Cesaro won The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

Although he was on the losing end of the WWE Tag

Team Championship Elimination Match on the

WrestleMania 30 Pre-Show, Cesaro more than redeemed himself by entering unannounced – and

winning – the first-ever over-the-top-rope Andre the

Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Outlasting 29 fellow

WWE Superstars, the former United States

Champion proved without a doubt that he is the

Swiss Superman.

WWE’s first Hall of Famer – Andre the Giant – was larger than life in both size and personality. Fondly

remembered by friends and foes alike, his

WrestleMania III opponent, WrestleMania 30 Host

Hulk Hogan, felt the best way to honor The Giant

on The Grandest Stage of Them All was with a

battle royal. Hogan’s decree of the match was certainly fitting of the Superstar that he

bodyslammed in front of over 93,000 WWE fans

inside the Pontiac Silverdome in 1987. After all, at

WrestleMania 2, Andre the Giant stood victorious

following a 20-Man WWE/NFL battle royal.

Every Superstar participating in the contest wanted

the bragging rights of being the first to win the

Andre the Giant trophy. Winning such a bout on

The Grandest Stage of Them All would certainly

give the victor an unprecedented boost in career

momentum.. However, with every participating Superstar starting the match at the same time,

chaos quickly ensued. Along with Cesaro, Tyson Kidd and Yoshi Tatsu

joined the battle royal at the last moment to round

out the field of 30 Superstars, but for Tatsu and

Kidd, their night ended on the floor outside the ring.

Eliminations were erratic, with The Great Khali

being eliminated early and Alberto Del Rio taking out both Rhodes brothers. One of the most jaw-dropping moments came when

Cesaro threw Kofi Kingston over the ring post to the

outside.  In true battle royal fashion, Kingston

landed on his back – with his feet on the steel

steps, NOT the floor. It was reminiscent of a

football receiver who makes a sideling catch and miraculously manages to keep his toes in bounds.

Still in the bout, Kofi floored everyone else in the

ring  only to be eliminated by Sheamus. The final four – Del Rio, Big Show, Sheamus and

the Swiss Superman – pulled out all the stops,

ultimately resulting in The Celtic Warrior and Del

Rio eliminating each other simultaneously. It was

down to Big Show and Cesaro. The World’s Largest

Athlete – wearing ring gear reminiscent of Andre the Giant’s – believed it was his destiny to win the

match. But Cesaro proved without a doubt that he is the

pound-for-pound strongest WWE Superstar.

Channeling his inner Hulk Hogan, the Swiss

Superman hoisted the 450-pound Big Show up, held

him in place and bodyslammed  him over the ropes

to the floor below. The WWE Universe rose to their feet in astonishment as The World’s Largest

Athlete shook the victor’s hand. During Cesaro’s celebration, it took five officials to

lift the massive Andre the Giant trophy into the ring,

but the victorious Superstar hoisted the trophy

above his head with ease.