The Real Reason Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal Is Airing On WWE SmackDown

WWE opted to bring the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal to the last Friday Night SmackDown on FOX this year because they they want to cut down on the length of WrestleMania 37.

Dave Meltzer confirmed this during yesterday's episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio, stating that the company wanted to shave some time off the two-night event this year, including chopping the usual two-hour pre-show down to just one hour. This decision was also likely influenced by the fact the shows will be starting an hour later this year too:

“Yeah, because I think they don’t wanna go more than 3 and half hours on both shows, especially since they’re starting an hour later than I expected. They’re starting both shows at 8 instead of 7.”

On top of the aforementioned Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal finding a new home on a WrestleMania edition of SmackDown next week, a Fatal Four-Way for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships will also go down on the last blue show before 'Mania 37. This match will see current title holders Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode defend their belts against Rey and Dominik Mysterio, The Street Profits, and Chad Gable & Otis.

These stars, along with the field selected to take part in the battle royal, will sadly be forced to sit out WWE's first show in front of a live crowd in over a year, a point that former WWE star Matt Cardona weighed in on during the week.

Ugh. I feel horrible for all the guys in those matches. https://t.co/HmXcVehJK4

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— Matt Cardona (@TheMattCardona) April 1, 2021