12 Notable Superstars who weren't a part of WrestleMania 35

WWE has the biggest roster today than ever before, with WWE Raw, SmackDown, NXT, NXT UK and 205 Live each having full rosters of more than a dozen superstars each. With such a large quantity, it has gotten pretty easy for many Superstars to be left off each show and pay-per-view-events every week.

Today you can even see the Royal Rumble event struggle to fit in every Superstar, and even bigger events than that, like WrestleMania, are unfortunately struggling to find the space. Despite the Show of Shows often featuring as much as 15+ matches, not every WWE Superstar can make the cut, and WrestleMania 35 in 2019 is a big example of how.

Several notable WWE stars were left off the card this year. So many names missed out on a very big paycheck, including several former WWE Heavyweight Champions and Superstars who were once in a very prominent position on the WrestleMania card.

Whether it was last minute changes, minor injuries or creative issues, here are 12 notable superstars who WWE left off the WrestleMania 35 card in 2019.

#12 Goldust

As of this writing, Goldust has been out of action since June 2018 after having surgery on his knees. The timeline of his return is unknown, so it is understandable why the bizarre one was not included in any match on the card.

However, I think it was more than perfectly feasible for the former WWE Intercontinental Champion to have been at least featured in a backstage skit with his other fellow WWE legends we saw on Sunday. I think Goldust would have been best suited for the backstage skit between Alexa Bliss, the B-Team and Ron Simmons, to add some of his well-timed comedic chops.

It is possible that WWE is keeping him off-camera period, due to his unconfirmed status with the company in regards to possibly leaving later this year.

#11 Sin Cara

The Sin Cara character has now been part of WWE TV for about 8 years, and during that time, it has been on a ride of starts and stops when it comes to being pushed. I'm sure you have noticed that it has actually been a while since we last saw Sin Cara on WWE TV; the mid-summer to be exact.

This is because the former NXT Tag Team Champion went down with a knee injury that required surgery last August. This would typically keep a superstar out of action for some time. However, it was reported last month that Cara has been medically cleared to return to action.

Unfortunately, just like many others before and after him, Sin Cara has fallen into a creative standstill in WWE and they seem to be having trouble finding a spot for him to return to, and that is the main reason we did not see him return to TV before or at WrestleMania.

#10 Alicia Fox

Alicia Fox didn't have a bad run in 2018, as she was prominently featured on RAW in alliances with Alexa Bliss and Mickie James. Foxy was even given a high profile match at WWE Evolution as she and Mickie James faced off with WWE Hall of Famers and all-time greats, Trish Stratus and Lita.

However, we have not seen much of Fox in 2019, especially since early February, and with good reason. Alicia Fox last wrestled for WWE on February 10 at a live event where she allegedly showed up in no condition to perform following a couple of drinks, but went out anyway. This in turn apparently led to the firing of then WWE agent and Hall of Famer Arn Anderson, who was the acting agent for her match that night.

This situation, should it be true, has left a lot of heat on Fox with both management and the locker room too, as Anderson was popular among superstars. So, it is no real surprise that Fox was left off the WrestleMania card, but it is still worth noting.

#9 Mojo Rawley

Mojo Rawley has had a pretty uneventful couple of years in WWE ever since his Hype Bros tag team with Zack Ryder broke up and he turned heel. A push was rumored following his André The Giant Memorial Battle Royal victory in 2017, but nothing happened.

It seemed like for a while in 2018 that WWE had plans for him, as he took on a two month long winning streak where he impressively won all of his matches with a different finishing move each week. He hasn't been seen much since he returned to his previous losing ways. Rawley resurfaced on television in late January, where he was talking to himself in a mirror in a dark room, blaming himself for his diminishing profile.

WWE has aired three of these segments but nothing has materialized from them as of yet. Keeping Rawley off WrestleMania might not be such a bad thing in terms of character, if WWE does actually intend on moving forward with this new persona, but if not, Rawley was just another of the weekend's creative sacrifices.

#8 The Big Show

While the Big Show is not yet close to retirement, he has been pretty much a part-time performer for over two years now, due to having to take so much time off to deal with various injuries. After Big Show was absent from TV for just over a year, he returned to WWE SmackDown last October and seemed to form an alliance with then WWE Tag Team Champions Sheamus and Cesaro.

For the next month, they would enter the ring together and Big Show would hold up their Tag Team titles as they pointed to him. The trio then all of a sudden split up in a backstage segment on SmackDown in November, and Show hasn't been seen on main roster TV since.

It has since been reported that Big Show left TV once again to deal with another injury--with his hamstring. Despite this, I still think WWE could have booked Show on the card. He could have made an appearance in the battle royal for a short time, or at least a cameo appearance elsewhere. Any kind of appearance is well deserved thanks to his many contributions to WWE.

#7 SAnitY

SAnitY was a force to be reckoned with in NXT. They had a pretty dominant reign as NXT Tag Team Champions and had many top tier feuds. Giving their gimmick and coming in as a faction, there were high hopes for them when they were announced as having been drafted from NXT to SmackDown during the 2018 WWE Superstar Shakeup.

However, SAnitY would not make their SmackDown debuts until a full three months after they were drafted, and have honestly done nothing of note ever since. They have not been featured in any prominent feuds and only seem to show up on SmackDown once or twice every three months.

That being their current booking situation, makes it very understandable as to why all members of the group were not featured at all at WrestleMania. No battle royal appearance for any of them, they all remained backstage. WWE could have a really good thing with these guys, but creative just seems stumped on what to do.

