WWE Rumors: Another Champion Pulled From ‘WrestleMania 36,’ Replaced By NXT Superstar

There are some things that WWE has no control over, and this year, that includes a great deal of WrestleMania 36. The coronavirus outbreak has everyone wanting to be overly cautious, and it has brought forth the removal of numerous superstars from the card. Rumors and spoilers are starting to spill out from this week’s tapings with details of another champion being pulled from the card and replaced with an NXT superstar.

This time around, though, it isn’t the virus or illness to blame for the superstar’s removal.

WWE United States Champion Andrade has been pulled from WrestleMania 36, according to PW Insider Elite, by way of Wrestling Inc. The official card had him scheduled to partner with Angel Garza in a match against The Street Profits with the Raw Tag Team Championship on the line.

The report states that Andrade is dealing with a rib injury of some sort, which happened in a match on this week’s Monday Night Raw. In that match, the team of Andrade and Garza defeated Ricochet and Cedric Alexander, which was likely a way to explain their tag title shot somewhat.

After the match was over, The Street Profits had a run-in, and the title match was made official shortly after that.

If WrestleMania 36 was to take place on April 4, as originally scheduled, it might have been possible for Andrade to wrestle. Due to the matches being taped on Wednesday and Thursday of this week, he was not cleared by WWE’s medical staff and could not get into the ring for a match.

The superstar who took his place and teamed with Angel Garza has not yet been revealed, but it is believed that he was from NXT.

Andrade was initially scheduled to face Rey Mysterio with his U.S. Championship on the line, but that match was scrapped. Mysterio became sick and needed to be quarantined during the COVID-19 outbreak, which takes him off WrestleMania 36 entirely.

The loss of Andrade is just the most recent of numerous alterations that WWE has had to make to the pay-per-view. Mysterio and Dana Brooke were both pulled from the event after being quarantined, and The Miz also did not perform due to being sick.

It has also been confirmed that Roman Reigns is not going to wrestle at the event and will not face Goldberg for the WWE Universal Championship.

WrestleMania 36 was already going to be unlike any event that WWE has ever presented due to the coronavirus outbreak, but it just keeps changing. Andrade’s injury comes at an unfortunate time as it takes him out of the tag title match set for the card. It’s not yet known who will step in for him, but one NXT superstar was likely placed in a major title match in a hurry.