Your Favorite Battle Royal

[The Brain]

A Battle Royal used to be a huge match in wrestling. It was something that was a unique special attraction. As a little kid I loved them. We got to see twenty stars in one match. The Battle Royal has definitely lost its luster over the last 15 years or so. Maybe it’s just me but I don’t see them as anything special at all anymore. It’s probably because we see all the stars every week now anyway instead of just a few in squash matches. Also the Battle Royal is more predictable now than it used to be. Anytime there is a Battle Royal now it’s to determine something like a number one contender for a ppv match. This eliminates the majority of the field right off the bat. There used to be Battle Royals just for the hell of it and you knew anyone could win.

I kind of went of track in my own thread a little. My intention wasn’t to discuss whether the Battle Royal is still a special match. I want to know which Battle Royal was your favorite. My favorite took place in 1987 about two weeks before WrestleMania III. It was on Saturday Night’s Main Event and both Hulk Hogan and Andre The Giant were involved. It was such a good tease to see if Hogan and Andre would get their hands on each other before mania. Naturally they started out on opposite sides of the ring and every time they tried to get near each other someone would get in the way. Finally they collided in the center of the ring and the crowd went nuts. They were quickly mobbed by the rest of the participants but that’s ok because oftentimes less is more. A couple minutes later Andre found his way to Hogan and grabbed him from behind. After two big headbutts Andre easily threw Hogan over the top rope. Hogan was stunned and this was a brilliant move because it made Andre look dominant over Hogan right before mania. How would Hogan be able to defeat the undefeated giant who so easily manhandled him just two weeks earlier? Shortly after Hogan was eliminated eight men teamed up to eliminate The Giant. He didn’t mind because he had already made his statement. The eventual winner turned out to be Hercules which may surprise some of you. This is what I mean about unpredictability. Anyone had a chance and it was a nice win for someone like Hercules. This is how a battle royal should be done. There was a major storyline advancement and an unpredictable winner. Fans were already fired up for WM3 and this just added fuel to that fire.

What is your choice for your favorite Battle Royal? Please do not include any Royal Rumble matches. This is regarding traditional Battle Royals where everyone starts at the same time. Also feel free to comment on my statement about the Battle Royal losing its luster. I should also note that in March 1987 I was seven years old and very new to wrestling. That Battle Royal was the coolest thing I’d ever seen so the nostalgia factor may have influenced my choice. I still think it was the best Battle Royal I’ve ever seen.

 

[Big Sexy]

A few Battle Royals come to mind for me.

My favorite was from a Monday Night Raw about a month before Wrestlemania 19. The winner would receive a shot against Triple H for the World Title Mania. It was a solid battle royal throughout with The Rock leaving the match at one point and joining the announce crew. He came back when the match was down to Christian, Kane, and Booker T. The final two consisted of my two favorite wrestlers of all time, The Rock and Booker T, and everyone expected the Rock to win. Instead Booker T shocked everyone and got the upset win. The only thing wrong with the entire scenario was that Booker didn't get the win over Triple H at Mania.

Another one that comes to mind is the battle royal at Wrestlemania 2 which featured all of the NFL players. It's great looking back at that match and watching Big John Studd eliminate The Fridge after faking a hand shake.

The final one that comes to mind for me is the Battle Royal at Wrestlemania 4. This was when Bret Hart first showed that he had real potential as a singles star. He put on a great performance only to be eliminated last by Bad News Brown. It was great watching Hart attack him after the match and break the trophy.

 

[The_Gene_Genie]

Got to go for 1991's Battle Royal at the Royal Albert Hall, London, England.

First time I had ever seen a Battle Royal match and there were some classic names in the line up; including Davey Boy Smith, Big Boss Man, Ric Flair, Earthquake, Nasty Boys, Animal & Hawk, Marty Jannetty & Shawn Michaels, Tito Santana, Roddy Piper, Undertaker and Kerry Von Erich. If I remember correctly Bulldog got the win on home soil. I also liked the Gimmick Battle Royal at Wrestlemania X-Seven, purely for the nostalgia feel.

 

[TUFFY54]

I was always a big fan of the Battle Royal from the fall of 1993 when Razor Ramon won his first IC title. It was one of the more exciting matches that had been aired on Raw at the time. It had most of the stars from the New Generation in it and no one really knew who would win.

It also eventually lead to the ladder match between Razor and HBK at Wrestlemania 10.

 

[The Brain]

The IC Battle Royal is a nice choice. Mr. Perfect and Tatanka had just as good a chance of winning as Razor Ramon did. I don't remember if The 123 Kid was in it but he would have been a good underdog pick. IRS, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Rick Martel were resonable choices from the heel side. Remember though Razor Ramon did not win the IC title in this match. He and Rick Martel were the last two left which led to a singles match the next week to determine the champion. Since the title wasn't actually decide here it opened up the winning two spots to more people.

