5 Former WWE Champions who could miss WrestleMania 36

Among all the pay-per-views that take place every year, WrestleMania is the undisputed king of all of them. That makes the event a dream for every single Superstar, and most newcomers hope to get a chance to compete at a WrestleMania event, even if it’s during the pre-show.

Many celebrities have also shown their interest and appeared or competed at the Show of Shows due to the pull factor of the event that helps them earn even more fans.

With that in mind, several current Superstars are former Champions in the company but they are not currently in any storyline or in the run to get a match at The Grandest Stage of Them All.

While things can always change at the last minute and so Superstars may find their way back in the mix, there are several reasons that are holding them back for now.

In this article, we will look at the 5 former Champions in WWE who are currently without any matches for WrestleMania 36 and could miss the show.

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#5 Jinder Mahal

Does Mahal need a new gimmick?

Former WWE Champion and 24/7 Champion Jinder Mahal was a Champion not too long before he went missing due to injury. Having last competed at the Super ShowDown in 2019, Mahal took a break from wrestling to get a surgery done on his knee and has been waiting on the shelf to get back into the ring.

We’ve recently seen Mahal show off his progress on social media since the surgery, and he seems to be up and ready to go, with his return to the ring imminent.

While Mahal was drafted to RAW during his absence, it seems like the former WWE Champion will not find a way to get back to the ring before WrestleMania. Even if he does return to the ring, it will be unlikely that WWE will book him in a big feud right before the event and allow him to throw a few punches at The Show of Shows.

Falling to the mid-card hasn’t helped the Modern Day Maharaja, and we could see him return to the ring soon after WrestleMania is done and dusted.

#4 The IIconics

The IIconics came into the picture as one of the only pure women’s tag team who was ready to lead a division that was being created by the company. Soon after their arrival, the Women’s Tag Team Championships were revealed and we saw it change hands, with Billie Kay and Peyton Royce getting their hands on the title.

However, the reign with the titles was largely forgettable as they were booked in too few matches and were missing from television for an unacceptably long time.

In August 2019, the duo lost the titles to Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross and battled their last match in November last year against Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair.

With a terrible win-loss record and very few television appearances, it seems like the company will need to do a lot to rebuild the two women whenever they decide to return to our screens again.

With that in mind, there seems to be no way that Kay and Royce will be able to make it to a match at WrestleMania with such little build and no storyline. The only way we could end up seeing the two women in the ring at the event is if the company decides to book four or five teams to compete for the Women’s Tag Team Championships at the event.

#3 Rusev

The Bulgarian Brute needs to get back on his feet (or his tank)

Rusev has been one of WWE’s finest and most improved performers in the ring over the past 4 or 5 years. His performances have allowed him to win the United States Championship no less than three times, but he is slowly drowning in a sea of unlimited talent on the Red brand.

His previous feud with Bobby Lashley did not do much for the Superstar other than humiliated him in front of the WWE Universe, and the abrupt end to their extended rivalry made things worse.

The Bulgarian Brute has had very few matches on RAW recently with no real storyline in which he can progress. This will make things very difficult for the Superstar who needs to come across as a real threat before he can progress to a big feud again.

Rusev needs to regain his confidence and footing on RAW, and it seems like he won’t be able to do that within the next month, making his involvement in this year’s WrestleMania highly doubtful.

We hope Rusev will be able to recover from this rough patch soon and get better bookings, allowing him to have a great storyline and match for next year’s Show of Shows.

#2 Nia Jax

Nia Jax

In April last year at WrestleMania 35, Nia Jax along with tag team partner Tamina competed in a Fatal Four-Way Women's Tag Team Championship match. The match was won by The IIconics (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce).

Soon after the match, it was announced that Jax had suffered anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears on both of her knees and she was forced to undergo surgery to repair the damage.

The surgery required her to spend nine months away from the ring, and now that almost a year has passed, it seems like she is ready to return to the ring whenever the company wants to put her in a rivalry.

Apart from that, even Paige has her intentions of managing Jax very clear, but it seems like the company isn’t ready to bring back the former RAW Women’s Champion just yet.

With that in mind, it seems unlikely that the company will plan to bring back Jax and enter her in a feud immediately before WrestleMania. Instead, we could watch The Irresistible Force return on the RAW after WrestleMania and possibly go after someone like Becky Lynch or the RAW Women’s Champion at the time.

Or maybe she will unite with Paige and return on SmackDown sooner than later and start building towards a feud post-WrestleMania.

#1 Triple H

Last year at WrestleMania 35, Triple H and Batista were under the spotlight as both men were involved in a bitter rivalry. Their match lasted almost 25 minutes and gave fans something to remember.

In mid-2019, The Game battled against archrival Randy Orton at WWE Super ShowDown in Saudi Arabia, which was another memorable match. Since then, Triple H has only fought in two matches, both at Live Events in Japan, and is yet to take to the ring in 2020.

The multi-time WWE Champion has nothing left to prove in the business, and unlike The Undertaker, Goldberg, and John Cena, he seems to be enjoying his time in his managerial role.

Hunter has been building the NXT brand and is investing all of his time in giving WWE the greatest third brand, and therefore he has not gotten into any rivalries before this year’s WrestleMania.

While it does not feel like Triple H has retired from the ring, it most certainly looks like he will be staying away from this year’s Show of Shows. We could watch Triple H return and take on another legend at some point, or even compete against an NXT Superstar down the line, but this year’s WrestleMania will likely be missing his iconic entrance.