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With the list of names announced for Raw, there are ten major names from the history of the show not announced - The Rock, Bret Hart, Edge, Christian, Mick Foley, Dave Bautista, Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio, CM Punk and Hulk Hogan:
We are told that Edge wasn't a possibility to appear as he will be out of the country when Raw takes place. There's been no rumblings of Christian appearing.
CM Punk, who's pipe bomb promo was named the #2 Raw moment of all time on this week's 25th Anniversary special, remains at odds with WWE as the lawsuit filed by WWE's Dr. Chris Amann against Punk and Colt Cabana continues to wind its way through the courts. With that case expected to be heard in May, it's not likely Punk and WWE would be open to working together.
We are told that Jeff Hardy, obviously under contract to WWE, is expected to be in NYC for the event. Obviously, he will not be well enough to wrestle as he is still recovering from surgery.
Hart and Foley were both featured in the initial localized advertising for the Raw 25th Anniversary event, but since then, neither have been mentioned. Foley is obviously local, as he lives in Long Island, a short drive away from either location and it would be pretty surprising not to see him make at least a cameo given how important he was to the Attitude Era.
However, to the best of our knowledge, there's been no rumblings of Hart, who was WWF champion when Raw debuted, appearing.
While Bautista has expressed an interest in returning to WWE at some point, there's been no inkling he'll be appearing on the show.
There's also been no rumblings of an appearance from Rey Mysterio, who was closer than close to agreeing to debut for Impact Wrestling at their tapings last week before the deal fell apart.
Hogan is obviously a major hot button topic given the reasons he was let go from WWE in 2015, but if the company chose to bring him in, it would be a huge nostalgia moment on a night where nostalgia will be a major theme. Eric Bischoff, extremely close with Hogan, has been announced for the show. Jimmy Hart, who travels with Hogan on the road, has not. Still, we haven't heard any rumblings that Hogan will be there.
Rock is obviously extremely busy, but it stands to reason that if he's going to appear, it would be a last second surprise to pop the live crowd. However, one would think a taped message is more likely.
As we mentioned previously, WWE has continued to add names and book them for the 25th Anniversary of Raw as they continue to get closer to the show, so it's always possible some of these names may indeed end up appearing. Stay tuned.
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