In less than two weeks, on April 3rd, Wrestlemania 32, the biggest professional wrestling event of the year will take place in Dallas, Texas.
The event will attempt to break the all-time attendance record for a sporting event, which originally was set in 1987 during Wrestlemania 3 in Detroit (with over 93,000 people), but was later broken in Dallas during the 2010 NBA All-Star Game, with an attendance of over 108,000 people.
Opening the show will be the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
What’s at stake? The winner of the 20-man battle royal will receive the Andre the Giant Memorial trophy.
However, there’s one issue WWE has had to deal with lately? Well, there’s many, but for this match specifically, there is an issue: the amount of wrestlers on the “injured” list.
Currently, some of the wrestlers on the WWE roster that are injured include: John Cena, Randy Orton, Cesaro, Tyson Kidd (whose neck injury will most likely prevent him from ever wrestling again), Neville, and Luke Harper, among others.
Wrestlers such as Cena and Orton have been out for months, and Cena will be missing Wrestlemania for the first time since Wrestlemania XIX in 2003. Having essentially the face of the WWE injured anytime, let alone during the biggest time of the year, is a major blow to the largest wrestling company in the world.
Over the past few weeks, wrestlers have announced their entry into the battle royal, including Big Show, Kane, the stable known as “The Social Outcasts“ and Tyler Breeze. Now, both due to the higher amount of injuries than usual, and how it has been done in the past, also expect wrestlers from NXT, the developmental territory of WWE, to be featured in the battle royal as well. It’s unsure exactly as to who will be participating from NXT (if any), but it’d be a welcomed addition to the opening match (aside from the pre-show) of Wrestlemania 32.