Thursday, March 28, 2024
EditorialRoyal Rumble 2017 Predictions

Royal Rumble 2017 Predictions

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It’s kind of hard to believe, but we are already back on the road to WrestleMania, and that road begins this Sunday at the Royal Rumble. With a Royal Rumble match as star-studded as it has been in a while, and an undercard featuring four title matches, WWE is looking to start of 2017 on a high note. With that said, let us go through each of the matches, and I’ll relay to you my predictions. (For the pre-show matches, I have Nia Jax defeating Sasha Banks, the Smackdown heel females will defeat the faces and Cesaro and Sheamus retain their titles over Gallows and Anderson).

 

Rich Swann (C) vs. Neville – WWE Cruiserweight Championship

Rich Swann’s reign has been underwhelming, but Neville has been his perfect foil.

Neville has been a breath of fresh air for the Cruiserweight division that is in shambles (as evidenced by the consistent non-reactions the Cruiserweights get on RAW and the poor 205 Live numbers. He came back at Roadblock, laying waste to both Rich Swann and TJ Perkins. Since then, Neville has grown a beard, an attitude and some new music (though I don’t like it). His new attitude and heelish way of doing things is the precise antithesis of the faces of the Cruiserweights. He’s also produced well in the ring as well, having good matches with Swann and Cedric Alexander since then. Now, the question is does WWE put the Cruiserweight title on Neville. Well, since the Cruiserweights have come to RAW, there have been three Cruiserweights, so we can’t rule out the possibility of WWE putting the title quickly on Neville right now. For as good as Swann is in the ring, he is lacking in charisma, personality and mic work. His personality, though unique to him, just makes it hard to take him seriously as champion, which is why many want to see Neville take the title off of him. If you ask me, this Sunday, I see Swann retaining, for the simple fact that Neville has already defeated him. The Brian Kendrick defeated TJ Perkins before winning the Cruiserweight Championship before, so of course, this also leaves room for Neville to win, but I see something along the lines of Swann winning with a roll-up or something and Neville brutally assaults him after and wins the title in an eventual rematch.

Winner: Rich Swann

 

Charlotte (C) vs. Bayley – RAW Women’s Championship

Charlotte’s undefeated streak on PPV is on the line, but don’t expect it to end this Sunday.

A year ago at the Rumble, when we still had the Divas Championship, Charlotte defeated Becky Lynch and for the majority of the latter half of 2016, Charlotte worked with Sasha Banks and won that feud. She has now moved on to the final member of the Four Horsewomen, Bayley. As it has been banged in the head time and time again, Charlotte has yet to lose her title on PPV, and we all shouldn’t expect anything different to occur this Sunday. Bayley’s story has been one of a little kid living her childhood dreams, and she wants to achieve that dream this Sunday, and Charlotte is the talented, but egotistical heel that has proven to be infallible when it comes to defending her title when the lights shine the brightest. In a lot of ways, Bayley is sort of like the female Daniel Bryan, and if she takes the same route as him, we shouldn’t expect to get her big moment this early. If she’s winning the RAW Women’s Title, which she will, it’s highly likely that she does so at WrestleMaina. So whether it is clean or not, expect the Queen to retain the title to live another day.

Winner: Charlotte

 

Kevin Owens (C) vs. Roman Reigns – Universal Championship (No Disqualification)

I am so sick of these two together.

Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns need to get as far away from each other as possible after this Sunday. I am so sick of seeing these three being involved in each other’s business MONDAY AFTER MONDAY AFTER FREAKING MONDAY. The only good thing that has come out of these three beefing with each other is that Chris Jericho finally won the United States Championship and became the seventh person in WWE history to win every major title, and the only Grand Slam champion in WWE history. One would think that Roman Reigns as United States Champion would keep him out of the main event scene, but it’s clear that we were wrong. Kevin Owens’ reign, if we’re not being politically correct, has been pretty much one to forget. His PPV defenses, aside from the Hell In A Cell match, have been rather lackluster, and a huge side of me liked him better in mid to late 2015 when he was Intercontinental Champion. While he can still be very entertaining with Jericho, the frequency with which the two speak together has caused his act to grow stale. However, does that mean we need to shift to Roman Reigns yet again?

