Bring Back The Gimmick Battle Royal at WrestleMania XLII

In the midst of a wild time throughout our country and the world, I think it’s time to bring it back to a time when everything was positive and thriving. When everyone joined together, for one moment, for the peak of humanity. When we all knew entertainment could get no higher.

Let’s go back to April 1, 2001 at the Houston Astrodome for WrestleMania X-Seven, and the match everyone paid to see.

Not Austin vs Rock, nor TLC II, or even Tazz & the APA vs the Right To Censor.

That’s right, I’m talking about the GIMMICK BATTLE ROYAL.

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What a match it was!

So many characters! So many legends! Look at these lists of luminaries in the match.

The Iron Sheik 

Hillbilly Jim 

Sgt. Slaughter

The Bushwhackers (Bushwhacker Luke and Bushwhacker Butch)

Doink the Clown

Duke "The Dumpster" Droese

Earthquake 

The Goon 

Gobbledy Gooker 

Brother Love

Michael P.S. Hayes

One Man Gang

Kamala

Jim Cornette

Repo Man

Nikolai Volkoff

Tugboat

Kim Chee

Add in the great Mean Gene Okerlund and Bobby “the Brain” Heenan on commentary, and you have yourself ten minutes of nostalgia. Even for 2001, the die-hard fans loved it.

I mean, look at some of these classic moments from that match:

The Iron Sheik was moving so slow that Bobby “the Brain” Heenan ad-libbed “By the time the Iron Sheik makes it to the ring, it’ll be WrestleMania 38.”. Akeem had lost so much weight that he couldn’t fit into the outfit, so he had to be the One Man Gang. Fans popped huge for “Don’t Go Messin’ with a Country Boy” for Hillbilly Jim (the song has been edited out of future releases due to licensing rights). Sgt. Slaughter choking out the Sheik with a Cobra Clutch after losing the battle.

The question was always asked: why did this match happen? My conspiracy was due to the cult rise on the internet of WrestleCrap.com, run by the legendary RD Reynolds. Picking apart some of WWE’s worst characters in a fun environment, RD’s creativity and passion for wrestling, in my opinion, allowed for this type of match to happen.

On a side note, although it was never officially confirmed, RD tried to inquire back in 2008 with former WWE Creative Member and Dot Com contributor Seth Mates on WrestleCrap Radio. Seth, in spite of not knowing who exactly pitched it, did elaborate on how employees in the WWE offices spent a few days scouring the WrestleCrap website for the entire history of outlandish and crazy gimmicks.

Anyways, to me, the Gimmick Battle Royal, completed with the Iron Sheik winning, was the cherry on top of the X-Seven ice cream sundae as the greatest pay-per-view of all time. Just so much fun.

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In 2026, it will be 25 years since that fun match. I was really pondering about the upcoming WrestleMania two-night extravaganza in Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on April 18 & 19 the other night. It doesn’t look like anything is planned long-term or set in stone for the event so far, and it’s less than three months away.

My question is simple: Why not run it back? Why not bring back the Gimmick Battle Royal for one of the nights?

Now, the immediate answer to that question is simple: Jon, there’s the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal already, which has been an institution since WrestleMania XXX in 2014.

You’d be right…except for the fact that it’s been on SmackDown before WrestleMania since 2021. It’s not been on the actual event in years, which is a shame.

To me, with the amount of seriousness on WWE programming over the past few years, there hasn’t been a lot of ga-ga.. The comedy has been at a relative minimum. At WrestleMania, you need a spot on the show for the viewer at home to catch their breath.

Running back the Gimmick Battle Royal for this year’s WrestleMania, for at least one of these nights, would be spectacular. It would give the fans to see something different and to bring some levity to the event.

And here’s the best part: there are at least 25 years worth of gimmicks spanning the tail end of the Attitude Era, the Ruthless Aggression Era, the PG Era, and the New Era to really fill the ring.

Here’s some of the list that has crossed my mind:

The Hurricane

Adam Rose

The Bunny

The Swagger Soaring Eagle

Hornswoggle

James Ellsworth

Braden Walker

Armando Alejandro Estrada

The Dicks

Gymini

Heath Slater, the One Man Band

Jesus, the man who “stabbed” John Cena in 2004

Pirate Paul Birchall

The ECW Zombie (I know Tim Arson has passed, but you could find someone else to dress up)

Simon Dean

Rick Boogs

Heidenreich

Snitsky

Mordecai (or Kevin Thorn, if you’re feeling froggy)

The Heart Throbs

Matt Striker

And that’s just off the top of my head!

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Look, I understand this might be too over-the-top and realistically will never happen, but why not? People still laugh and think about the original Gimmick Battle Royal to this day. What’s the worst thing that can happen?

In this geeky wrestling fan’s response, run it back.

Plus, I want one more night of Heidenreich. But that’s just me.

Jon Harder

Jon@HardwayHQ.com