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As the Royal Rumble PPV edges ever closer, for many people that means one thing: the Road to WrestleMania is about to begin!
For the longest time now, the Royal Rumble and the Rumble match itself has often utilised as the launching point for the WWE’s WrestleMania plans. And so with that in mind, having the Rumble on the horizon means that the Showcase of the Immortals is right around the corner.
To be precise, that “right around the corner” is April 7th, the venue being New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium. For those with good memories, you’ll remember that this is the one and the same MetLife Stadium that hosted WrestleMania 29 back in 2013.
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Each and every WrestleMania is meant to be special, is often chocked full of surprises, and tends to feature a who’s who of the wrestling business. As such, ‘Mania is the stage where so many legends are either a) made, or b) return to action.
For their biggest show of the year, Vince McMahon and co. like to wheel out the industry’s biggest names whenever possible. So with that in mind, then, here are 5 legendary names who could be set to return to in-ring action at WrestleMania 35.
#5 The Undertaker
Seriously, is it even a WrestleMania if the Phenom isn’t there?
If anyone has become synonymous with the Grandaddy of Them All, it’s the legendary Undertaker. Sure, Shawn Michaels may be known as Mr. WrestleMania, but the Death Valley native is arguably more associated with the Showcase of the Immortals than the Heartbreak Kid is by this point in the game.
As such, you would have to feel that it’s nearly a given that the Undertaker will be a part of WrestleMania 35 in some form or fashion. Just who the Deadman ends up butting heads with come ‘Mania remains to be seen, with fans having suggested names such as Drew McIntyre, Braun Strowman, AJ Styles, and Finn Balor as possible opponents for ‘Taker.
Whatever happens, we can only hope that the Undertaker’s WrestleMania 35 outing is less of a farce than what we saw between ‘Taker and John Cena at last year’s WrestleMania 34.
Regardless, expect the future Hall of Famer to be stirring from his slumber any time soon – potentially as soon as this month’s Royal Rumble PPV – as The Undertaker looks to once again bring his sinister shenanigans to WrestleMania.
And for whichever poor soul ends up battling the Deadman, that likely won’t end well for them.
#4 Goldberg
It was a major surprise to see Bill Goldberg return to the WWE in 2016, with the former NFL star going on to battle Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 33. But could Goldberg go one better and be a surprise return at the impending WrestleMania 35? Crazier things have happened.
For his part, Goldberg has refused to rule out a further wrestling return, although he certainly scratched the itch to be a superhero once more during his most recent WWE run; a run that was met with a hugely positive response that saw the WCW icon able to live out the dream of having his son watch him wrestle.
What’s the most notable part of all of this is that Goldberg recently followed All Elite Wrestling on Twitter. That, of course, sparked rumours that AEW could be looking to bring in Da Man to help give a further boost to their brand-new wrestling promotion.
How does this tie to WWE, then? Well, the WWE is doing all it can to offer better deals than AEW is lining up for talent. And given just how spiteful and ruthless Vince McMahon is, it really wouldn’t be a surprise to see him try and land Goldberg for a WrestleMania outing purely to stop AEW signing him.
#3 Triple H
The last time we saw Triple H compete was in an utterly awful tag team affair at WWE Crown Jewel. There, the Game teamed with the returning Shawn Michaels to battle Kane and the Undertaker
Granted, all four are complete legends of the business and their name value is absolutely huge. But still, that match was a mess, was poorly executed, and was far too indulgent in how it was allocated 30 minutes on a card where the majority of other matches were kept under the 10-minute mark. To make things even worse, Triple H was injured early on in the match.
Since then, the Cerebral Assassin has been rehabbing from pectoral surgery, all with the plan of getting back in the ring in time for WrestleMania.
Given how Hunter is a machine, it appears that he is indeed on track to be back in time to compete at this year’s Showcase of the Immortals, and there are already seeds sown on who the multiple-time World Champion could well face off against come April 7th. After all, if there’s even a slight chance of Triple H being able to compete at ‘Mania, the son-in-law of Vince McMahon is going to miss out.
This is a man who has competed at a whopping 22 WrestleManias to date, and so he’ll be chomping at the bit to return at WrestleMania 35.
And that brings us nicely on to our next entry…
#2 Batista
That’s right, Big Dave is looking increasingly likely to return to a WWE ring at WrestleMania 35.
For anyone who saw the SmackDown 1000 show from late last year, you’ll be well aware what the WWE was trying to achieve: they were teasing the possibility of Batista facing off with Evolution stablemate Triple H.
On the show, we saw Evolution all pat each other on the back, put each other over, and talk about all that they’ve each achieved in the business. But one comment was left to stir up the pot.
The returning Animal was keen to point out that, despite all of Triple H’s vast accomplishments, the Game has never once beaten Batista. And with that, things started to get a little antsy as tensions rose.
Since then, various wrestling outlets have been reporting that the WrestleMania 35 plan is to have Batista vs Triple H. Of course, Hunter picked up a nasty pectoral injury at WWE Crown Jewel and is now desperately rehabbing in time to make a ‘Mania return.
Regardless of Triple H’s status, it seems that the WWE is adamant in having Batista return to action at WrestleMania 35 against Hunter or another opponent.
#1 The Rock
From the online scuttlebutt and reports from various wrestling journalists, the WWE has been doing their best to get the Rock to wrestle at WrestleMania 35.
Originally, it was believed that the plan was for the Great One to be a surprise entrant in the 2019 Royal Rumble match, going on to win the Rumble and book himself a Universal Championship shot against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania. Sounds good, right?
Sadly, Reigns has had to step back from the squared circle to battle leukaemia, meaning those plans have had to be shelved. But what if the WWE still has ‘Mania plans for Rocky?
Previously, WrestleMania 30 was tentatively scheduled to be the Rock battling Brock Lesnar; those plans being shelved due to an injury to the hottest movie star on the planet. Could that match be resurrected for WrestleMania 35, though?
Many fans are predicting Seth Rollins as the one to go up against Paul Heyman’s Beast at WrestleMania this year, but maybe – just maybe – fans instead get to see the Rock step up to challenge Lesnar.
Even if that doesn’t happen, we may well be treated to another WrestleMania return for the Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment.