 

[parkage1225]

Im gonna have to say its a toss up between WCW's World War 3 1996 and World War 3 1997. I know the concept could have used some work, but at the time, and even by today's standards, it was an extremely innovative concept.
Not to Mention this was the time when the Stinger( ) was building momentum for his return as the Crow-like character that we know him as today. WCW was going strong at the time(Pre-Russo, of course). Not to mention if you have Henning,Hall,Nash,Luger,Hogan,Savage,Sting,and countless other talented cruiserweights and heavyweights in not one, but three rings at the same time, how can you go wrong?

 

[Find'er Woo'er Ryder]

I'm going to go with a semi-recent one back in 06 where Kurt Angle jumped shift to smackdown and won the battle royal for the vacant World Heavyweight championship after Batista got injured. It was the week after New Years Revolution I believe and he was the first man eliminated in the Elimination Chamber match. It was a great battle royal and I did not expect Angle to come out on top because I was young back then and still rooted for the good guy.

 

[Tech N9ne]

I'll set the tone on why this Battle Royal is my favorite.

Back in 2005, Batista won the World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Triple H at Wrestlemania 21. That was his first World Title and he held the title for the rest of that year. But during his title reign he went from RAW to SmackDown and vice versa for The WWE Champion, John Cena. They traded shows during The Draft.

So, with Batista on SmackDown, he defeated everyone he faced and finally on January 10th, 2006, Batista got injured. It was his triceps, I believe. He had to vacate The World Heavyweight Championship and GM Teddy Long announced there would be a Battle Royal that night to determine the New World Heavyweight Champion.

At the time leading into this, over on RAW, John Cena had also held The WWE Championship, just as long as Batista had. This is when I had started to get tired of John Cena. I enjoyed his gimmick as a Heel on SmackDown. Then it even lasted for awhile when he was Face and WWE Champion. As the year of 2005 came to a close. The Super Cena Gimmick was starting to rear it's ugly head. RAW GM Eric Bischoff had a feud with Cena and trying to take the title from him.

Eric Bischoff threw everything at Cena and he would continue to Super Cena his way through every situation Bischoff laid in front of him. No matter how unlikely it looked that Cena would come out on top, he always did. Guys like Jericho and Kurt Angle would try and try, for Bischoff but they never could get that title away from Cena. Jericho was fired for it and in the process of almost beating Cena each time. Kurt Angle would basically go through a gimmick change, and by the end of his feud with Cena, was being cheered by the fans. That also was the time where booes were starting to be heard for Cena as well.

That is where both shows were, come the January 10th taping of SmackDown. I had always liked Angle and absolutely loved how his gimmick had changed to the Wrestling Machine. He had Davari with him in at first, but he was quickly kicked to the curb when Angle turned Face. Angle was so intense and was wrecking people. But as WWE is known for, he couldn't get by John "Super" Cena.

Even though Angle was on RAW, he was in The Battle Royal. Along with Rey Mysterio, Matt Hardy, JBL, Lashley and Mark Henry, among many others. It was a 20 Man Over The Top Rope Battle Royal. Even though they all started in the ring, the bigger names made their entrances. The final guy to come out, as sort of a surprise entrant was RAW's Angle. He came down and immediately eliminated a guy considered one of the favorites, JBL. The match wore on and a lot of guys were eliminated by Angle and a guy that might have been considered the most favored to win this match, Mark Henry. Henry had been on fire at that time and was running through people also.

At one point towards the end of the match, Henry and Angle began to fight on the outside of the ring. Neither had been eliminated, they went through or under the ropes. Henry ended up getting better of their exchange on the outside and he lifted Angle into the air with a Gorilla Press and slammed him down through the announce table. Henry gets back into the ring. It is down to him and about 7 other guys. He squares off with Lashley and eventually throws him out. Same with Matt Hardy. Rey eliminates both members of MNM (Morrison LOL). It comes down to Rey and Mark Henry. Rey does what he does and puts up a great fight. But Henry eliminates him. It is being taken like Henry won the match and the World Title.

Then Kurt rises from the broken table and gets to his feet while Henry is celebrating in the ring. The crowd goes nuts and when Henry notices Angle is up. Angle takes down the straps and does his standard snap out and tells Henry he isn't done with Angle yet. Pretty epic moments there. One of my last true MTFO moments. Angle gets in the ring and starts taking it to Henry. They trade blows for awhile, almost eliminating one another. Angle hits Henry with some awesome Suplexes and an Angle Slam. Angle locks Henry in a Head Scissors and begins pulling him over the top rope. It is a struggle for a minute and then they both go over the top. Henry hits the ground first and Angle wins The World Heavyweight Championship.

