I love Andre The Giant. I love battle royals. In theory, I should absolutely love The Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal that happens over WrestleMania weekend, but it’s really hard to care about it when WWE so nakedly does not. At this point, it’s treated like a yearly obligation, like seeing extended family you don’t really like but are willing to put in minor effort to please. Sometimes the writers use it to further a minor storyline (see Madcap Moss vs Happy Corbin). Sometimes they use it as an olive branch for talent pissed off about their lack of ‘Mania plans (see Bobby Lashley). Sometimes they don’t really seem to have any plan at all and simply choose the mid-carder they’re currently excited about (Mojo Rawley).
And all of that would be okay if it was just some fun, meaningless battle royal that happened once and didn’t get talked about again. But that’s not what happens. Instead, they have the audacity to wield this gigantic trophy out to the ring for several weeks after the event and pretend like it’s some huge honor. But almost by definition, it’s not a huge honor since it typically only features the superstars who didn’t make the WrestleMania card. That’s why it was so bizarre to many fans when they had Lashley stand next to it at WrestleMania like he was some conquering hero.
It just doesn’t work, and it’s time for a change. Fortunately, I think I have the perfect solution. I don’t think WWE should try to raise the profile by including more established stars. I don’t think it should be moved back to the main WrestleMania broadcast, and I don’t think the winner should get a title shot. Instead, I think the winning carrot should be a slot on that weekend’s WrestleMania card. Let me explain how it would work.
I think WWE should pick one person, who isn’t involved in a compelling program and announce they’re on the WrestleMania card and waiting for an opponent. In theory, this should be someone who puts on good matches and fans are excited to see. Someone who obviously belongs on the card but just doesn’t have a storyline that’s leading into a match. Think Kevin Owens or Seth Rollins level. If the person has another option for a program, then this shouldn’t be them, but if creative doesn’t have something for them and they need to be on the card, this is a great way to include them. This year, it clearly would have been Bobby Lashley after the Bray Wyatt mess.
Afterwards, it should be announced that the winner of The Andre The Giant Battle Royal will get a showcase match on the main card at WrestleMania against said person. Then WWE should fill the battle royal with upcoming NXT talent and mid-card guys looking for their shot. So, this year, as an example, it would have been guys like LA Knight, Bronson Reed, Karrion Kross, Johnny Gargano, Bron Breakker, Carmelo Hayes, Grayson Waller and more trying to earn their way onto the ‘Mania card. Fans would be a lot more invested because they would know the winner would get a WrestleMania opportunity that very weekend.
Some years it might make sense to pick a potential future star and give fans who don’t watch NXT a tease at what they’re missing. Some years it might be a great way to put someone who is rapidly getting over onto the card… like say LA Knight who would have been a prime candidate this year, in spite of his booking. Other years it could be a returning veteran looking for one more WrestleMania moment. It would also be a really easy promo for a lot of people who don’t normally get time. In the weeks leading up to The Andre The Giant Battle Royal, they could talk about how this is their last chance and they have to make the most of it.
There are a ton of incredible, all-time wrestling legends that either never appeared at WrestleMania or only appeared once or a handful of times. Making an appearance means something to those in the industry, and that alone would give the battle royal meaning and purpose. It would make fans care, and it would turn the match into the showcase it was originally designed to be.
Why do we all love Royal Rumble so much? Some of it is because the match is a really well-designed, once a year spectacle. More of it, however, is because its outcome has such clear stakes for the future. We can all speculate on the outcome because we’re essentially predicting not just who will win a specific match but who will be a centerpiece of WWE’s WrestleMania plans that year. This could be a miniature version of that. This match obviously wouldn’t have that high of stakes, but if WWE announced the field a week in advance, we could all argue amongst ourselves about who would put on the best match with Lashley, who belongs on the WrestleMania card and who WWE wants the spotlight to be on, which is half the point of wrestling anyway.
I love The Andre The Giant Battle Royal as a concept, but I think all of us agree it needs something. It needs a spark. Sparks in wrestling almost always require a clear payoff. So, given the timing, let the payoff be a spot on the WrestleMania card. I’m having fun just thinking about it, and I’m sure other fans would too.
Fortunately, WWE has almost a year to figure it out, as we’ve got a lot of upcoming premium live events before the calendar rolls back around to WrestleMania. Hopefully WWE will have a new game plan for The Andre The Giant Battle Royal by then, whether it’s this idea or another.