Seeing that Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn have been a staple in SmackDown’s main event scene for months, it seemed reasonable to assume they’d get an enviable WrestleMania spot. Well, we have bad news.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter says that the current plans are for Owens and Zayn to compete in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal at the New Orleans mega show. If this is indeed how things play out, hordes of fans will treat it as an inexcusable injustice.
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Not long ago, it seemed reasonable to expect Owens and Zayn to get involved with Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon at WrestleMania. But an Andre the Giant Battle Royal appearance would be a staunch departure from those lofty plans.
This is not the course fans envisioned when Sami Zayn made his fateful heel turn at Hell in Cell last fall. At the time, Owens and Shane were in a literal blood food that got extra juice from a terrifically violent encounter between KO and Vince McMahon himself. Ever since their Hell in a Cell moment, KO and Sami have been an integral part of SmackDown’s main event scene as an insufferable, nefarious duo.
However, the pair of Canadians have had their differences as of late and look to be due to a boiling over at this Sunday’s Fastlane WWE Championship match. At the very least it felt like they would add a WrestleMania chapter to their storied history together.
But once that dust clears, it looks like we’ll all come to the same cold realization that WWE doesn’t have room for them in the Superdome. Despite being 7 hours long, WrestleMania still can’t accommodate everyone. If KO and Sami do indeed find themselves relegated to the Battle Royal, maybe WWE will use it as a jumping point for future stories.
With HBO’s Andre the Giant documentary coming in April, WWE is apparently committed to making his namesakes’ battle royal more significant than previous years. That includes rumors of Braun Strowman and even soon to be WWE Hall of Famer, Goldberg, entering the fray.
It still seems hard to believe that KO, who was Universal Champion just a year ago, will be in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal the following WrestleMania. We’ll keep you posted as this develops but consider this rumor a precursor for quite the letdown.
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NEW YORK CITY – DECEMBER 19: "Toil and Trouble" – Elsbeth is thrown into the world of television after the showrunner of a long-running police procedural is brutally murdered in his office, and although it appears to be the act of a disgruntled fan, she begins to suspect the show's longtime star Regina Coburn (Laurie Metcalf) who yearns for artistic fulfillment. Meanwhile, Judge Crawford (Michael Emerson) continues to be a thorn in Elsbeth's side, on the CBS original series ELSBETH, Thursday, Dec. 19 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs). Pictured (L-R): Carrie Preston as Elsbeth Tascioni and Carra Patterson as Kaya Blanke. (Photo by Michael Parmelee/CBS via Getty Images)
