The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal has become one of the low-key highlights of WrestleMania weekend, giving the undercard portion of the roster, plus a few fledging mid-carders and main-eventers a spot on the Grandest Stage. It’s often a chance for an under-utilised or burgeoning star to get a major win on the big stage, hopefully spring-boarding them into some sort of relevance for the next season of pro wrestling.
In the past, we’ve seen the likes of Cesaro, Matt Hardy, and Mojo Rawley among others score the victory at ‘Mania and go on to various degrees of success. Last year’s Andre Battle Royal took place on the go-home episode of SmackDown Live, to the behest of a lot of fans at the time. The winner, Jey Uso, may not have gone on to big singles success, but it nevertheless put the spotlight on him after a breakout year in the singles division. Uso has since gone on to win another tag championship alongside his brother Jimmy and remain a consistent part of the main event scene, being part of Roman Reigns’ Bloodline faction.
With so many wrestlers trying their best to get over on today’s roster, the 2022 Andre battle royal could be a great way to finally evolve into the stars they’re destined to be. Here are 5 potential winners for this year’s Memorial match.
1. Omos
When you think about Andre the Giant, you think of larger than life characters, those that genuinely drop jaws with their sheer size and mass. Today’s equivalent has to be the colossal Omos, who has been squashing folks left, right and centre on Monday Night RAW since splitting from his former tag partner, AJ Styles.
Since Omos made his main-roster debut, it was clear that the big-wigs backstage had big plans for the Nigerian, having decided to re-build their roster with more giants and ‘legitimate’ looking wrestlers. Omos will undoubtedly be at the top of their list for future draws, so giving him the win as part of this year’s Andre will be a great start to the rest of his career.
I was shocked that Omos wasn’t given more of an impressive run in this year’s Men’s Royal Rumble match, because at the end of the day, who’s going to eliminate a giant, Maggle? Perhaps he can redeem himself in this year’s Andre the Giant Memorial, launching all the wrestlers under 300lbs over the top rope with ease to hammer the final nail in the coffin of Cruiserweight wrestling in WWE.
2. Ricochet
Totally juxtaposing our previous entry is ‘The One and Only’ Ricochet, a star that WWE haven’t given up on just yet. Reports have suggested that WWE consider Ricochet to be their second biggest babyface star on SmackDown Live, having now scored a shot at the Intercontinental Championship and regularly seen hanging out with top-guy Drew McIntyre backstage.
Providing that Ricochet doesn’t end up winning the title on SmackDown, and depending on if Jackass Forever’s Johnny Knoxville is planning on screwing over his eternal nemesis Sami Zayn in said match, Ricochet could be a perfect candidate to go on to win the Andre Battle Royal at WrestleMania this year.
Since his main roster debut, Ricochet hasn’t been able to find success at WrestleMania as a singles star, his one and only standout performance was his debut match alongside Aleister Black in a four-way tag match, a show-stealer in it’s own right but not enough to allow Ricochet to break out into stardom. A win in this year’s Andre could be the key to making him that credible singles star we and WWE all want him to become.
3. Austin Theory
This could all depend on if Austin Theory is subbed in as part of the Pat McAfee/Vince McMahon feud that’s set to begin this week. Considering that Theory is Vince’s on-screen pet project, his inclusion could be a guarantee as part of that match. However, if that isn’t the case, then the Andre could be the perfect place for him to stand-out amongst the entire roster and prove himself as a future top prospect.
I don’t think a single wrestling fan could deny the amount of talent and potential that Austin Theory has, and his performance at Elimination Chamber, albeit a convincing defeat, proves that he has that it-factor to hang with the biggest and baddest in the business. A win at WrestleMania is what’s needed to propel Theory into the stratosphere of superstardom, and the Andre is the ideal place for newcomers to make a name for themselves, much like Mojo back in 2015.
Whether this comes true or not, keep your eyes on Austin Theory throughout 2022.
4. Big E
It’s a real shame that New Day member Big E has fallen so far since the start of the year. Coming into 2022 as WWE Champion, wrestling fans thought that Big E was a cert for WrestleMania this year, yet since dropping the title to Brock Lesnar at Day 1, Big E has simply become just another member of the roster, having transferred back to SmackDown Live to reform the team with Kofi Kingston.
Big E deserved a hell of a lot more than what he was given, and it’s going to be one of WWE’s biggest faults if they don’t jump back on the Big E bandwagon around WrestleMania season. The Andre Battle Royal is a great place for Big E to claw back some of his lost momentum, he’s an easy pick to win the whole thing, not only due to his popularity but also because of the success he’s seen over the past year.
If Big E is kept relegated to the tag division, then I’d say hope is lost for his future.
5. Shinsuke Nakamura
A front-runner for last year’s Andre Battle Royal, former Intercontinental Champion and King of the Ring winner, Shinsuke Nakamura, could easily find himself in the winners circle this year. Nakamura went the distance in 2021 but dropped the ball in the final two to Jey Uso, but with a renewed vigour and with Rick Boogz by his side, it’s looking more and more likely that Nakamura could walk out with the win this year.
It seems that there’s little in the way of creative direction for Shinsuke following his IC title defeat, though his reign was legendary in its own way, breaking a few records along the way and at least giving him a reason to be on episodes of SmackDown Live.
Nakamura is a wrestling superstar that they can’t allow to fester away in the undercard. He needs to be on the big stage in the most dramatic and elaborate outfits, putting him in the Andre this year could be the sole reason to tune in for the match.
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