On the Big Royal Rumble Matches
We’re almost to one of my favorite matches of the year as the Royal Rumble is almost upon us. Well the double Royal Rumble in this case but you get the idea. The interesting thing this time around is either Royal Rumble could go in multiple directions and that makes things a lot more fun. So what to do with each one? Or the title matches for that matter?
We’ll start with the men’s Rumble, which is probably the hardest of the four top matches to pick. You really could go in several different ways, but the best option would seem to be either Roman Reigns or Shinsuke Nakamura, who are the favorites on at least one betting site. The more I think about it the more I’m leaning towards Reigns, as you can imagine WWE wanting to “get it right” in Philadelphia this time around.
As for the women’s Rumble….dang again. While it’s hard to imagine anyone not named Asuka winning this, the fun part might be guessing who is going to be in the thing. We already know eighteen names announced, leaving twelve in the air for either legends or NXT talent. I can’t imagine we see Ronda Rousey but after this week’s Raw, Trish Stratus and the Bella Twins are all strong possibilities. Asuka will win, but the fun part is seeing who she defeats to get there.
Then we have the World Title matches with one of them being a little easier to predict than the other. That would be the WWE Championship match as I can’t imagine Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens taking the title from AJ Styles and becoming the co-champions. AJ should retain here, and then we can figure out an opponent for him down the road (likely at Fastlane).
Finally there’s the Universal Title match and really, there isn’t a ton of doubt here either. Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar is all but chiseled into stone for Wrestlemania XXXIV in New Orleans. With Kane around, they can easily keep the title on Lesnar without taking anything away from Braun Strowman. That’s especially important with Strowman having a pretty big match on the Wrestlemania card.
The show should be a lot of fun, but those Rumble matches alone should make the card worth seeing. They’re much more interesting than the two World Title matches, mainly due to the wide open fields. It’s one of my favorite nights of the year and this time around the best part is doubled.
Common sense would dictate not putting Reigns over in Philly again. Hopefully Vince will be too busy with XFL preparations to dictate that happening. I’m hoping it’s Balor, but yeah, it’s Reigns.
I don’t think Asuka wins. I think they’ll swerve us. I think Sasha somehow screws Asuka over and turns heel. So, I’ll go Bayley.
Lesnar pins Kane.
AJ retains with assistance from Daniel Bryan.
Both tag belts change.
Ziggler beats Roode for the US title.
Revival
Face cruiserweights
Side note- I really hope that rumored Miz WM doesn’t happen. He doesn’t deserve to get squashed two years in a row.
If the Miz match does happen he better win. It would mean more to him than Strowman. Strowman’s schtick is getting tired.
My pick is still Shinsuke winning or perhaps Finn Balor wins & jumps to Smackdown on Tuesday in Philly to face AJ at Mania 34.
I just think Roman gets his Universal Title shot by winning the Elimination Chamber which is a RAW PPV.
Asuka is my hands down winner of the Womens Match.
Brock retains (Kane takes the pin), AJ retains too, Shelton & Chad Gable win the SD Tag Titles, Seth & Jason Jordan keep the RAW Tag Titles.
They also added 3 Kickoff Matches with Bobby Roode defending the US Title in an open challenge, a 6-Man Tag with the Cruiserweights, and The Revival vs Gallows/Anderson.
I will take Balor to win….Shin is one of the least interesting picks in the Rumble but yes he is a favorite. I can see Philly shitting all over Reigns. KB, I know you don’t mind predictable cards but I don’t and the world title match is as predictable as they get……I wouldn’t even mind Kane winning the title to bring some unpredictability to the card that has been lacking last few years. But ya my big four winners are Balor, Styles, Lesnar, and Asuka (but want Nia Jax to win)