The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal was once a staple of WrestleMania, but the match quietly disappeared from the event after the pandemic. Now a new explanation has revealed why WWE made that decision. The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal was originally created to honor the legacy of Andre the Giant while also giving more members of the roster a chance to appear on the WrestleMania card. In recent years, however, the match has not been held during WrestleMania itself. During the March 14, 2026 Fightful Select Q&A, Sean Ross Sapp explained that WWE changed its approach after the pandemic and no longer believes WrestleMania needs to feature as many wrestlers as possible. The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal has instead been moved to WrestleMania weekend episodes of WWE SmackDown rather than the pay-per-view itself. Sapp pointed out that the change has remained consistent since the pandemic era. Although the tradition has shifted away from the main WrestleMania card, Sapp said he still believes the match could work if WWE decided to bring it back in a different way. The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal debuted at WrestleMania XXX and has been won by several notable WWE stars over the years, making it one of the more unique traditions tied to WrestleMania weekend. Do you think the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal should return to WrestleMania itself, or does it work better being held on SmackDown during WrestleMania weekend? Let us know what you think in the comments. Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication. G Add as a preferred source on Google
