WWE SmackDown Before WrestleMania 42 Matches Confirmed: Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal, Wyatt Sicks Vs. The MFTs

WWE

The first matches have been confirmed for the WWE SmackDown before WrestleMania 42 on April 17 in Las Vegas.

The pre-Mania SmackDown will take place at T-Mobile Arena with the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony taking place at Dolby Live an hour after the end of SmackDown.

On tonight’s SmackDown a week out, two matches were made official for the SmackDown before Mania.

As has become a tradition, the pre-Mania SmackDown will play host the to Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal again this year.

The Andre Battle Royal used to be on the Mania card itself (or at least the pre-show) but was moved to SmackDown in 2021 after a year off in 2020 due to Covid.

Previous winners of the match in chronological order are Cesaro, Big Show, Baron Corbin, Mojo Rawley, Matt Hardy, Braun Strowman, Jey Uso, Madcap Moss, Bobby Lashley, Bronson Reed and Carmelo Hayes.

No entrants are confirmed for this year’s Andre Battle Royal as of yet.

Also set for next week’s WWE SmackDown is an eight-man tag team street fight featuring the Wyatt Sicks facing The MFTs.

It was also announced that next week’s show will feature stars from both WWE Raw and SmackDown, which isn’t exactly anything new and nobody specific from Raw was announced.

The Raw after WrestleMania will be at T-Mobile Arena as well on April 20, with Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns among the names set to appear.

Who Will Win The 2026 Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal

With nobody confirmed for the lineup there are of course no standout entrants who could win the Andre Battle Royal as of yet, but it’s safe to assume the majority of names on the men’s roster who aren’t featured at WrestleMania will be in the Andre.

One immediate potential favorite if he’s in the match is Royce Keys, who made his WWE SmackDown debut tonight with a win over Berto.

Carmelo Hayes and Ilja Dragunov could also be in the mix, and it would be a chance for Hayes to become the first ever two-time winner if he goes back to back.

El Grande Americano, or even the Original Americano, could also be candidates to win, as many were expecting them to have a match against each other at Mania, but it looks like that’s rightfully being saved for a big AAA show instead.

Aleister Black is another name of decent stature who isn’t in a match at WrestleMania and could win the Andre if he’s in it.

There may also be a case to be made for Danhausen if he’s in the battle royal, but again, it’s an “if” at this point, as he may be left out in favor of having some kind of role at Mania itself, even if it’s not an actual match.

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• Smackdown
• wwe
• WrestleMania

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