#6 Sami Zayn

Sami Zayn went down with an injury back in June 2018 that required surgery on both his shoulders, which he successfully had. Before going out with his injury, Zayn had been feuding with Bobby Lashley, and had just come off feuds with Braun Strowman, Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan.

So Zayn wasn't doing too bad at all, just like in 2018, he seemed primed for a prominent WrestleMania card position this year. Despite being out of action, WWE had aired vignettes for his impending return some months ago and reports had recently surfaced that Zayn was ready to get back in the ring and was just waiting on his return date.

As Sami Zayn returned to action on the post-WrestleMania episode of RAW, I don't see why they shouldn't have just had him return to WrestleMania itself instead. Zayn could have made his presence known in a match on the card, perhaps aiding someone in a victory, or could have at least come out at some point to cut a heel promo, which would have put him over better rather than on RAW.

#5 Bray Wyatt

WWE just don't seem to have any idea what to do with Bray Wyatt. A former WWE Champion, just in case you forgot, Wyatt has been out of action since last July. And no, Wyatt has not been on the injured list. The perfectly healthy Wyatt has been paid to sit at home for the last 8 months because WWE just doesn't know what to do with him.

They were really grasping at straws by pairing him with 'Woken' Matt Hardy, but things would only get worse once Hardy had to leave TV due to an injury. Instead of Wyatt being given something else to do, he was removed from TV so creative could come up with something for him, and boy did they take their time.

Bray Wyatt could have easily made some kind of return to WWE at WrestleMania during a segment or attacking someone after a match. Wyatt could have easily made an appearance to put him back into the fold, but nothing. We did see a creepy promo on the post-WrestleMania episode of RAW which seems very likely to be hyping his return, but they could have started it at least a month ago, and have the payoff be at WrestleMania.

#4 Dean Ambrose

Alright, so this one is no real surprise, but still worth mentioning. Former WWE Champion and founding member of The Shield, Dean Ambrose was revealed to be leaving WWE this past January. The news spread around so quickly throughout the internet that WWE themselves acknowledged it to be true. They would even go one step further and even mention his pending departure on television also, as he wrestled a series of matches putting over other superstars.

So while it is no shocker that WWE chose to keep Ambrose off of WrestleMania and save his final WWE appearance for RAW the following night, it is still somewhat feasible that Ambrose could have made an appearance at 'Mania to have one last ride with The Shield. Ambrose could have aided either Seth Rollins or Roman Reigns in their matches with Brock Lesnar and Drew McIntyre, respectively.

It would have given yet another great moment for the show and ended a great WWE run on a solid note, on television at least. Ambrose did receive this kind of send off, when RAW went off the air the following night.

#3 Dolph Ziggler

Former World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler seemed to be set for big things this year. After spending all of 2018 in a top heel tandem with Drew McIntyre in a very prominent position on RAW, Ziggler turned face towards the end of the year and feuded with his former partner.

Following a Steel Cage loss to McIntyre on the New year's episode of RAW, Ziggler disappeared from TV for a month, before returning in the Royal Rumble match where he eliminated McIntyre and made it to the final three.

Once he was thrown out, Ziggler was seemingly eliminated into oblivion as he has since vanished from WWE TV. Ziggler reportedly left TV to participate on a stand up comedy tour, but a return to TV, especially at WrestleMania, does not seem like it should have been out of the question.

Ziggler could have returned in the André The Giant Memorial Battle Royal, or even made some kind of appearance to take down his friend turned enemy Drew McIntyre. Regardless, after his incredible career, he deserved some kind of spot on the show.

#2 Kevin Owens

Kevin Owens seemingly went from huge WrestleMania plans to no WrestleMania plans. After going down with an injury last October, former WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens returned to WWE SmackDown in March, where he was named number one contender to the WWE Championship, and challenged Daniel Bryan for the title at WWE Fastlane.

Owens was heavily rumored to originally have these same plans for WrestleMania itself, before Kofi Kingston's popularity became overwhelming. Instead of challenging Bryan at WrestleMania, Owens was left off the WrestleMania 35 card entirely. He wasn't even given a spot in the André The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. That is one incredible drop for someone who was originally rumored to be in the WWE Championship match.

And I think, due to his involvement in the WWE title match at Fastlane, KO would have still fit right into the Championship match at WrestleMania just fine, and it should have been a Triple Threat. Sure, Kofi Kingston does still deserve the big win, but I think it would have had the same impact and been a better match, if Kevin Owens was involved also.

#1 The Undertaker

Regardless of no longer having 'The Streak', WrestleMania is still The Undertaker's show. It just doesn't feel like WrestleMania without him, and this year it really didn't. The Undertaker's future in the ring has been in serious question lately, with some reports claiming that he is finished, while others even thinking he may be leaving WWE.

Regardless of what you choose to believe, many had questioned whether or not 'The Deadman' would be competing at the event this year, or even making an appearance. And as it turned out, we didn't get either on Sunday.

For whatever reason, WWE decided to just not use him. Taker did, however, make an appearance on the post-WrestleMania episode of RAW where he flattened Elias. And while it was fun to see that, it makes you wonder why they couldn't have just done something similar at WrestleMania.

Sure, Elias did work a segment with John Cena, but given the WreestleMania history with those two last year, Taker appearing in the segment too only made even more sense. It is crazy, but true. For the first time in 19 years, The Undertaker did not make an appearance at WrestleMania.

Edited by Israel Lutete