Almost every rumor I’ve read have shown that Roman Reigns is indeed set to win the Universal Championship this Sunday, and before Monday Night, I completely believed that. However, the No Disqualification stipulation does make for interesting possibilities. Yes, Chris Jericho is locked inside a shark cage above the ring, and yes, we all know Kevin Owens cannot and will not beat Roman Reigns straight up, one on one. However, who’s to say that someone else doesn’t interfere on Owens’ behalf to save his hide? Who that person may be, I have no idea.  I also look at the fact that Roman Reigns has defeated KO not once, but twice in singles matches within the past two months. My instinct tells me that Roman can overcome all odds, but while I know he will eventually win the Universal Championship, there’s just a part of me that believes that the No DQ stipulation will work in KO’s favor this Sunday. Dammit, now my brain hurts.

Winner: Kevin Owens

 

AJ Styles (C) vs. John Cena – WWE Championship

AJ looks to be the official face to replace John Cena, while a 16th world title reign is also at stake.

A year ago, AJ Styles made his WWE debut by shocking everyone as the third entrant in the Royal Rumble. One year later, he holds WWE’s top prize and will face The Franchise in what is bound to be an exciting bout. AJ Styles and John Cena have had incredible bouts in the past, and I honestly hope they try to outdo themselves from Summerslam and give us another bout to remember. This is really all about AJ Styles being the face to replace (see what I did there) John Cena. Cena’s part-time status and seemingly lack of commitment to WWE has been a core piece of this feud, while AJ Styles has claimed (and rightfully so) that he’s carried Smackdown LIVE on his back since Cena left. But now Cena’s back, and he’s looking to gain the 16th world title that has since long eluded him for about 2 and a half years now. Now, just like the Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns situation, I was dead set on betting that John Cena would win the WWE Championship. However, the past two weeks have again caused me to reconsider my thoughts. Last week, we saw John Cena deliver an AA to AJ Styles. This week, we saw Cena get the last word and call AJ Styles “just a man”, and he also came off kind of heelish while doing so, which makes me consider the slightest of possibilities that perhaps there may be a…….DOUBLE TURN? Now, now, bear with me here. If San Antonio is a smarky crowd, and most big events in WWE usually are these days, they’ll most likely cheer AJ and boo Cena. Now, of course, this has happened before but look at it like this. AJ Styles has defeated John Cena three times in big match situations (Money In The Bank, Summerslam, No Mercy). Cena threw everything in his bag of tricks to AJ, and he was still able to survive Cena. So does maybe Cena get desperate and try underhanded tactics to beat AJ? It’s crazy, and perhaps unlikely, but don’t rule it out.

Now, as for the winner of the match, I can almost damn near guarantee that it will not be AJ Styles as WWE Champion entering WrestleMania. It’s just in the nature of WWE to put the big titles on the big names, and while AJ Styles has proven to be big, he isn’t John Cena big. Styles’ run has been phenomenal, but sooner or later, he’s going to drop the title, and it’s going to be to John Cena. And unfortunately, despite every reservation I have of AJ retaining to live another day, John Cena winning the title seems to be a foregone conclusion. I just hope like never before I’m wrong.

Winner: John Cena

 

30 Man Royal Rumble Match

This year’s star-studded match is the most unpredictable it’s been in years, which makes it all the more fun.

I’m extremely excited for this match. Why? Because for the first since I’d say 2012, the Royal Rumble match winner isn’t completely predictable. To top it off, it’s the most star-studded it has been for a good while. Goldberg will be competing in his first Rumble match since 2004, Undertaker will have his first Rumble match since 2009 and more big names. Now, first with some side predictions, I believe Braun Strowman will have the most eliminations, the Iron Man for the Rumble this year will be The Miz, and returns or wild cards we’ll see is Finn Balor, Samoa Joe and (possibly) Kurt Angle if he’s lying about not showing up. In order to decipher who will win the match, I think we have to eliminate it man by man. So let’s do that.

