WrestleMania 35: 5 rumoured matches that will not happen

As many as 17 matches are expected to take place at WrestleMania 35 on Sunday, April 7, with WWE pulling out all the stops to include as many main-roster Superstars as possible on what is all set to be one of the most stacked ‘Mania cards in history.

Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch and Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins are being promoted as ‘main events’, while the as-yet-unconfirmed WWE Championship encounter between Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston is a match worthy of headlining any pay-per-view.

Triple H vs. Batista has also been announced for the event, as has Shane McMahon vs. The Miz and Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles, and fans will also witness Kurt Angle’s final in-ring WWE appearance when he goes one-on-one with Baron Corbin in his ‘farewell’ match.

As ever, even though the card for “The Show of Shows” gets larger and larger every 12 months, there are also several matches that were rumoured for this year’s annual extravaganza but, for various different reasons, they will not take place.

In this article, let’s narrow the list down and take a look at five matches that we could potentially have seen at MetLife Stadium in April.

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#5 Asuka vs. Lacey Evans

Asuka lost her undefeated streak against Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 34

Asuka defeated Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair in the main event of the TLC pay-per-view in December 2018 to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship for the first time in her career.

Since then, “The Empress of Tomorrow” has retained her title against Naomi (SmackDown Live), Lynch (Royal Rumble) and Mandy Rose (Fastlane) but her role on WWE television has been limited over the last few months, with women's storylines involving Rose, Deville, Lynch and Flair taking priority on SmackDown Live.

At the same time, main-roster newcomer Lacey Evans has been introduced to fans on Raw and SmackDown Live in a unique way (to say the least!), as she has interrupted several matches and segments with her “Sassy Southern Belle” walk down the entrance ramp and back to the top of the stage.

Evans’ regular appearances led to speculation earlier this year that she would face Asuka at WrestleMania 35. However, WWE has announced that the winner of a Fatal 4-Way match between Carmella, Naomi, Rose and Deville will be the one to challenge for the SmackDown Women’s Championship on April 7, meaning Evans will not be in the title picture.

#4 The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels

Shawn Michaels came out of retirement at Crown Jewel

Shawn Michaels competed in his first WWE match in eight-and-a-half years when he teamed with Triple H to defeat Kane and The Undertaker in the main event of the Crown Jewel pay-per-view in November 2018.

Following the match, Michaels stressed in an interview with WWE.com that he was officially done as an in-ring performer and his return was simply a one-off. However, that did not stop the rumours that he could have one final run in WWE, culminating in a match at WrestleMania 35 against the man who initially retired him, The Undertaker.

Before Becky Lynch’s feuds with Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey reached new heights before Survivor Series, there was even a short period of time when ‘Taker vs. Michaels was the favourite with bookmakers to be the main event of WrestleMania 35, presumably with both men calling time on their careers after the match.

Now, almost five months on from that Crown Jewel tag match, it seems that HBK really was serious about not competing again, while “The Deadman” is not even advertised to have a match at this year’s show.

#3 Trish Stratus & Lita vs. Sasha Banks & Bayley

The Boss 'n' Hug Connection will defend their titles at WrestleMania 35

Sasha Banks and Bayley took part in ‘Open Forum’ segments with Alexa Bliss in back-to-back weeks on Monday Night Raw in December 2018. The in-ring Q&As were designed to give Bliss something to do while she recovered from concussions, while they also planted the seeds for the introduction of the Women’s Tag Team titles.

Both members of The Boss ‘n’ Hug Connection mentioned during the segments that their dream was to become the Women’s Tag Team champions in 2019 and face Trish Stratus and Lita at WrestleMania.

At the time, it seemed to be a clear sign that WWE was planning the tag match for WrestleMania 35, and that still looked to be the case after Banks and Bayley outlasted five other teams to win the newly introduced titles at Elimination Chamber in February 2019.

However, with just two weeks to go until ‘Mania, there has been no mention of Stratus and Lita in the build-up to the event, and it looks increasingly likely that Nia Jax & Tamina, Beth Phoenix & Natalya and Billie Kay & Peyton Royce will all challenge for the titles on April 7.

#2 Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade

WWE is bound to revisit this storyline again soon

Rey Mysterio’s long-awaited full-time return to WWE in late 2018 did not exactly go according to plan. Granted, he still received great crowd reactions and his in-ring ability was as impressive as ever, but he quickly became lost in the SmackDown Live shuffle and he soon felt like just another name on the roster.

Fast forward to January 2019 and everything changed for the former WWE champion when he began to feud with Andrade. The two men stole the show in back-to-back weeks on SmackDown Live, which is rare for a non-title storyline, and their matches even took priority over the WWE Championship and United States Championship rivalries.

After the feud was put on the backburner for a few weeks, WWE looked set to tell the next chapter in the Mysterio vs. Andrade story earlier in March when they were scheduled to meet on the Fastlane kickoff show. However, the match was changed to a Fatal 4-Way, also involving Samoa Joe and R-Truth, which Joe won.

Speculation that WWE was saving the next Mysterio vs. Andrade match for WrestleMania 35 was short-lived, as it was announced shortly after Fastlane that Mysterio will challenge Joe for the United States Championship at ‘Mania. Presumably, with Andrade no longer in the picture, the Mexican will have to settle for the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal.

#1 Daniel Bryan vs. Kevin Owens

Daniel Bryan has been WWE champion since November 2018

Kevin Owens underwent double knee surgery in October 2018. Within two months, WWE began airing vignettes hyping his return, and he finally made his comeback in February 2019 as the latest recruit to the SmackDown Live brand.

Widespread reports during the early weeks of 2019 suggested that Owens was going to be the one to challenge Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35, so it was a surprise when, upon his return to SmackDown Live, he was immediately given a title opportunity against Bryan (and Mustafa Ali) at Fastlane.

As it turned out, this was the beginning of a longer story which was less about Owens and more about Kofi Kingston, who had suddenly emerged as the fans’ favourite to challenge Bryan for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania following his performances in a gauntlet match on SmackDown Live and in the Chamber match at Elimination Chamber.

In reality, Owens was reportedly supposed to be the #1 contender right now, but WWE has been left with little choice but to tell the 'KofiMania' story that fans want in the build-up to this year’s event.