will be updated to reflect the changes.
Let’s see who is going to have to get through the March to WrestleMania in the hopes to get booked at WrestleMania XL and who will be still on the leftovers list come April 7th.
Monday Night Raw Roster – Men
- Bronson Reed, Chad Gable, JD McDonagh, Ricochet, Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura – These six guys are fighting in a gauntlet match to determine who fights Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship. Only one will win, leaving the remainders scrambling. I’m assuming this is coming down to Gable or Zayn. At the moment, I’m leaning toward Zayn getting the opportunity, while Gable is unfortunately sidelined. Update from 3/11: Sami Zayn won, awarding him the title opportunity against Gunther and putting him on the card.
- Alpha Academy’s Akira Tozawa & Otis – There’s even less of a chance Tozawa and Otis get on the card than Gable, who at least has a shot at winning the IC title. Otis and Tozawa will at most be in the ATGMBR.
- Andrade – Since Andrade wasn’t included in the Gunther gauntlet, I’m convinced he’s fighting Dominik Mysterio.
- Apollo Crews – Simply not important enough to break out of Main Event territory unless he’s jobbing. ATGMBR participant.
- Awesome Truth (The Miz & R-Truth) – I’m convinced they’re fighting The Judgment Day for the tag titles. Update from 3/18: They will be in the Six-Pack Challenge for the tag titles.
- Braun Strowman – Injured.
- CM Punk – Injured. He could still show up in some capacity. Future editorial coming about that. Update: Punk will be joining the commentary booth for the World Heavyweight Championship match.
- The Creed Brothers – They could be in the running for a tag title shot, but a few other teams are being focused on far more lately. Brutus and Julius have been more so put on the back burner. I think they’ll be in the ATGMBR instead.
- Dexter Lumis – Where’s this guy been for all these months? I don’t even think we’ll see him in the ATGMBR at this point.
- DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) – Regeneration X is in a pseudo-alignment with The Miz and R-Truth that could see a Triple Threat going on for the tag titles, or something else along those lines. If not that, then they’re going to be in the ATGMBR. Triple H isn’t going to completely ignore these two. Update from 3/18: They will be in the Six-Pack Challenge for the tag titles.
- Imperium’s Giovanni Vinci & Ludwig Kaiser – If they aren’t in the tag title scene, they’ll just accompany Gunther to ringside and maybe be ATGMBR participants.
- Indus Sher (Jinder Mahal, Sanga & Veer) – Frankly, I don’t even think they’ll be in the ATGMBR. Mahal might. Veer and Sanga, doubtful. WWE just doesn’t want to commit to these guys. Look at how often the whole “Veer is coming” vignettes aired and how many years ago that was at this point. Start and stop pushes that last 2-3 weeks at most. They might as well release them.
- Jey Uso – If he doesn’t get an official match with Jimmy Uso, I’ll be stunned. Update: He will face Jimmy in a singles match.
- Judgment Day (Damian Priest, Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio, JD McDonagh) – We know Priest and Balor will defend the tag titles. We just don’t know in what capacity and against who. It seems like they might be splitting things up. As I said, I think Dom is going to fight Andrade, and I think JD will be relegated to just accompanying people ringside and fighting in the ATGMBR. Update from 3/11: Balor and Priest are set for a Six-Pack Challenge Ladder Match.
- New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) – They’re constantly utilized, but I don’t think they’re in a great spot to be fighting for the tag titles. ATGMBR seems to be the only spot we’d see them unless there’s another WrestleMania Showcase that crams 4 tag teams in there or whatever. Update from 3/18: They will be in the Six-Pack Challenge for the tag titles.
- Odyssey Jones – I bet you didn’t even remember he was technically still signed, let alone that he’s a member of the Raw roster. His complete lack of use since pretty much the moment he was drafted means I have little faith he’s even in the ATGMBR.
