2 Ups & 8 Downs From WWE SmackDown (17 April - Results & Review)

5. They Need To Retire Andre’s Battle Royal

Royce Keys Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal 2026
WWE.com

Andre The Giant's Memorial Battle Royal hasn’t even been on WrestleMania for a while now, and it rarely leads to anything substantial for the winner. There would’ve been better ways to give Royce Keys a big win that this, and it sucked to see the likes of El Grande Americano, Joe Hendry, Aleister Black and Ilja Dragunov in this sort of ‘Mania straggler filled setting.

Keys winning was treated like a big deal by the announcers, but it really isn’t. No, it wasn’t terrible as far as Battle Royals go, but it’s hard to care about this match anymore. It's the same thing over and over and over again every year; WWE gets the commentary team to call it a game-changing moment that'll shake up the product going forwards, then the Andre trophy is carted back to storage until it's needed again.

Nobody even talks about what winning it will do for their career - they just motor forwards or vanish from TV for a while until the next stop-start push begins. So, in other words, what's the point in even bringing the trophy to SmackDown before 'Mania at all? Fans are over seeing wrestlers match Andre's arms crossed pose before cameras quickly pan to something else.

WWE have something good going on with Royce's vignettes about a troubled upbringing. So, focus more on those rather than token wins everyone will forget about by the time WrestleMania's pyro pops off anyway. Either put this on the 'Mania Kickoff or delete it from booking sheets in 2027, please.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.