Battle royals (& when they can be considered "good matches")

[Spider2024]

I think the perception of the traditional "battle royal" match has turned slightly in recent years. It used to be a big sell for almost every fan simply based on the spectacle of 20 wrestlers all in one ring fighting. Now I think people realize that the excitement of the actual match is limited because the actual workrate is limited. The basis of the 'wrestling' in most battle royals is the typical brawling style (punch & kicks & bodyslams) with people trying to lean others over the ropes and out, and the occasional signature moves/spots from the individual wrestlers. That whole style worked very well for back in the day, not so much now.

The Royal Rumbles are different, those are spiced up in multiple ways, mostly with the 'one at a time' entries making the match way more interesting, as well as the surprises of who could come out at which number spot.

Like what would you even say were the best non-RR battle royals in history? It would almost be reliant on any historic value, or big spots, or memorable participants or winner. What would be the best ways to make the best battle royals (without the RR aspects mixed in)?

[Deleted]

I think any battle royal where you can't tell who will win has a distinct advantage at being pretty good, because it's not a match which seems to have 1 single point the whole time. Battle royals which aren't "get 1 guy over, everyone else is fodder" but rather look competitive and everyone seems to be doing well & has a chance. Sure, there are jobbers who probably won't win, but everyone in a battle royal should be treated pretty equal (as reasonable as possible) and the idea anyone could win at any time exists.

And NO LYING AROUND FOR BIG SPOTS, DANG IT.


The pre-WM3 battle royal from SNME, for example, stands out as a solid one. Served as "will Hogan and Andre meet," with Andre looking like a real killer for a while, but then halfway thru they're both out and it's a match where the winner is 100% uncertain.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

I actually thought the All In one was one of the better ones I have seen. Strong booking and spots almost throughout.

['Foretold' Joker]

Battle Royals are easy crowd-pleasers in one sense, but also can be easily forgotten if they have no role to play. They usually boil down to the big Giant winning (see Andre, Big Show, Strowman) the obviously better than everyone else star winning (The Rock, Kevin Nash), the we don't have anything for you to do so let's put you all in one match or these guys are all irrelevant here comes someone to beat them all up. The exceptions are if there are stakes for winning and how they pay off, or it has a unique reason for happening.

The Gimmick Battle Royale at Wrestlemania 17 is great. Lot's of nostalgia Bobby Heenan and Mean Gene on commentary just a fun time.

The Battle Royale at WM 4 is a good one with no obvious contenders and the trophy is the catalyst for turning Bret face instead of being just awarded and then forgotten.

The Smackdown where Khali won the Battle Royale & Title is oddly memorable, for good or bad.

The WCW Cruiserweight Battle Royale where Ciclope won and it turned out to be Dean Malenko was also another good one.

None of the WCW World War ones are good (bad camera work and way too many wrestlers.)

[eJm]

May 23, 2019 17:21:05 GMT -5 "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay said:

I actually thought the All In one was one of the better ones I have seen. Strong booking and spots almost throughout.

Yeah, felt like everyone got a chance to be showcased there. Really fun.

I also have all the time in the world for the first Andre. Yeah, it doesn’t quite hold up in other viewings but when that thing got down to the last 7-8, it got incredible.

[Deleted]

Aztec Warfare specifically the 2nd one

Just amazing pretty much beginning to end

How many battle royales can you say EVERYONE got a character moment and all of it was memorable all while having amazing spots and then the amazing storytelling that furthers and or starts multiple feuds.

And debuts multiple wrestlers that would go onto have huge importance to not just their own personal narratives but the overall arching story.

All while keeping tabs on action not only in the ring but also in the bleachers , up the stairs etc

for around 45min there ends up being so much to unpack just perfection.

[cosmo]

A battle royal won Pro Wrestling Illustrated's first "Match of the Year" award in 1972, so there's that, I guess.

[chronocross]

I liked the Battle Royal on the 3/14/87 SNME with Hogan/Andre, Andre basically dominates Hogan and basically takes an army of 8 guys to get rid of him. It also gave a tease of their upcoming Mania match.

There was a Battle Royal also on the 5/17/04 Raw with Kane winning the #1 contenders shot at then-champion Chris Benoit for Bad Blood, I liked the face to face showdown with Kane/Batista that got the crowd going, Shelton Benjamin showing some of his athleticism as well stood out to me.

I remember another Battle Royal on Superstars in January of 95 that happened a few weeks after Shawn won the Rumble where he opted to not enter because he won the one that counted, I also remember another spot in the match where Lawler tried to do the one foot deal that HBK did only to have Bret step on his other foot causing him to get eliminated.

Starrcade 92 had a Battle Royal at the end with Barry Windham and Great Muta which I really enjoyed as well.

[britishbulldog]

Any bunk house battle royal with Lanny Pofo in a suit of armor. I miss those.

[Oh Cry Me a Screwball]

The Battle Royal at Evolution last year was really good, with just about everyone getting a shine spot, and they actually used the person hiding outside the ring trope as effective as possible, with a heel doing it and getting shown up at the end.

The first Andre is the best of the Mania battle royals, but the second is almost as good, except for the downer ending with Mizdow coming up short.

[67 more]

Nah, always found them too over the top.

[cosmo]

May 25, 2019 2:14:19 GMT -5 67 more said:

Nah, always found them too over the top.