8 Men Who Could Be The Last WWE WrestleMania 35 Andre Battle Royal Entrant
29 have already been announced. Will Tatanka be number 30?
The ongoing beef between Braun Strowman and Saturday Night Live funnymen Michael Che and Colin Jost concluded this past Monday with the trio announcing themselves for this year's Andre the Giant Battle Royal.
That's about as far as WWE's forward planning has went for 2019's edition of the annual WrestleMania tradition, with the company yesterday lazily and unceremoniously dumping 26 otherwise available employees into the match, amongst them last year's winner Matt Hardy, recent main-eventer Ali, and former WWE Champion (!) Jinder Mahal.
A quick count of the fingers and toes brings the total number of participants up to 29. The thirtieth and final battle royalee, then, is conspicuous by his absence on the list. That means there's one solo entrance reserved for a big surprise. It has to be someone good.
Or it could be Dolph Ziggler.
That crushing inevitability aside, and assuming Hall of Famers Honky Tonk Man (too old) and Sean Waltman (too far above this nonsense) are out, who could realistically take the spot? And will any of them have a hope of beating off a comedian (no, not Dolph) to win the damn thing?
8. Rusev
Four years ago in San Jose, Rusev - then a partisan of Putin - triumphantly trundled down to ring atop a tank, before the unbeaten Bulgarian was promptly put in his place by John Cena.
Since then, his WrestleMania outings have simply tanked.
Rusev might have been part of a League of Nations victory a year on, but it was simply a prelude for a humiliating beatdown at the hands of three 50-something legends. Surgery kept him out of WrestleMania 33, and last year he was the designated loser as Jinder Mahal rode to an unexpected United States title win.
It's been over two years since Rusev last tasted success on a PPV - a countout decision over Big Cass on the pre-show of December 2016's Roadblock: End of the Line. His schedule currently clear, next Sunday would be the ideal time for the Bulgarian brute to reverse his Show of Shows woes. The sun may have set on Rusev Day, but the man's residual popularity is enough to guarantee a positive reaction. Who knows: it could be just the boot up the arse his career needs. Then again...