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| photo courtesy: wrestlingrambles.com |
The match participants will include the likes of Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio, Big Show, Mark Henry and others. Interestingly enough, all of these individuals were contending for world championships last year and now find themselves in a randomly thrown-together Battle Royal.
No disrespect to Andre the Giant, but it is the obligatory "get everyone on the card" match that we seem to get every year at WrestleMania in some form or fashion. While its dedication to the memory of Andre makes it feel somewhat special, odds are that many of the combatants won't last very long in the contest and will be ultimately overshadowed.
This also rings very true for Cody Rhodes and Goldust, who have since been entered into the matchup as of the March 21 SmackDown. Unlike many of the other Superstars involved, the Rhodes brothers were easily one of the best things going only a few short months ago.
Hardly anyone expected the firing of Cody Rhodes to be as big as it ended up becoming, as it soon involved all of The Authority as well as the rest of the Rhodes family. It culminated in a blockbuster tag team match at WWE Battleground in which Cody and Goldust paired up for the first time ever to defeat The Shield and earn their jobs back.
Needless to say, that match stole the show and was among the top 10 matches of 2013. The Rhodes brothers became a mainstay in the tag team division from that point forward, winning the WWE Tag Team Championships from Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns eight days later.
They went on to reign as Tag Team champions for over three months, giving stellar performances at the Hell in a Cell, Survivor Series and TLC pay-per-view events. They defended their straps against all comers and were one of the hottest acts in all of wrestling during that period of time.
When it came time for them to drop the belts to the New Age Outlaws at the Royal Rumble, many saw this as the opportunity for them to split up and begin feuding with one another going into WrestleMania 30. It's been a match fans have been begging for since 2011, and there was no better time for it to happen than at the 30th anniversary of The Show of Shows.
However, after failing to regain the gold in early February, Cody and Goldust were essentially an afterthought. There were no hints of dissension in the ranks, and they were no longer regulars on Raw in the weeks that followed.
In simple terms, WWE missed the perfect opportunity to put on a match with meaning attached to it at WrestleMania. Although Goldust has gone on record in the last month saying that he has zero desire to face his brother at the event, it's still a highly anticipated match that would have served as a perfect addition to the card.
Those that have stated they would rather see the match take place next year at WrestleMania 31 may not realize that is out of the question, since Goldust's current contract is rumored to expire in August, per F4WOnline.com (h/t Prowrestling.com). The Bizarre One has also made it clear in the past that he wouldn't want to face Cody anywhere else but on The Grandest Stage of Them All, not even at SummerSlam.
Thus, the ship has sailed on that match ever happening now that they have both been placed in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. One would think that WWE would have something much more meaningful in mind for the tandem after their months of hard work and excellent matches, but apparently not.
If they weren't going to face off against each other at 'Mania, the least WWE could have done was put them in the WWE Tag Team Championship match. While it has yet to be confirmed, the bout will probably pit current champions The Usos against The Real Americans and the duo of Ryback and Curtis Axel in a Triple Threat tag team match.
Ryback and Axel were also originally announced for the Battle Royal before being pulled to compete in the Tag Team title match, so it's still possible that the same can be done for the Rhodes brothers. After all, they own two victories over The Real Americans, who defeated The Usos on the March 17 Raw.
Given all that they have done to help boost the credibility of the tag team division in the last six months, one can only hope that Cody and Goldust will be added to the matchup. If not, then they will just be two of 30 people crammed in a ring, not receiving the attention or spotlight they rightfully deserve.
What a shame.
source: bleacherreport.com
