WWE WrestleMania 2015: Superstars Who Will Be Neglected by Creative Team
Every WWE superstar wants to have his moment on the grandest stage of them all and at the 2015 WrestleMania event, several people will get an opportunity at just that.
Roman Reigns will be facing the nigh-unstoppable Beast Incarnate Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a match that could make his career.
John Cena and Rusev will likely be booked in another top-priority match with the United States Championship and national pride at stake.
Even the older legends such as Undertaker and Triple H will be busy with main event bouts against Bray Wyatt and Sting, respectively, in what could end up being two of the most important matches in WrestleMania history.
However, what does that leave for everyone else?
As much as everyone would like to have a spot on the card, it is impossible for over 30 men and women to be given the spotlight even on a show that is five hours long.
Each year, WrestleMania is booked around roughly eight main stars, and everyone else must scramble for a placement, sometimes still being cut even after being booked on the show.
Despite being featured weekly on Raw, SmackDown and other outlets, no talent outside of the true main event players is safe from being overlooked.
With that in mind, who are some of the people in danger of being relegated to a mindless midcard match or worse, being left off the card entirely?
Let's take a look at the Superstars whom WWE Creative might be pushing to the side come March 29, 2015.
Honorable Mention: WWE's Jobbers and Enhancement Talent
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Before we get into the actual stars that deserve better, it needs to be thrown out there that the first round of cuts when making room for people at WrestleMania goes to the jobbers.
With the inclusion of the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, almost nobody is going to be truly absent from the show, which is one good thing about that match even if it does seem a bit redundant when happening so close to the Royal Rumble event.
However, just because they are on the show doesn't mean they will do anything of note. In fact, it is essentially guaranteed that 20 of the people in this match will amount to anything but a quick elimination.
If you're fond of Heath Slater, Zack Ryder or anybody else who tends to be on the less important and losing side of things, you're not going to be happy with their showings at WrestleMania.
5. The Ascension and Various Tag Teams
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Several months ago, it was perfectly sound reasoning to expect The Ascension to either go into WrestleMania as the tag team champions or to be fighting for the belts.
Now, after being relegated to episodes of Superstars and Main Event more than anything else, that idea is history.
Konnor and Viktor are currently feuding with The Prime Time Players, but it isn't looking too great for them to be anything special on this card, either.
In fact, all of the tag teams seem to be of little importance to WrestleMania's build, so they will either be more competitors in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal or they'll simply be absent from the card entirely.
Two months after this, WWE will be relying heavily on these tag teams to make up a good portion of the television content and have a presence on the pay-per-views, but that isn't happening for the biggest show of the year.
4. Erick Rowan and Ryback
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A recurring theme for this list is going to be about the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and how so many people are sharing the spotlight.
In scenarios like this type of match, WWE tends to focus on the winner, the runner-up and someone who can be eliminated in a funny fashion but not many others.
Ryback and Erick Rowan took part in one of the biggest feuds of the past year and were instrumental in taking down The Authority temporarily.
After that, they stood by each other, Dolph Ziggler and John Cena in various tag team bouts even so recent as last month's Fastlane event.
Rather than doing something with The Authority, Ryback has been announced for the battle royal. Rowan hasn't even gotten that far, yet.
This shouldn't come as too much of a surprise for Rowan, considering his win/loss record over the past few months, but Ryback will be underutilized unless he is one of the forefront people in the match.
Then again, Ryback doesn't have the best track record, either, so there's a good chance these two are fodder for someone like Sheamus to return and look extra strong.
3. The Miz and Damien Mizdow
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The feud between The Miz and Damien Mizdow has been an ongoing and popular WWE storyline for many months, so many people assumed it was a given that these two would have a match at WrestleMania.
Now, it appears as though Extreme Rules will be the time for them to settle the score, and WrestleMania will be yet another event that translates to WWE telling the fans "you'll get it, but hold on a minute."
The Miz will be in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, and Mizdow will follow suit, but considering how many other people will be involved, they will get lost in the shuffle.
This is WWE's chance to do a variation of what everyone expected to happen at the Royal Rumble, with Mizdow eliminating The Miz, but that's still a huge downgrade compared to what they could have been doing.
Without a doubt, a match between these two could have at least been featured on the pre-show, if not on the main program itself in some fashion. There still could have been a rematch with a gimmick attached to it at Extreme Rules, too.
For now, these two will be pushed aside and tossed into the Battle Royal to make room for others before WWE finds itself depending on them to step up to the plate in the months that follow WrestleMania, when people like Sting, Undertaker and Brock Lesnar are no longer there to overshadow them.
2. Kane and Big Show
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With all eyes on Triple H and Seth Rollins, the two behemoths of The Authority aren't looking so valuable going into WrestleMania.
There aren't any solid feuds put in place for them at the moment, and time is running out for them to be given any kind of a featured role in the show.
Like the others listed here, the Battle Royal will get them on the card in some fashion, but is that truly good enough for two former multi-time world champions who are easily first-ballot Hall of Famers in the future?
Big Show has participated in many world-title matches at WrestleMania or at least in a spot that garnered quite a bit of attention, such as his fight with Floyd Mayweather at WrestleMania XXIV.
Kane hasn't had as much good luck in that department, but he's still had his moments, ranging from fun and quick segments such as defeating Chavo Guerrero in record time for the ECW Championship and wrestling midcard matches against the likes of Randy Orton and others.
Furthermore, these two were in the final four of this year's Royal Rumble. Not being able to separate them from the pack is a definite downgrade to what the audience should be perceiving them as.
Both men could arguably be in the title hunt or at least would make more sense to join the Intercontinental Championship match than someone like R-Truth who has been missing in action or a jobber for the better part of 2014.
In more ways than one, these two are just too big to be booked as extras in the match designed for leftovers.
1. Tyson Kidd, Cesaro and The Usos
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The tag team champions are currently still in a feud with The Usos, but despite the improvements in the tag team division over the years, they could very well be taking a backseat at this show.
WWE hasn't announced any kind of a title defense, and there are still several other matches left to be announced for the show that would take priority over these four men.
If there is any time to allow for them, the most they will likely be booked for is a quick buffer match to go on between two important ones to give the fans a chance to take a break.
Alternatively, the championship could be defended in a pre-show match, but considering WWE's track record of not giving that adequate time and effort, it still would be a sign of neglect from the WWE Creative team.
One way or another, they will be wrestling at the event, but there's a chance Tyson Kidd, Cesaro, Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso are just four more names thrown into the Battle Royal.
Who do you think won't get their fair share at WrestleMania? Is there a particular match you want to see happen that will be cut for time? Tell us what you're thinking in the comments below!
Anthony Mango is the owner-operator of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment as well as the host of its podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.
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