Twenty-two of the thirty names have officially declared for the Rumble match. First, the people who will definitely not win? I’d say,  Mojo Rawley, The New Day, Sami Zayn, Luke Harper, Bray Wyatt, The Big Show, Rusev, Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro and Sheamus. So that’s 12 right off the bat that we can be eliminated. All of those names are either occupied in other feuds, are doing nothing at the current moment, champions or just aren’t going to be in the main event scene anytime soon. Next are those who will probably won’t win. Those names would be The Miz, Dean Ambrose, Baron Corbin and Big Cass. The Miz, as great as he was in 2016 probably won’t be in the WWE Title scene, at least for the foreseeable future to WrestleMania, but I think he’ll have a great showing at the Rumble. Dean Ambrose holding the Intercontinental Championship practically guarantees that he won’t be going back to the WWE Title scene immediately. Big Cass is a man that seems to be in WWE’s favor and I’ve heard reports since the summer of last year that WWE is high on him, but it’s also too early to put him into the main event title scene, especially when he’s still in an official tag team. Baron Corbin is an interesting figure because after being drafted to Smackdown LIVE he was in throwaway feuds with guys like Jack Swagger and Apollo Crews, but he’s recently started to take a more prominent place on the Smackdown roster, but there hasn’t been anything in his booking to suggest that he’s a legit favorite yet.

 

So now, we are left with Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, Braun Strowman, Goldberg, Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker as the only men that we know are declaring for the Rumble match, with eight unknown figures left to be determined. Goldberg is the supposed favorite to win the match due to the latest betting odds, but since it’s practically set in stone that Goldberg and Brock Lesnar will be battling each other at WrestleMania, and the odds are that Goldberg won’t be appearing for WWE past WrestleMania, and Lesnar won’t be getting another world title run as a RAW roster member, neither men will be winning in my view. I think they both get eliminated by Strowman or just eliminate each other. Chris Jericho’s Rumble status highly depends on the result of Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns’ match. It’s highly likely that Chris Jericho faces Kevin Owens at WrestleMania in some sort of match. If Jericho holds on to the US Title to WrestleMania, it’s likely that he may face KO over that title. However, if KO retains the title, it’s likely that they may face off for the Universal Championship. Since I’m not banking on Kevin Owens carrying the Universal Championship into WrestleMania, I have to say that Jericho won’t win either. Randy Orton is the clear star of the Wyatt Family, and I left him on here on the off-chance that there’s a slight chance that there’s a rapid change of plans and we get a Styles/Orton feud going for WrestleMania.

It’s a longshot, though, because Orton still has tension brewing with Harper, and based on how he’s behaving, it looks like they’re going to play out the tension in the Wyatt Family a little longer. Undertaker returned about two weeks ago to declare for the Rumble, and he seems to be unaffiliated with a certain brand. I can certainly see him facing Braun Strowman if he wants the Universal Title, and John Cena if he wants the WWE Title. However, news came out that he’ll need hip replacement surgery soon, and even if it’s a transitional run, I don’t see it happening for Undertaker. Then, we have Braun Strowman, who should be considered a big favorite. Not only does he look the part, and not only will he be hard to eliminate, but he’s been the beneficiary of a small, but sure build, and you could just tell Vince sees a Roman/Braun match at WrestleMania as a money match.

Now, that leaves eight other men. I can certainly see Tye Dilligner and Samoa Joe getting a main roster call-up. Finn Balor returning may also be likely, with recent news showing that he may be cleared to return this week. I don’t know who else will be entering the Rumble, but who is my choice to win the entire thing? I was thinking about it all week and I was juggling back and forth on it, but at the end of the day, I’ve concluded it to be none other than Samoa Joe. We haven’t seen him on NXT television in a while, but he left being one of NXT’s greatest performers, as being one of only two 2-time NXT Champions. The reason why I pick Joe is because his main roster call-up has to come sooner or later, the WWE Title scene at WrestleMania will likely NOT see AJ and Cena facing off against each other again, and I’m inclined to believe he will get a monster push. It makes a lot of sense for him to enter in the Rumble, just dominate and throw out whoever he seems fit, and I think he’ll be called up to Smackdown LIVE, as they could use the star power. I was thinking it’s between him and Strowman, and while Strowman has a big case for winning it, I have to believe that Samoa Joe winning the Rumble would better suit him. He’s more established, and Strowman, as large as he has developed his character and in the ring, is still green in a lot of areas. I’m still not entirely too sure even if Samoa will be called up this Sunday, but that’s what makes this Rumble exciting. Uncertainty.

Winner: Samoa Joe

Welp, those are my predictions. What are yours? Who do you have winning the Rumble, or any of the title matches? Let me know. Until next time. Deuces.

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