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WWE News: Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal Will Take Place on April 9 Smackdown, Plus Smackdown Tag Team Title Match

It was announced by WWE this afternoon that the men’s Andre The Giant Battle Battle Royal that usually takes place at WrestleMania will take place on next week’s Smackdown, which is on April 9th. That episode of Smackdown is being taped today or tomorrow. WWE is calling it a “WrestleMania edition of Smackdown” on April 9th.

In addition to that, there will be a four-team Smackdown Tag Team Title match that will take place on Smackdown rather than at one of the two nights of WrestleMania.

There are 22 wrestlers announced for the battle royal. They are:

Akira Tozawa
Angel Garza
Cedric Alexander
Drew Gulak
Elias
Erik
Gran Metalik
Humberto Carrillo
Jaxson Ryker
Jey Uso
King Corbin
Lince Dorado
Mace
Murphy
Mustafa Ali
Ricochet
Shelton Benjamin
Shinsuke Nakamura
Slapjack
T-Bar
Tucker

The four teams in the Smackdown Tag Team Title match are the champions Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode defending vs. Rey & Dominik Mysterio vs. Chad Gable & Otis vs. The Street Profits.

There are spoilers about the Women’s Tag Team Title situation and how it relates to WrestleMania, but we aren’t going to put that here. We should find out more on Smackdown this week and Raw next week.

TJR Thoughts: I feel bad for the wrestlers that won’t get to compete in matches at WrestleMania. They have been wrestling without fans for one year and now there are fans back for WrestleMania, but these two matches will happen in the ThunderDome instead of at WrestleMania itself.

Here’s more from a WWE.com post as well.

As first announced on Twitter Spaces, the final stop on The Road to WrestleMania will feature a Special WrestleMania Edition of SmackDown next Friday on FOX!

Universal Champion Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan and Edge to address the WWE Universe
Two days before they square off in the highly-anticipated Universal Championship Triple Threat Match, the WWE Universe will hear from The Head of the Table, The Leader of the “Yes!” Movement and The Ultimate Opportunist as they prepare to collide on The Grandest Stage of Them All?

SmackDown Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Championship Match
For months the SmackDown Tag Team division has been extremely competitive, forcing WWE Official Adam Pearce to make a major decision. Next Friday, SmackDown Tag Team Champions Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode will look to defend their titles in a Fatal 4-Wayagainst The Street Profits, Rey & Dominik Mysterio and Otis & Chad Gable.

The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
The annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal will take center stage as a multitude of blue brand Superstars step into the squared circle to collide for the honor of claiming this year’s coveted trophy. The annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal was introduced at WrestleMania 30 in honor of late WWE Hall of Famer Andre the Giant. It will begin with all participants in the squared circle at the same time, and competitors are eliminated once they are thrown over the top rope and both feet touch the floor. The last man remaining is the victor.

As I mentioned earlier, this episode of Smackdown will be taped one week early.