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The 4th Annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Back in 2014, WWE came up with this as a way to get a whole bunch of dudes on the WrestleMania card. And honor a Hall of Famer, of course. This is the 2017 version of that match.
Occasionally wrestlers bring an existing storyline or feud into this match with them, but that’s not often a factor in the who ends up standing tall and claiming the Andre trophy. So, instead of my usual “The Road to...” formula, we’ll just look at how likely it seems that guys could win, and why.
The Favorites
On the Raw side, Sami Zayn and Braun Strowman have both been prominently featured in main event programs on that brand, and are really only in this match because the guys they have beef with are busy doing other things, and because they’ll already faced each other a bunch. They’ll probably call back to their feud during the bout, and a win for either would remind folks they’re important players even though they didn’t get on the main card.
From the blue brand, Mojo Rawley and Dolph Ziggler bring a rivalry to the ‘17 AtGMBR. Rawley is in the midst of a mid-card push - partially because he stays hyped, but mostly because he’s best friend with NFL star Rob Gronkowski, and WWE is thirsty to mention Gronk whenever they can in hopes he comes to work for them someday. The Show-Off is a valuable storytelling piece who will probably never sit atop either brand again, but can be used to make new stars or strengthen existing ones, and having something like an Andre win on his resume helps him do that.
Then there’s Big Show, who’s here because his bosses and Shaquille O’Neal couldn’t work out a deal which would have given him one last high-profile WrestleMania moment. His consolation prize might be becoming the first man to twice win the match named after the only wrestling giant more famous than him.
The tag teams
For SmackDown’s entire pairs division, and the bulk of Raw’s, this is where they’ll be working at (or before, depending on where you stand on the whole “is the Kickoff part of an event or its own thing?” debate) The Showcase of the Immortals. It seems pretty unlikely that any of Team Red’s enhancement talents would win the ‘Dre, but one of The Golden Truth could get the rub as a career achievement award, I suppose.
From Tuesday nights, it becomes a little more plausible to think the current champs, Jimmy & Jey Uso, might pick up a ‘W’ here a payback for not getting to defend their titles at ‘Mania. Or their next challengers could strengthen their argument by hoisting the trophy at the end of the pre-show. I’d love to see Breezango celebrating and giving Andre a posthumous ticket for his unfortunate singlet choices throughout his legendary career, but former champs American Alpha and Beauty & the Man-Beast are also acceptable answers.
A Rising Star
Not to be confused with Raw tag team The Shining Stars. Last year, Baron Corbin surprised AT&T Stadium by not only making his main roster debut during the AtGMBR, but by winning the whole darn thing. He’s now fighting for the Intercontinental championship on the main card, so, this can be a springboard for someone.
The only guy who could fit that mold of the announced entrants is Apollo Crews, who has a lot of the tools a Superstar needs but seems to be missing that certain something. Could a WrestleMania win be that thing?
Otherwise, we’d probably have to look to surprise entries for someone to capture the trophy from this category. Elias Samson was just chased out of NXT on Wednesday, and is a solid hand with a look Vince McMahon probably adores...
The field
Hey, Curtis Axel is a former IC champ, maybe this is his moment?
Whoever wins, a few things are for sure. This match will happen on the pre-show during the 6PM hour, broadcast on USA Network, and we’ll tell you all about it, right here at Cageside Seats!
Poll
Who will win this match?
This poll is closed
-
13%
Sami Zayn
(85 votes) -
53%
Braun Strowman
(349 votes) -
0%
Goldust
(2 votes) -
0%
R-Truth
(4 votes) -
0%
Curtis Axel
(4 votes) -
4%
Dolph Ziggler
(30 votes) -
0%
Jey Uso
(0 votes) -
0%
Jimmy Uso
(0 votes) -
0%
Chad Gable
(0 votes) -
0%
Jason Jordan
(0 votes) -
0%
Primo
(2 votes) -
0%
Epico
(4 votes) -
1%
Bo Dallas
(10 votes) -
0%
Jinder Mahal
(6 votes) -
0%
Rhyno
(5 votes) -
0%
Heath Slater
(3 votes) -
1%
Apollo Crews
(8 votes) -
4%
Mojo Rawley
(30 votes) -
7%
Big Show
(51 votes) -
0%
Curt Hawkins
(4 votes) -
1%
Tyler Breeze
(10 votes) -
0%
Fandango
(6 votes) -
3%
Tian Bing
(21 votes) -
2%
Mark Henry
(14 votes)