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What's the story?
After the conclusion of the go-home episodes of WWE Raw and SmackDown Live, we now have a confirmed total of 14 participants for the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, set to take place on the WrestleMania 34 KickOff show in New Orleans on Sunday.
In case you didn’t know
The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal was introduced for the first time during WrestleMania XXX, which ended with 'The Swiss Superman' Cesaro picking up the trophy after eliminating The Big Show.
The battle royal has been part of every WrestleMania since then. Since last year however, the match has been relegated to the pre show. This year also, the match will be part of the kickoff show, alongside the Women's Battle Royal and the Cruiserweight Championship match.
The heart of the matter
Last night on Raw, three more participants - Rhyno, Heath Slater and Goldust - were added to the marquee match. Last night's episode of SmackDown Live featured an 8-man tag team between the participants of the ATG Memorial Battle Royal.
Zack Ryder, Tye Dillinger, Tyler Breeze and Fandango teamed up to take on Mojo Rawley, Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin and Primo Colon. With this match, Zack Ryder and Primo Colon were confirmed to be part of the 30-man battle royal on Sunday.
The match saw some tension between former partners-turned-rivals Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder. The Lone Wolf could also be seen gesturing towards the Trophy holding up two fingers, indicating that he would become the first ever 2-time winner of the Battle Royal come Sunday.
The 14 participants announced for the battle royal is as follows:
Dash Wilder, Scott Dawson, Matt Hardy, Rhyno, Heath Slater and Goldust from Raw.
Baron Corbin, Mojo Rawley, Tye Dillinger, Dolph Ziggler, Fandango, Tyler Breeze, Zack Ryder and Primo Colón from SmackDown Live.
What's next
WrestleMania 34 is set to take place in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans on Sunday April 8th. The show is set to be at least a 7 hour extravaganza, including the pre-show.
Author's take
The ATG Memorial Battle Royal is steadily losing its relevance year after year. The only way to make it relevant again is for WWE to make use of the win to push the Superstar and elevate them in the roster.
