Next Friday night, WWE will air a special WrestleMania 37 edition of SmackDown on FOX. The go-home show serving for the PPV will witness a match that was originally supposed to take place at the PPV, itself. The prestigious battle royal dedicated to the Hall of Famer Andre the Giant will go down on the show.
Adam Pearce has announced that next Friday’s SmackDown will feature the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. 30 male superstars are expected to be part of this annual tradition. Also, a Fatal 4 Way Match will take place over the SmackDown Tag Team Titles currently held by Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler.
It was also noted that SmackDown will have appearances by WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan, and WWE Hall of Famer Edge to hype their scheduled Triple Threat on Night Two of WrestleMania 37.
Meanwhile, Adam Pearce has named participants for the Battle Royal,
* Akira Tozawa, Angel Garza, Cedric Alexander, Drew Gulak, Elias, Erik, Gran Metalik, Humberto Carrillo, Jaxson Ryker, Jey Uso, Kalisto, King Baron Corbin, Lince Dorado, Mace, Murphy, Mustafa Ali, Ricochet, Shelton Benjamin, Shinsuke Nakamura, Slapjack, T-BAR, Tucker
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The last time Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal took place was in 2019 at WrestleMania 35, with Braun Strowman being the winner. WWE scrapped that match, last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The inaugural winner of this match in 2014 was Cesaro at WrestleMania 30 followed by Big Show in 2015, King Corbin in 2016, Mojo Rawley in 2017, and Matt Hardy in 2018.
There’s no confirmation on whether a WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal will be held on SmackDown or at the PPV. This match was also scrapped last year. The inaugural winner was Naomi at WrestleMania 34 in 2018 while Carmella won in 2019.
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It has also been confirmed that SmackDown Tag Team Champions Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler will defend against which teams. The challengers will be Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins of The Street Profits, Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio, and Chad Gable and Otis of Alpha Academy.
Full lineup for next week’s Smackdown
The full card for next week’s SmackDown stands as follows which will be a taped show from ThunderDome,
* WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan, and WWE Hall of Famer Edge will address fans before their Triple Threat at WrestleMania 37 Night Two
* SmackDown Tag Team Champions Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler defend their titles in a Fatal 4 Way against, The Street Profits, Alpha Academy, Rey Mysterio, and Dominik Mysterio
* The 2021 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal with Akira Tozawa, Angel Garza, Cedric Alexander, Drew Gulak, Elias, Erik, Gran Metalik, Humberto Carrillo, Jaxson Ryker, Jey Uso, Kalisto, King Baron Corbin, Lince Dorado, Mace, Murphy, Mustafa Ali, Ricochet, Shelton Benjamin, Shinsuke Nakamura, Slapjack, T-BAR, Tucker