Andre Battle Royal...

[xrodmuc316]

Anybody else annoyed that WWE keeps hyping this as a great launching pad to Superstardom?

If winning it is such a great launching pad, why are guys who already won it in it?

So Mojo or Corbin win it again, and it launches them to Superstardom yet again, guaranteeing at Wrestlemania 35 they will get to be in... THE ANDRE BATTLE ROYAL!!! Yay

[Savio]

It'd be nice if WWE hyped it up and cared about it.

[Ruien]

Cesaro received Heyman after he won it. That's a nice prize. Maybe he should replace the trophy.

[xrodmuc316]

Cesaro received Heyman after he won it. That's a nice prize. Maybe he should replace the trophy.

Talk about a botched push. Turned on Swagger, went with Heyman, then faded. All it took for Swagger to be more over that year by Summer slam was standing up for America against Rusev. We The People!

[Anybody Thrilla]

It really is quite pathetic. I thought they were only going to do it that first year initially. Terrible replacement for Money in the Bank.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I think the story this year should have been all the previous winners entering to try and get it again. Once Cesaro is in, Sheamus should be. Throw in Braun Strowman -- because tossing around guys carelessly is why he's over. Put The New Day and The Bludgeon Brothers in after their Tag Title match. Could have been "meatier" with people you actually care about.

[Emperor Smeat]

The only time WWE put any real effort into the Andre match was with the build and hype of the first one. Then they followed it up by having the trophy smashed a week or two after Cesaro won it.

Really dumbfounded how they didn't do a better job hyping up this year's match as being really special because of HBO's upcoming documentary. Then again most of the card this year had a miserable build done.

[Savio]

I'm never really surprised at WWE doing a lackluster job at something.

[Shisen Kopf]

It shouldn't be named after Andre if they are going to be so half assed with it. Perhaps call it the Vader memorial battle royal. He's died a few times I think.

[Luigi]

Cesaro received Heyman after he won it. That's a nice prize. Maybe he should replace the trophy.

Unfortunately, Cesaro aligning with Heyman proved to be the worst move of his career. Cesaro went from being a huge promising face into an average heel. Exchanging his 'patriot' theme for that generic one, also helped contribute to Cesaro's return to mediocrity.

[Maluco]

Unpopular view, but they picked the wrong winners at the beginning. That's definitely part of the problem. Cesaro is average at everything apart from in ring stuff. I understand people think he is great, but he was never destined to be a top guy. He has no charisma.

If they had picked better winners from the beginning. Guys who could rise up the card, maybe it wouldn't be dead in the water now.

[Fignuts]

Yeah. I really wish Cesaro would just go to NJPW. Think he'd be a legit contender for the IWGP title. At the very least IC. Given his style, and quality of his ring work. Don't have to worry as much about his character there. Can just be awesome in the ring and get over.

[Evil Vito]

I'm okay with the idea of having a battle royal. I mean they always had a pre-show battle royal or lumberjack match or something during the original roster split. But at least back then they didn't attach branding to the battle royal back then. And they gave no pretense that winning it meant anything. It was just something that happened. The crowd got a bonus match and the boys all got something harmless to do at the biggest show of the year after working hard all year.

The longer they actually brand this battle royal and try to make it sound important only to do nothing with the winners, the worse the whole thing looks.

[Big Vic]

Agreed, if WWE actually planned out their storylines they could give the win to someone who was going to make it big the next year.

I think Cesaro is the only one to win a title within the year of him winning the ATGBR and that was after 11 months of jobbing.

[Ruien]

This will be the last year it is branded. I doubt it would have been this year but HBO has that movie coming out.

[xrodmuc316]

All joking aside, I think if they did something like book a match on the main card that the winner got to be in, then it would mean something.

I say bring back MITB to Mania, and have the last spot go to whoever wins the Andre match. That is a tangible reward that gets them into a marquee match on the main card with a chance to win an even better prize, the MITB contract.

As it is winning means nothing if half the winners are in the match again.

[Nicky Fives]

The battle royal is perfect for the pre-show to get everyone a Wrestlemania payday. I have no issues with it being named after Andre, but they need to make it mean something, the trophy is all well and good as a prop, but its not like they carry it around all year. They need a title shot, automatic entry into the MITB match later in the year, favourable spot in next year's Royal Rumble, something

[Ruien]

They get bragging rights. Just like the King of the Ring. It's so the wrestler may utilize it to help themselves get over. The fact Boring Corbin and Mojo were the last two to win it nothing was going to happen. Both are terrible.

Corbin did use the win though to launch him up the totem pole. He brought it up for the longest time. The fact he sucks though kind of hampered it.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I do think/hope this might be the last year they bother.

[Lock Jaw]

I'm okay with the idea of having a battle royal. I mean they always had a pre-show battle royal or lumberjack match or something during the original roster split. But at least back then they didn't attach branding to the battle royal back then. And they gave no pretense that winning it meant anything. It was just something that happened. The crowd got a bonus match and the boys all got something harmless to do at the biggest show of the year after working hard all year.

