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New Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal Winner Crowned On WWE WrestleMania SmackDown

The Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal trophy has now been awarded to the 11th different Superstar to win the annual WrestleMania weekend event.
Rick Ucchino|
Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal | WWE.com

Carmelo Hayes has won the 11th annual Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal.

The match was held Friday night on the go-home edition of Friday Night SmackDown. A jam-packed T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas watched on as Hayes outlasted Rey Fenix, Shinsuke Nakamura and Andrade to claim victory.

Nakamura was the first of the final four to be dumped over the top rope. One former United States Champion eliminated the other as Andrade tossed Shinsuke to cut it to three.

Rey Fenix was surprisingly out of the match next. He was pulled off the top rope and eliminated by El Grande Americano, who appeared out of the crowd to take out his fellow Luchador. Suspiciously, this happened after Chad Gable was eliminated from the contest.

This left Hayes and Andrade to renew their 'best of' rivalry from 2024 and both men put on a show once again. Neither competitor could really gain the upper hand until Melo baited Andrade onto the ropes in an attempt to hit a Spanish Fly, but Hayes slipped out and dumped El Idolo to the outside to pick up the biggest victory of his main roster career to date.

The Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal has become a staple of WrestleMania SmackDown in recent years.

Bronson Reed stood tall last year in Philadelphia, making him the 10th ever winner of the massive trophy depicting the WWE Hall of Famer.

The Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal has taken place every WrestleMania weekend dating back to WrestleMania XXX in New Orleans. The only exception was WrestleMania 36, when the match didn't take place due the COVID-19 Pandemic.

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Rick Ucchino
RICK UCCHINO

Rick Ucchino is the Assistant Editor & Content Coordinator for The Takedown on SI. He also works full-time for 700WLW Radio in Cincinnati, Ohio as a local news and sports anchor, in addition to his time covering the Cincinnati Bengals for Sirius XM. Rick has been on the professional wrestling beat since 2019, having provided coverage for a number of outlets, including Fightful, SB Nation’s Cageside Seats and the Bleav Podcast Network. With an educational background in theater, creative writing and journalism, Rick focuses primarily on the storytelling aspect of pro wrestling, but he’s no stranger to the squared circle himself. He had the privilege of training with former WWE & WCW cruiserweight Jimmy Wang Yang for nearly two years and retired early due to back issues with a perfect 1-0 record in singles competition. Rick is a married father of two incredibly adorable children, who are budding pro wrestling fans themselves. Much to the chagrin of their mother. You can reach Rick at rwucchino@gmail.com

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