Report: Tournament To Decide NXT Entrant Into The Andre Battle Royal

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE.com has an article up stating that there'll be a tournament held Thursday at WrestleMania Axxess with the winner earning a spot in the 2nd Annual Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. I don't know if you'd call it a tournament really as it'll only consist of 3 matches, but you get the point. The participants will be Adrian Neville, Finn Balor, Hideo Itami and Tyler Breeze.

There's no mention of the pairings so my guess is that it'll be Neville vs. Balor and Itami vs. Breeze. Neville & Balor had a great match at the last live NXT special to determine the #1 contender for the NXT Championship and Itami has had a bit of a feud going with Breeze, so I think that's how the line up will be.

 

[klunderbunker]

First off, I feel this battle royal should officially be the Andre Rousimoff Memorial BAttle Royal.

That's right: the ARMBAR.

Anyway, this is a great way to give someone a main roster rub. Having the NXT TItle defended on the show never felt right to me so why not throw one of these guys in there? The fans know who they are and at least some of them have appeared on Raw before. Let them show off a bit on the big stage and see how their entrances look in front of a major crowd. Obviously you don't have one of them win, but let say Balor stay in until the final five. It's an easy way to give someone a rub and doesn't hurt anyone if they're outlasted in a battle royal. Everyone wins.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

.

Anyway, this is a great way to give someone a main roster rub.

It isn't though, is it? Not unless they book it right, which they won't.


I like the idea is at least being tried in SOME fashion, but an 8 man tag with qualifying matches to get in would have been much, much better.

Let everyone go out there, do some fun spots, let Owens brawl it up a little, a fun, refreshing 10 minute match on the pre-show would have been far preferable to a random spot in a punch-and-kick fest, were they won't even be highlighted.


Its a start though, I suppose. Maybe next year.

 

[klunderbunker]

I'll agree that the booking could render it a waste of time, but I'm assuming whoever wins this will be on the main roster at least for a bit, ala Bo Dallas back in the day. As long as they can get out there and show off for a bit and maybe get an elimination to set up a feud, they'll be fine. The 8 man tag would have been good too.

 

[Navi]

Is Owens healthy enough to even compete if he could, I understand he just had knee surgery. Zayn seems to be out too with a shoulder injury.

Hoping it's either Balor or Neville. Neville seems to be the most ready, but Balor's entrance with the face paint would be epic.

 

[TheICChampion]

Well, if Neville is coming up soon, it makes sense to have him in the match. We may not be able to pay too much attention to him, but I bet someone backstage has the job of watching him closely to see how he does and either call him up or keep him in NXT depending on his performance. Then again, the same will likely be true for whoever wins this mini-tournament. Not to mention as KB said it could be a way to bring them up with a ready-made feud right off the bat.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

If WWE put one of their top NXT guys in there then surely they have to win. I'm cool with that but I can't see Neville being involved and coming out on top. Though I could with Balor. Either way, this match needs more names because it's a Superstars match as it is.

 

[laodaron]

It isn't though, is it? Not unless they book it right, which they won't.


I like the idea is at least being tried in SOME fashion, but an 8 man tag with qualifying matches to get in would have been much, much better.

Let everyone go out there, do some fun spots, let Owens brawl it up a little, a fun, refreshing 10 minute match on the pre-show would have been far preferable to a random spot in a punch-and-kick fest, were they won't even be highlighted.


Its a start though, I suppose. Maybe next year.

Owens and Zayn are both out injured right now because of their insistence to spot. I'm a massive Sami Zayn mark, but their style of indy wrestling can't continue. But they can't be in this match because they're hurt.