WWE Royal Rumble 2023 is coming up this Saturday and before the event takes place, let’s run down everything you need to know about the upcoming pay-per-view.
Who is scheduled for the card? How interesting does the show seem? What’s going to happen with all the matches?
Here is a full preview of WWE Royal Rumble 2023.
PPV EVENT INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, January 28, 2023
Start Time: 7 p.m. ET (pre-show), 8 p.m. ET (main show)
Location: Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas
MATCH CARD, PREDICTIONS & HEAT INDEX ANTICIPATION LEVELS
(as currently advertised; card is always subject to change)
Temperature Scale = Scorching > Hot > Lukewarm > Temperate > Chilly > Cold > Freezing
Heat Index is my assessment of how interesting the segment is, including how excited I am for the match and how intriguing the feud has been. The hotter, the better. Scorching translates to not being able to wait to see it, while Freezing means I couldn’t possibly care less and think it will be awful.
UNDISPUTED WWE UNIVERSAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Roman Reigns (c) vs. Kevin Owens
Heat Index = Hot
Prediction: Roman Reigns wins.
Thoughts: I can’t fathom WWE taking the belt off Roman Reigns right now, of all times. If this were advertised as being for ONE of the championships, then maybe. But it isn’t. And they didn’t even split the Raw Tag Team Championship on Raw is XXX. That shows me there likely aren’t plans to break the unified titles apart until at least WrestleMania, if not later. All of this seems to point toward Owens and Sami Zayn teaming up against The Usos, while Roman fights either The Rock, Cody Rhodes, or by some off chance, Stone Cold Steve Austin. I do think Zayn interferes here and does something that gets him booted out of The Bloodline, but I don’t think it will result in Owens winning. I’m excited to see this go down, though. Here’s hoping they have better luck with their finish than they did the last time Reigns and KO fought at Royal Rumble!
30-MAN ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH
Heat Index = Scorching
Prediction: Cody Rhodes wins.
Thoughts: It’s the Royal Rumble match. Of course both of these are going to be Scorching. Plus, I’m banking on Cody Rhodes having a feel-good win here, as I’m not anticipating The Rock to show up unless WWE purposely fed those rumors of him not being there just to throw people off. But if that happens, that’ll be fun, too. And if it’s Stone Cold winning, then that’s pretty awesome, also. Unless they go with some random whacked out decision like giving it to Brock Lesnar again to set up ANOTHER Roman Reigns match, or pulling the card where they have someone win the Royal Rumble just so they can waste it at Elimination Chamber, I think I’ll likely be happy with the outcome.
30-WOMAN ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH
Heat Index = Scorching
Prediction: Rhea Ripley wins.
Thoughts: At the time I’m writing this, only six women have been announced. How?! So many people are OBVIOUSLY going to be in this match, but you don’t want to confirm them? That’s insane. With Bianca Belair and Charlotte Flair as reigning champions (and I don’t see them losing their titles before Mania), the main challengers I can imagine fighting them are Rhea Ripley for either, Raquel Rodriguez for Charlotte, Ronda Rousey for either of them (but she’s rumored to not be in the match at all), Shayna Baszler for Charlotte, or Becky Lynch for either of them. All things considered, I’m leaning more toward Ripley winning. This could be a great Royal Rumble, or a total cluster fuck that exposes a lack of creative synergy. We’ll see.
MOUNTAIN DEW PITCH BLACK MATCH:
Bray Wyatt vs. LA Knight
Heat Index = Lukewarm
Prediction: LA Knight wins.
Thoughts: The fact that they aren’t saying what this match is makes me think it’s underwhelming, they know it, and they don’t want people to be down on it until after its already happened. In a way, I’m expecting it to just be a match with the lights turned down, flickering on and off. While my brain tells me Bray Wyatt should win this outright, my gut is telling me Uncle Howdy’s interference will cause a distraction that allows LA Knight to get the victory and push that Wyatt vs. Howdy story going forward.
RAW WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Bianca Belair (c) vs. Alexa Bliss
Heat Index = Chilly
Prediction: Bianca Belair wins.
Thoughts: Hate me all you want, but I’ve never been the fondest of this version of Alexa Bliss. I don’t think it plays to her strengths. Plus, I don’t think she has ANY chance of beating Belair here. On top of that, we already saw this match take place on Raw, and they’re just running it back. What’s the hook to make me super excited? Both are talented, and I’m a fan of them, but this lacks hype.
OVERALL PPV:
How excited am I for the event as a whole?
Heat Index = Scorching
Thoughts: Major things will go down on this event, and 2 hours of it will be dedicated to having a lot of fun with the Royal Rumble matches. Despite some of the rest of the card potentially falling flat, I’m confident I’ll enjoy this, overall. I’m excited to see what comes out of it on The Road to WrestleMania 39.
What do you think is going to happen at WWE Royal Rumble? Which matches are you most excited to see? Keep the discussion going in the comments below!
