Road to Wrestlemania 29: 5 WWE Superstars who might miss the cut for WM29

The Prime Time PlayersThe Prime Time Players were seen as a fluke pairing of NXT graduates with the charismatic Abraham Washington as their outlandish mouthpiece, but when AW made some controversial jokes on RAW, continued to be outspoken online, and he got ‘future endeavored’ by the company early last year. Since then the pairing of Titus O’Neil and Darren Young beat their critics by crafting their own comedic over-confident personas and showed off improved athletics in the ring, but with the WWE once again not highlighting pure tag team wrestling this duo is once again on the outside looking in. The PTP have worked hard all year and have provided consistent entertainment in their televised matches, let’s hope they can do their ‘millions of dollars’ dance under the bright lights of Wrestlemania 29 in New Jersey on April 7th.The Great KahliThe Punjabi Playboy has been billed as a giant and beast, but now seems like a 400 plush toy that WWE uses to get over other talent or for the rare ‘oh my’ moment on RAW and Smackdown. Kahli is a household name in his home country of India, but in North America he is widely considered a joke of a wrestler by most wrestling fans. This perspective really shined through this week on RAW, when the big man with his hard-to-understand voice was used for a not-so-funny comedy segment with flash-in-the-pan villain, Fandango. Kahli has never been a guy who anyone attaches to high level stage of Wrestlemania.Zack RyderIn 2011, the hottest up and coming talent in WWE was Zack Ryder who had created his own buzz with a successful self-produced web series ‘Z! True Long Island Story’ and massive following on the internet. The wave of momentum lead Ryder to go from a curtain jerker who joked online about being a curtain jerker to being the WWE United States Champion. Fast forward to the present, Ryder is back at the bottom far away from the Woo Woo Woo mojo that made him an exception to the WWE system of creating and building superstars. Ryder has recently gone on the record in interviews that he needs to make changes and once again beat the odds stacked against him to become an impact player in the WWE. It would be a big surprised to see Ryder anywhere but in a backstage segment on the Wrestlemania 29 show.View the list »
WWE Wrestlemania 29 Live on Pay Per View on April 7th

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Every year around this time there is a scramble in the WWE locker room, a struggle to make a mark in the eyes of WWE officials and fans, so that superstars can earn their spot on the show of shows, Wrestlemania. Now there is a class of talent like John Cena, CM Punk, and the Rock where this struggle is not a reality, not even an afterthought. Their star-power and larger-than-life personalities have propelled them into the main event picture, the superstars we are looking at now are those that slave all year to earn a minor role among the best in the undercard of Wrestlemania.

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This feature will focus on several WWE superstars who are on the fence for the big show on April 7th live on Pay Per View. Tell us your thoughts about the superstars who may or may not miss ‘Mania in the comment box below or tweet to the Pro Wrestling Examiner @KevKellam with your thoughts.

Follow the links below to see who is fighting for the last few spots on the Wrestlemania card. Be sure to check out the other stories linked below with all the big news on Wrestlemania 29.

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  • Zack RyderIn 2011, the hottest up and coming talent in WWE was Zack Ryder who had created his own buzz with a successful self-produced web series ‘Z! True Long Island Story’ and massive following on the internet. The wave of momentum lead Ryder to go from a curtain jerker who joked online about being a curtain jerker to being the WWE United States Champion. Fast forward to the present, Ryder is back at the bottom far away from the Woo Woo Woo mojo that made him an exception to the WWE system of creating and building superstars. Ryder has recently gone on the record in interviews that he needs to make changes and once again beat the odds stacked against him to become an impact player in the WWE. It would be a big surprised to see Ryder anywhere but in a backstage segment on the Wrestlemania 29 show.
  • The Great KahliThe Punjabi Playboy has been billed as a giant and beast, but now seems like a 400 plush toy that WWE uses to get over other talent or for the rare ‘oh my’ moment on RAW and Smackdown. Kahli is a household name in his home country of India, but in North America he is widely considered a joke of a wrestler by most wrestling fans. This perspective really shined through this week on RAW, when the big man with his hard-to-understand voice was used for a not-so-funny comedy segment with flash-in-the-pan villain, Fandango. Kahli has never been a guy who anyone attaches to high level stage of Wrestlemania.
  • The Prime Time PlayersThe Prime Time Players were seen as a fluke pairing of NXT graduates with the charismatic Abraham Washington as their outlandish mouthpiece, but when AW made some controversial jokes on RAW, continued to be outspoken online, and he got ‘future endeavored’ by the company early last year. Since then the pairing of Titus O’Neil and Darren Young beat their critics by crafting their own comedic over-confident personas and showed off improved athletics in the ring, but with the WWE once again not highlighting pure tag team wrestling this duo is once again on the outside looking in. The PTP have worked hard all year and have provided consistent entertainment in their televised matches, let’s hope they can do their ‘millions of dollars’ dance under the bright lights of Wrestlemania 29 in New Jersey on April 7th.
  • In October, Kingston upset the Miz for the WWE Intercontinental Championship on WWE Main Event. It was another positive moment for Kingston who seems to be the proverbial mid card talent of WWE for the last 5 years. He’s won WWE Tag Team Championships with multiple partners, the WWE United States Champion, and has also been an Intercontinental Champion several times. So this last IC title victory seemed like a sign that the Boom Boom man was on one more run in the mid card before making his way into the main event picture, but on the New Year’s Eve edition of RAW Kofi lost the title to Wade Barrett. Kingston lost a rematch that week on Smackdown, and fell back down the ladder. Kingston had another stand out moment at the Royal Rumble when he used a ringside chair to hop back onto the ring apron, only to be eliminated. Kingston needs to flip his script and find a new spark to go boom once again. Still this Examiner sees Kofi Kingston as the least likely on this list to actually miss out on a Wrestlemania 29 match in some way.
  • Yeah, these guys are still on the roster. That may seem like a diss to these former WWE Tag Team Champions were able to scrape out a pre-show match last year at Wrestlemania 28 in Miami, where they were victorious. Since that it seems like even with the red hot Rose Mendes at their side, these second generation wrestlers have not been able to break the bubble of just being a tag team who appears on RAW from time to time to get an establish pair of single talents over. Much like the Prime Time Players, Epico and Primo could get lucky if WWE adds a big Battle Royal match to WM29 with multiple superstars or tag teams in action. 
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Kevin Kellam has been a pro wrestling fan for his whole life. ...

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