has announced the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal is returning to a special WrestleMania edition of SmackDown next week.
The company is heading to Hollywood for its annual extravaganza on April 1 and 2 with an epic doubleheader set for SoFi Stadium, but the festivities will kick off on March 31 with a huge episode.
As revealed , the Andre The Giant memorial match – which traditionally took place as a Kickoff showcase before WrestleMania itself – will be part of the SmackDown special.
Some huge names are set for the bout, including and rising star LA Knight.
They’ll be competing with the likes of Johnny Gargano, Dexter Lumis, members of Legado Del Fantasma and Hit Row, Shelton Benjamin, Cedric Alexander, Los Lotharios, Dolph Ziggler, Mustafa Ali, Bronson Reed and Karrion Kross.
Other names rounding off field include Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, Butch, Ridge Holland, Rick Boogs, Elias, Baron Corbin, Madcap Moss, Xavier Woods and members of Maximum Male Models.
Last year’s winner was Madcap Moss, while Jey Uso won the previous year, with no match in 2020 with WrestleMania held in an empty venue due to the pandemic
The very first memorial match was won by Cesaro in 2014, with The Big Show, Corbin, Mojo Rawley, Matt Hardy and Braun Strowman following in his footsteps.
This year, Lashley, Knight and Reed are up there as clear favourites to lift the trophy.
Elsewhere on SmackDown next week, Drew McIntyre and Sheamus will try to stay on the same page as they team up against Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci just before they battle the latter’s Imperium leader GUNTHER for the Intercontinental Title at WrestleMania.
The show will also see Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes have their final face off before the American Nightmare challenges the Tribal Chief for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.
WWE SmackDown airs Friday nights at 1am on BT Sport.
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