10 Wrestlers Likely To Miss WWE WrestleMania 38
Seth Rollins is obviously going to make WrestleMania 38, despite his RAW storyline. But who isn't?
Morale within WWE, per various, widespread reports, is at a dire low.
Organisational chaos, pulled pushes, a lack of fulfilling creative: the usual factors intensify ahead of WrestleMania season, since it's the one, loud, gigantic night on which the hard work of the talent is validated. Except it isn't, because WWE is principally interested in presenting a freak show.
There's an argument to be made that this will make for a better fan experience. WWE is not concerned with promoting a card of excellent in-ring action. Their overall approach to the influence of the super-indie was passionless. NXT did not inform the main roster in any significant way. It's probably better for WWE to present something they care about rather than something they don't, even if what they don't care about is better than the thing they do. There are other promotions that care about pro wrestling.
The actual wrestlers however are obviously not in agreement, so expect, on the following basis, to read similar reports in a matter of weeks.
N.B. - There's a half-decent chance that a few of the following names might make the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, if and when that is announced - but that "attraction" all but tells the talent involved that they aren't worthy of the main card, and last year, the afterthoughts were shunted to television.
10. Apollo Crews
This year, WWE told one of its most unconvincing, self-own stories via Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens fearing that they'd miss out on WrestleMania this year.
This is the worst.
Why would a competent promotion all but admit that they hadn't located a spot on the card for two of their most enduring star acts? Why would a competent promotion insinuate that former World Champions Rollins and Owens are too rubbish to even do a job at 'Mania? Would The Rock, in the Attitude Era, beg to interview Pedro Morales just to grace Vince McMahon's most famous stage? Just to sniff it?
No.
Because The Rock was a star. The implication is that Owens is not. The root problem of wrestling fandom is that wrestling functions to create stars and not enough people know what a star is.
It's literally true in the case of Apollo Crews, who last year was a midcard mainstay on SmackDown after Vince devised a gimmick that said as much about WWE's lack of buzz and interest as it did its vile, regressive essence.
Once Vince tired of it, Apollo vanished from screens entirely, and while he was recently reintroduced, it was as "associate of distant second-best giant", which doesn't bode well for his 'Mania payday.