On tonight's episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown (April 17, 2026), the annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal took place, as well as a No. 1 contender's match between Tiffany Stratton and Jordynne Grace to determine who would get the next opportunity for Giulia's WWE Women's United States Championship.
The steps that went down in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal were as follows:
- Kit Wilson was the first to be eliminated, by Joe Hendry.
- Nathan Frazer was next as Johnny Gargano helped save Chris Sabin
- Only for Sabin to then get taken out right after.
- Both El Grande Americanos were taken out by Talla Tonga.
- Shiloh Hill was taken out by Dragunov.
- La Parka by Angel/Berto, followed by Berto by Fenix.
- Psycho Clown was then taken out by Royce Keys. Axiom was taken out by Gargano, this time helping out Alex Shelley, who was then taken out.
- Crews was eliminated by Nakamura.
- Hendry was tossed out by Aleister Black to a big chorus of boos.
- Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro were eliminated one after the other by Talla Tonga.
- Fenix was chokeslammed out of the ring by Talla Tonga.
- Shinsuke Nakamura was eliminated by Aleister Black, again to a lot of boos.
- Ilja Dragunov was next to fall to Aleister Black, again to boos.
- Akira Tozawa fired back to a big cheer, only to be taken out by Black, too.
- Angel was tossed out by Otis.
- Johnny Gargano was easy prey for Otis after that.
- Matt Cardona was eliminated by Otis, leaving the final four to be Otis, Talla Tonga, Aleister Black, and Royce Keys.
- Aleister Black was taken out by Royce Keys
- Otis was eliminated by Talla Tonga.
- Talla Tonga was conquered by Royce Keys and eliminated.
That makes your 12th ATGMBR trophy winner to be Royce Keys, winning in only his third televised match in the company so far.
Regarding the Women's United States Championship situation, which is missing from the WrestleMania card for some reason, Giulia and Kiana James were ringside to watch Tiffany Stratton get the win over Jordynne Grace. With no real pomp or circumstance, Stratton winning was just treated as a thing that happened, quickly moving on to the next segment without mentioning when or where she would get that title match. Considering WrestleMania Sunday has one less match than Saturday's card, there is always a chance they announce that in the meantime, but if not, it seems that Stratton vs. Giulia rematch will end up being on a future episode of SmackDown or even at the next premium live event, WWE Backlash.
For those curious, Wepa Up (Damian Priest and R-Truth) also retained the WWE Tag Team Championship on tonight's show over The New Day's Kofi Kingston and Grayson Waller.
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