The place goes nuts and so did I. It was a great moment. Kurt obviously moved to SmackDown after this and was a full fledged Face. He went into his gimmick hard. The Wrestling Machine. I think he had some of his most dramatic matches during the few months after this. He lost the title at Wrestlemania 22 to Rey Mysterio, in a Triple Threat Match with Randy Orton. Rey pinned Orton in that match. Kurt Angle was my favorite wrestler during that time and was pretty untouchable in the ring at that point.

But anyway... That is my All Time Favorite Battle Royal and it ignited a time when Kurt Angle was awesome.

 

[MMK]

My favorite Battle Royal is still the first one I ever saw: WRESTLEMANIA 4 where the winner was awarded the Battle Royal Trophy. Bad News Brown double crossed Bret Hart and then The Hitman destroyed Bad News' trophy, thus resulting in a face turn for The Hart Foundation.

My second choice would be The 7 team Tag Team Battle Royal from 1991 where the rules were when one member of a team was eliminated, his partner had to go as well. It featured The Nasty Boys, Demolition, Orient Express, Rockers, LOD, Bushwhackers, and Power & Glory.

 

[dd23beatlesfan1]

One of the Battle Royals that hasn't been mentioned yet happened to be the first Battle Royal that I saw, and that was a Battle Royal that took place on the Saturday Night's Main Event show about a month after Wrestlemania VII. I had just started watching wrestling regularly around this time, so seeing a Battle Royal for the first time was quite a special thing.

Quite a few of the big stars of the WWF circa 1991 were in it including Hulk Hogan, Tugboat (shortly before his heel turn), Earthquake, Jake Roberts, the Big Boss Man, and Mr. Perfect amongst others were in it. Mr. Perfect ended up winning it. The only majors wrestlers I remember that weren't in it were Bret Hart and the Million Dollar Man (as they had their match earlier), and Sgt. Slaughter and the Ultimate Warrior (as they also had their own match). But yeah it was memorable for me because it was the first Battle Royal I saw.

I also liked the Royal Albert Hall Battle Royal from 1991 as well in which the British Bulldog won it. I only saw it for the first time about a year or so ago on WWE 24/7 and it was a good one.

Pretty much every Battle Royal is a good one. It's one of my favorite specialty matches, so I don't think I've ever seen a Battle Royal that I didn't enjoy. So every match that has been mentioned thus far are all good ones.

The first one mentioned a few weeks before Wrestlemania III was indeed a really good one. I watched that one for the first time a few years ago, also on WWE 24/7, an excellent Battle Royal.

 

[byrnside]

Most of the more memorable Battle Royals have been mentioned already. So I'll go with a fun one. Two of my favorite things in wrestling are nostalgic moments, and battle royals, so why not go with the Gimmick Battle Royal from Wrestlemania X-Seven?

With participants like The Bushwackers, Duke "The Dumpster" Droese, the Iron Shiek, Doink the Clown, Nikolai Volkoff, Tugboat, The Goon, Earthquake, Gobbledy Gooker, Brother Love, Michael Hayes, One Man Gang, Kamala, Kim Chee, Jim Cornette, Repo Man, Hillbilly Jim and Sgt. Slaughter.

I could think of 25 other top gimmick names to have thrown in this one, but for me, it was nostalgic and fun.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Most of the more memorable Battle Royals have been mentioned already. So I'll go with a fun one. Two of my favorite things in wrestling are nostalgic moments, and battle royals, so why not go with the Gimmick Battle Royal from Wrestlemania X-Seven?

With participants like The Bushwackers, Duke "The Dumpster" Droese, the Iron Shiek, Doink the Clown, Nikolai Volkoff, Tugboat, The Goon, Earthquake, Gobbledy Gooker, Brother Love, Michael Hayes, One Man Gang, Kamala, Kim Chee, Jim Cornette, Repo Man, Hillbilly Jim and Sgt. Slaughter.

I could think of 25 other top gimmick names to have thrown in this one, but for me, it was nostalgic and fun.

That would be my pick. Unfortunately I have not seen many of the classic battle royals that have been discussed in this thread, but this nostalgia-filled stroll down memory lane was brilliant. Didn't the Iron Sheik end up victorious?

I loved seeing some of the classic gimmicks one more time, especially as there had been some that I hadn't really been exposed to as they were before my time.

My favourite battle royal of all time was the time that Kurt Angle switched brands and ended up winning the World Title...I think it was around 2006. Angle was on fire that match after coming in as the surprise final entrant. However, that doesnt class as Old School, so I will go for the gimmick battle royal as my pick.