From the WWE Rumor Mill: Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal not returning this year

What's the story?

We are now just under six weeks away from WrestleMania 34 and whilst the card is starting to take shape, it seems that one match won't be making a return this year.

In case you didn't know...

The Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal first made its debut back at WrestleMania 30 and over the past four years, the match has been won by Cesaro, The Big Show, Baron Corbin and Mojo Rawley.

Winning the match was supposed to push these stars forward in their careers, but it seems that the four stars who have tasted victory in the match haven't received much of a boost from it.

HBO's Andre The Giant documentary is set to be released two days after this year's WrestleMania, which many fans thought would allow WWE to make a bigger deal out of the match this year, not remove it from the show altogether.

The heart of the matter

A recent report by RingSideNews states that Bryan Alvarez recently revealed that he's been told that the multi-man match wasn't going to be brought back this year. Alvarez stated this on the latest installment of The Wrestling Observer as well as claiming that the company could be planning to have a Women's Battle Royal on the show instead.

The women have been making a lot of history over the past few months and this would be the next step in their Evolution if the company can bring back enough women to be part of the event in April.

Alvarez didn't expand on the reasons why the match wasn't going to be featured on the show, but it is thought that it would be dropped in favor of the women's version if that is WWE's current plan.

What's next?

WrestleMania is just under six weeks away now and the card is slowly starting to shape up. If the company plans to have the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the show this year then build up to it will definitely begin in the coming weeks.

Author's take

The women of WWE have made a lot of history recently and it seems that the company is getting good feedback from this, so expect it to continue. The men who have won this match in the past haven't gained a lot from their victories, so it will be interesting to see what the women will receive if it is revealed that the company are allowing the women to make history at this year's WrestleMania event by presenting the first Women's Battle Royal since WrestleMania 25.