Braun Strowman An Early Favorite To Win Andre Battle Royal At ‘WrestleMania 33’
Currently, there aren’t too many reports on the rumored plans for Braun Strowman at WrestleMania 33. But there’s a possibility that the “Monster Among Men” may be built up as the next winner of the event’s Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal became a fixture of WrestleMania in 2014 when WrestleMania XXX host Hulk Hogan announced the introduction of the event, a tribute to the late WWE legend Andre the Giant, who died in 1993. Aside from being the largest WWE wrestler of his time, billed at seven-foot-four and over 500 pounds, Andre had great success in battle royals, winning a 20-man match at WrestleMania II in 1986 that also included several active and retired NFL players. He was also the reason why WWE created a Hall of Fame in the first place, with Andre becoming the inaugural inductee in 1993, soon after his untimely death.
At WrestleMania XXX, Cesaro became the first-ever winner of the Andre Battle Royal, which featured 31 competitors. The next two years saw WWE veteran Big Show and main roster newcomer Baron Corbin winning the match; unlike Cesaro, who is billed at around 230 pounds, Show and Corbin are both above the 300-pound mark. This year, odds point to a similarly big man — Braun Strowman — showing up at WrestleMania 33 and winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
Reigns Gets "Stepped" On By Strowman#BraunTakeover #BraunStrowman #RomanReigns #wwe #RAW #braun #wweuniverse pic.twitter.com/5RaTkmMH2S
— Revelbots (@revelbots) February 7, 2017
According to Cageside Seats, all roads might be pointing to Braun Strowman’s WrestleMania 33 plans involving the Andre Battle Royal. Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg is confirmed, while Big Show vs. Shaquille O’Neal appears to be good to go as well. Rumored matches (except women-only matches) include John Cena and Nikki Bella vs. The Miz and Maryse, Roman Reigns vs. The Undertaker, Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho, and Shane McMahon vs. AJ Styles. Seth Rollins vs. Triple H is a possibility if Rollins is cleared to compete by then, while rumors point to Bray Wyatt defending his WWE Championship, either against Randy Orton or both Orton and Luke Harper in a three-way match.
Counting all the rumored matches, as well as a few less talked-about possibilities, Cageside Seats came up with a list of 38 wrestlers for a possible 20 spots at the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Looking at all the candidates, almost everyone is a tag team specialist or a lower- or mid-card singles wrestler. That, according to the publication, leaves little doubt as to who’s winning the match.
“This would also seem to make clear that, considering his recent push, there’s no way Braun Strowman is losing this match.”
WrestleMania 33 betting odds also suggest Strowman has the best chance of winning the Andre Battle Royal. PaddyPower has Braun listed as a five to six favorite, leading the way ahead of other potential winners such as Big Cass and Samoa Joe (seven to two), Kurt Angle, Seth Rollins, and Sami Zayn (six to one).
WWE Monday Night RAW 2/6/17
Braun Strowman makes himself a sandwich.#RAW #wwe #braunstrowman #BraunTakeover #wweuniverse #braun pic.twitter.com/C5Bpzun5Xw— Revelbots (@revelbots) February 7, 2017
Although a battle royal named after WWE’s first-ever Hall of Famer may sound like a big deal, there’s been lots of criticism directed the way of the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, with many seeing it as mid-card filler. But, as Four3Four reported last month, WWE wants to change this conception at WrestleMania 33.
“It’s being reported that WWE want fans to take the (Andre) Battle Royal more ‘seriously’ this year, as it has looked like a filler match in previous years. WWE are aiming to put more main event talents in the match this year, even if that means that the talents will have to work more than one match in the same night (I don’t think they’d be complaining at all).”
At the moment, Braun Strowman is one of the few main event or upper mid-card stars with no clear-cut plans for WrestleMania 33. Seeing how Baron Corbin has enjoyed a good push almost one year after he won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32, a Braun Strowman win at WrestleMania 33 may help the match shake this “mid-card filler” reputation while helping him further himself as arguably WWE’s top “giant” on the roster.
[Featured Image by WWE]
