What’s the story?
The last episode of RAW before WrestleMania 33 witnessed a few major announcements. One such announcement was connected to the participants in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
Only four performers were confirmed for this match before tonight’s episode. However, following recent developments on the latest episode of Raw, Sami Zayn and Braun Strowman will also be involved in the Battle Royal on Sunday.
In case you didn’t know…
Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal is one of the prestigious matches that takes place at WrestleMania every year and was introduced in 2014 at WrestleMania 30. Cesaro, Big Show and Baron Corbin were the winners in its last three editions.
This time around, the scenario will be different, as Superstars from both the brands will take part in the match, meaning that the trophy will belong to only one brand. Stephanie McMahon was seen emphasising on the fact that the trophy should be won by RAW Superstars in a confrontation with Sami Zayn backstage.
The heart of the matter
Stephanie McMahon told Zayn that he would be allowed to take part in the Battle Royal if he were to beat Owens on RAW. However, she added that if he were to lose, he would be fired. Zayn won the match and earned his spot after a roll-up victory, thanks to interruptions from Samoa Joe and Chris Jericho.
There was also a stare-down between Big Show and Braun Strowman after the Over the top rope match that Show won. These two giants will collide at the Battle Royal on Sunday and it will be a pure visual treat for the fans to watch them go toe-to-toe.
What’s next?
As of now, there are only three Superstars from SmackDown that have been announced for this match. However, we can expect more names to be announced on the last episode of SmackDown before WrestleMania 33. This match will be a part of the pre-show and Sami Zayn, Braun Strowman, Apollo Crews and Mojo Rawley will go into the match as favourites.
Author’s take
Including Sami and Strowman in this match is a good move but I believe that both Superstars deserve a spot on the main card and not the pre-show card. It was rumoured that Strowman will interfere in the Reigns-Undertaker match. However, that isn’t confirmed.
Apart from this, there are no plans in place for Sami but you can always expect a bout between Joe and Sami on the main card as Joe doesn’t have a match at WrestleMania 33 as of now.
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