The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal Needs Hulk Hogan Involvement

It appears quite clear at this point: The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal will be the hub for lower-card WWE superstars who are happy to get a part of the WrestleMania cut.

However, from a fan's perspective, this match does absolutely nothing to attract interest, nor does it have a desirable payoff that elevates the match or the wrestlers in it.

As of now, the match has little to no purpose. Whomever wins will most likely not be pushed, and the trophy will be as valuable as last year's. There is no stipulation to add to the intrigue of the match, which leaves spectators wondering why it is taking away more meaningful opportunities. 

One of the only ways to bring up the status of this Battle Royal is to include the man who introduced it last year: Hulk Hogan.

Hogan would certainly be an asset to uplift the match. Having him on WrestleMania will continue the nostalgic run that we have witnessed from the Hall of Famer, and his legendary status is a necessary injection to prevent this part of the evening from being a buzzkill.

No, Hogan should not be in the match. We are already past that point, and a return to the ring would do much more harm than good. However, WrestleMania is all about feel-good moments that can be compiled into lifetime highlights. There is one person who should continue his momentum by way of the ATGM Battle Royal by being in the ring with Hogan at the very end.

Right now, Curtis Axel is exhibiting more charisma in a few weeks than he has in his whole career.

He has always been a good hand in the ring but never found an identity that stuck. Even with opportunities with both the Nexus and Paul Heyman, as well as intercontinental and tag team title reigns, Axel was still left in the cold, with very few people caring about his status with the company.

However, similar to Damien Mizdow, quirky gimmicks are still over. The hashtag #AxelMania did not take long to gain steam, and he now has a gimmick that works, even if only for the short term.

Credit: wwe.com

WWE should capitalize on this and have him win the Battle Royal.

Names such as Ryback, Erick Rowan, Damien Mizdow, and Jack Swagger could benefit from winning, but they will most likely win nothing except a meaningless trophy.

This is why Axel would be ideal to win. He could cut a heel promo explaining why he is still in the Royal Rumble and is better than Andre the Giant. To give him some kind of rub, Hulk Hogan can appear, going back and forth with Axel, leading to a feel-good Hogan moment to end the match.

Otherwise, it would be a total waste of time, and we surely do not want that at The Grandest Stage of Them All.

Chris Featherstone is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and WeAreWrestling.net, a writer for PWMania.com, and host of the Pancakes and Powerslams show. Follow @cravewrestling on Twitter and Crave Wrestling on Facebook.