Bobby Lashley Wins Andre The Giant Battle Royal On WWE SmackDown

Bobby Lashley won the 2023 Andre The Giant Battle Royal on Friday night's "WWE SmackDown." Last eliminating Bronson Reed, the All-Mighty joins the ranks of stars such as Baron Corbin, Jey Uso, and Braun Strowman as the ninth winner of the match. Lashley's inclusion in the match seems to indicate that his initially scheduled match against Bray Wyatt is off the table for WrestleMania this weekend.

Lashley seemed destined to meet Wyatt at WrestleMania. Wyatt said he would face whoever won between Brock Lesnar and Lashley at the Elimination Chamber premium live event. After Lashley technically won the match, Wyatt began appearing in promos with Lashley. But as quickly as the hype for the potential match began, it ended. Wyatt hasn't even been mentioned on WWE programming since the March 3 "SmackDown," when Uncle Howdy unsuccessfully attempted to attack Lashley. Wyatt is reportedly dealing with a "physical issue" that also caused him to miss a house show at New York City's Madison Square Garden.

With his victory in the Andre The Giant Battle Royal now in the history books, it seems that Lashley will not be appearing in any larger capacity on the main card of WrestleMania 39. This will mark Lashley's first time missing WrestleMania since returning to the company after WrestleMania 34 in 2018. Despite missing Lashley and Wyatt, the card for WrestleMania is still stacked with a large number of high-profile matches. Ranging from the show's opening bout of United States Champion Austin Theory against John Cena to Rey Mysterio taking on his son Dominik Mysterio, to the main event of Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns defending against Cody Rhodes.