New Participants, Details Revealed For WWE SummerSlam Battle Royal

WWE's plan for the SummerSlam Battle Royal is coming into focus.

Friday night's "SmackDown" opened with L.A. Knight, firing up the crowd and taking some verbal shots at the other participants in the battle royal. Knight's barbs were accompanied by a graphic showing himself, as well as Sheamus, Karrion Kross, Grayson Waller, Shinsuke Nakamura, Santos Escobar, Matt Riddle, A.J. Styles, and The Miz.

Tommaso Ciampa, Chad Gable, and Otis were announced for the battle royal, but they were not included in the graphic shown Friday night. Knight stated that there will be 25 men in the match, meaning at most 12 of those men have been revealed as of this writing.

Slim Jim is the presenting sponsor of the SummerSlam Battle Royal. It's the start of a new "multi-layered partnership" between Slim Jim and WWE that was announced on Thursday. More Slim Jim branding is expected to be seen in WWE going forward, including at Survivor Series, Royal Rumble, and WrestleMania 40.