From the WWE Rumor Mill: Backstage plans for this year's Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal 

What's the story?

WWE is once again planning to have an Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at this year's WrestleMania, but it seems that because it coincides with the release of HBO's new documentary about the former WWE giant, the company will want to push the winner harder this year.

In case you didn't know...

The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal debuted back at WrestleMania XXX and saw Cesaro become the inaugural winner. This was supposed to be the platform that would allow him to go on to be a huge star in the company, but that plan ultimately failed.

WWE's other resident giant The Big Show took the win at WrestleMania 31 before Baron Corbin won the match on his WrestleMania debut back in 2016. Mojo Rawley managed to take the trophy at WrestleMania 33 after help from his NFL friend Rob Gronkowski.

HBO revealed that they were creating a documentary based on the career of Andre the Giant last year and released the trailer last month, with the release scheduled for April 10th, just two days after this year's WrestleMania.

The heart of the matter

The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal was once seen as a huge deal in WWE, but after being relegated to the kick off show last year, it seemed that WWE had already given up on the idea or the concept of the match.

But, according to PWInsider, this year's winner will be given a huge push because the Battle Royal will coincide with the release of the new documentary about the WWE Hall of Famer.

The company is aware that if the documentary receives good ratings, it could lead to more projects with HBO and Bill Simmons, who is reportedly a huge WWE fan and the man behind the camera for the upcoming release.

What's next?

The fifth annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal will take place at WrestleMania 34 on April 8th ahead of the release of the upcoming documentary two days later, on April 10th.

Author's take

The Battle Royal was such a huge deal when it first debuted four years ago when Cesaro won and then used it to catapult his career alongside Paul Heyman. But it seems that over the past few years the match has gone downhill and the winners haven't ended up doing a lot following the victory.

It could be much more interesting this year if the company is going to put a little more thought behind it, which can only be a good thing for all of the stars involved.