The longer they actually brand this battle royal and try to make it sound important only to do nothing with the winners, the worse the whole thing looks.

Yoshi Tatsu should retroactively be honoured as Andre the Giant Battle Royal winner for his battle royale victory at WM26

[Evil Vito]

I do think/hope this might be the last year they bother.

I'm not so sure.

2003: Fairly normal Mania in terms of roster usage.

2004: The main card included two Fatal Four way tag matches and a 10-man Cruiserweight Open, so probably 95% of the roster got onto the show.

2005: Pre-show battle royal.

2006: Pre-show battle royal.

2007: Pre-show lumberjack tag match.

2008: Pre-show battle royal.

2009: Pre-show lumberjack tag match.

2010: Pre-show battle royal.

2011: Pre-show lumberjack match that got converted into a battle royal.

2012: No battle royal but there was a Triple Threat tag match on the pre-show and a 12-man tag on the main show. So again, very few people got totally left off.

2013: Nothing, strangely. A battle royal was rumored but never happened, and they even had a cut a match off of the main show during the event because they didn't budget their time properly.

2014-18: Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

So yeah, that's only two Manias in the brand split era where they didn't seem to go out of their way to book everyone. I think the battle royal is here to stay whether it stays branded or not.

[xrodmuc316]

So yeah, that's only two Manias in the brand split era where they didn't seem to go out of their way to book everyone. I think the battle royal is here to stay whether it stays branded or not.

Agree completely, it's not going away and tagging it as Andre's with a trophy is better than nothing, like all the ones you listed previously minus the year the winner got a shot at the ECW Title (where Kane beat Chavo in 8 seconds).

I just dislike the premise IF former winners are going to be in it, cause it kills the whole "this is a launching point" argument.

[Cool King]

Personally, I would prefer a MITB match at WrestleMania than the Battle Royal, and this is coming from a guy who likes his Battle Royals, however, I only say this because the Battle Royals mean absolutely nothing.

If there was a reason to win the Battle Royal, then I wouldn't have a problem with it being on the WrestleMania card every year.

The first one was good and looked promising when Cesaro won it, but that was mostly because it was new and we didn't know where winning the match would lead to.

Then Big Show won it and nobody cared and nothing happened.

Corbin then won it and (still) nobody cared about him.

Then Mojo won it and it was mentioned that he won the match for the next two weeks then the references to his win just suddenly stopped and he's now doing absolutely nothing and nobody cares about him.

Simply just referencing winning the match for a while after it like what happened with Corbin and Mojo is just not enough and as we've seen, it'll get you nowhere. It needs to have both a meaning and a physical representation, like the MITB has the briefcase and KOTR had a crown, robe and sceptre in some cases, with some winners even adding "King" to the beginning of their name. There has to be something to remind everyone that the winner won the match and a giant trophy is not the best item for that.

Something like a championship with the centre plate displaying André's hand or something like that, or a medal or even some kind of gold/glass plaque or small trophy, just something they can carry with them everywhere and to show that they won the match, that way, we all get reminded of their win and in the cases of Heels, they can use the prop as a weapon to cheat.

When it comes to the meaning of the match, have it be so the winner can have an IC or US Championship match whenever he wishes. It'll be just like the MITB but for mid-card titles, that way, someone who's lower mid-card can with the Battle Royal, use that as their prop to get noticed and when they're ready, have their match and win and see how their run as champion goes. If it's good, they move on to bigger and better things, such as the WWE and Universal Championships, if not, then they're no longer lower-mid card and can possibly stay in the mid-card division or move on the the Tag Team Division and you've got yourself a familiar mid-card name to add to what it a very small list of familiar mid-card names that people care about.

If not that idea, then something like winning the match guarantees you a spot on the main card at next year's WrestleMania and the upcoming year can be spent establishing the guy as legit and getting people to care about him and possibly even start the angle with someone for their match at the next WrestleMania and not just after the Royal Rumble like what usually happens for WrestleMania angles.

Another idea that's probably the worst of the three is just making the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal a championship, but one for Battle Royals, so the winner wins a championship and defends it in only Battle Royals, with maybe Battle Royals always taking people before the Big Four PPV's and the occasional regular PPVs and the odd Raw and SmackDown.

I remember there was a period where Zack Ryder was undefeated in Battle Royals for a good period of time and it was even brought up a few times on TV. Why not do that kind of stuff more?

They're mad ideas but I just want the match to mean something. Anything.

[XL]

They also need to pick better winners. Nobody gives a shit about Corbin or Rawley.

[Savio]

Not sure how much of an impact Hardy is going to make this year.

[Destor]

If you think winning a battle royal is gonna get someone over ive got some bad news for you

[Mr. Nerfect]

I'm trying to think of one that actually achieved that.