- Omos – Technically a free agent instead of a Raw guy, but he’s appeared more on this show and it doesn’t matter if I put him here or on the SmackDown list. Not only has he had nothing at all built up for him or hinted at, but he’s rarely been used over the past year. I’m expecting him to just be an ATGMBR participant and one of the big men to worry about there, but to likely not even win that.
- The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar) – Erik is still injured. Ivar is surprisingly not even in the gauntlet to potentially fight Gunther. ATGMBR for Ivar, I guess. Odd they excluded him in the running for that IC title shot on the same show they had him call out that he can beat Gunther.
Overall, I think as far as March 6th when this article was published, I think only a handful of the guys above are safe for WrestleMania, like Jey Uso and The Judgment Day. Most others are looking at being cut.
Monday Night Raw Roster – Women
- Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell – Having just lost a title shot at Elimination Chamber, the best they can hope for is that there’s a multi-team match against The Kabuki Warriors and that they’re not fourth or lower on the pecking order. I’m doubtful they’ll make it onto the card.
- Chelsea Green & Piper Niven – Green is booked consistently. Niven is currently injured, supposedly. Their only shot to be on the card, unless there’s a women’s equivalent of the ATGMBR (I keep pitching the Chyna Memorial Battle Royal) would be that multi-team match, but that’s only if Niven is ready to go.
- Ivy Nile & Maxxine Dupri – Even lower on the totem pole than Candice and Indi. Virtually no chance they compete, sadly.
- Katana Chance & Kayden Carter – You’d think winning the tag titles within the past year would give them a solid shot, but I’d put their chances at being on the show at something like 5%.
- Liv Morgan – She’s popular enough that WWE could always find a spot for her, but unless there’s a WrestleMania Showcase multi-woman match that exists just to get people on the card, I don’t see an avenue for her. The lineup will be stacked enough that I can’t justify saying Morgan in a singles match against someone like Nia Jax is worth eating up time. There’s a chance she and Raquel Rodriguez team up for a spot in a women’s tag title match, though.
- Natalya & Tegan Nox – Multi-team match or nothing. I’m thinking likely nothing.
- Nia Jax – Credit where it’s due, she’s been a much more entertaining piece of the puzzle leading up to WrestleMania this year than I thought she would be. But her spot was to be a roadblock for Becky Lynch and Rhea Ripley. No storyline element would make sense in my mind to insert her into the match and I don’t think she’s got a tag team partner lined up to fight for those belts. Again, the Chyna Memorial Battle Royal would be such a great spot for someone like Jax. Just saying!
- Nikki Cross – Maybe she’ll just appear wandering around in a shot like she’s been doing for months. That’s the best she can hope for at this point.
- Raquel Rodriguez – As mentioned, I think her best chances at competing would be to team up with Liv Morgan to fight for the tag titles. If not, I think she’s missing this show.
- Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark – They’re a strong team in the running to fight for the tag titles. Much stronger chances than most. But it’s not a lock by any means.
- Sonya Deville – She’s been away long enough on the injured list and then getting married that I HIGHLY doubt WWE will bring her back in time for this. Maybe post-Mania, she’ll return.
- Valhalla – Absolutely no way she’s booked on the card. Sorry, Sarah. She’s pretty much at the bottom of the barrel in terms of how WWE’s hierarchy is going at the moment.
- Xia Li – Unfortunately, all her momentum she gained from that mini feud with Becky Lynch was tossed out the window. I don’t think there’s a chance she’s competing at WrestleMania this year.
I’d put the best odds at these women competing to go to a tag team of Morgan and Rodriguez. Everyone else is either a virtual guarantee to not be included (like Cross and Valhalla) or someone who is probably going to just be too low on the pecking order to be a priority, like most of the tag team options.
What do you think WWE will end up doing with these wrestlers?
Who are you most hoping finds a spot on the card?
Drop your predictions and thoughts and fantasy booking ideas in the comments below!
