Wow, I don’t think I’ve gone this long without writing on this site.
At the Royal Rumble last year, Roman Reigns won victoriously in front of thousands of jeering fans. This year, he enters the Rumble as WWE Champion and will defend against 29 other superstars as the number 1 entrant, and needless to say, there are a lot of possibilities. I nearly forgot this show was happening because of how horrible RAW was, but nonetheless, it is always fun to predict what kind of shenanigans will go on Sunday night at the Rumble. So with that said, here are my match my match predictions of the 5 matches scheduled to go down this Sunday on the main card.
Alberto Del Rio (C) vs. Kallisto – United States Championship
When Kallisto took the Untied States title off of Alberto Del Rio in a very good RAW match two weeks ago, my faith in WWE to make good booking decisions was restored, even if it was for a time. But just as quickly as my faith was restored, it was equally taken away from me the following night when I read the Smackdown spoilers that Del Rio took the title back. Like, what the hell? Kallisto as United States Champion was a good thing because it was something different. Del Rio as United States champion initially had its questions marks from the start, and it has amounted to nothing but disappointment. Putting the title on the Rey Mysterio look-a-like could have been the start of something special, and now here we are. I’m not convinced that Kallisto is regaining the title, because if WWE wanted him to hold the title, they would have Kallisto defending instead of Del Rio. Seeing as how the title changed hands, I wouldn’t be surprised if Kallisto gains it back, but then I would ask WWE, what is the point? I have Del Rio here.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Charlotte (C) vs. Becky Lynch – Divas Championship
This match is the flip of the coin to me. Becky Lynch has already defeated Charlotte, but also lost her title match, so while I don’t like Becky losing to Charlotte twice in a row, I also can’t see for sure that Charlotte would lose the Divas Championship on the road to WrestleMania. When predicting matches in WWE, I usually go with my heart instead of my brain, because WWE has challenged my intelligence so often it has been withered to practically nothing at this point. My mind is telling me that Charlotte would retain, but I’m going with my heart here and say that Becky finally gets the rub. Charlotte has been Divas champion since Night of Champions, and I think WWE sees that it is time to go in a new direction. I THINK.
Winner: Becky Lynch
The New Day (C) vs. The Usos – WWE Tag Team Championship
The Usos have already defeated all three members of The New Day, so if we’re using logic here, only two shouldn’t be a problem. However, we cannot forget that The New Day has been second to none in using distractions to their advantage. I mean, you’d think at this point the referee would learn to eject the third member already. Anyways, these two have been back and forth, and while I just love JBL telling us “WE GOT A FLYING USO”, I don’t see The New Day losing the titles at this juncture. It is clear that they have earned the respect of the booking team as they have been the champions since Summerslam. They’ve defeated basically every tag team, The Usos included, thus far, and losing to The Usos now, well, I can’t really see it. WWE hasn’t given me an indication that it is liable to happen. So unless WWE debuts this new tag team or calls up a tag team from NXT, I think The New Day has the titles for keeps.
Intercontinental Championship – Dean Ambrose (C) vs. Kevin Owens (Last Man Standing)
With the way these two have been going at it since TLC, you might as well call this an Announcer’s Table Match. Ambrose and Owens have yet to fail in the ring together so I am expecting big things with this stipulation added to the mix, as it perfectly plays into their feud and how the booking has gone up to his point. Dean Ambrose’s Intercontinental Championship victory was the biggest thing to happen to him since his one on one match with The Undertaker in 2013. He really needs this championship as it is the only thing that is making him relevant. In the past he would just be Roman Reigns’ personal cheerleader, but now fans have a reason to get behind him. Kevin Owens is the perfect disdainful guy you just want to throw a slice of pizza at. This Sunday, I see Ambrose retaining because Owens retaining wouldn’t really advance his career, and based on his confrontation with Sami Zayn at NXT, I assume that KO is moving on to other things (though an Owens/Zayn feud for the IC Title is certainly intriguing), so I’m going with the hairy lunatic here.
Winner: Dean Ambrose
Royal Rumble Match
The possibilities here seem endless, but there are only a few realities that can occur here. Now, with Brock Lesnar in the match, he is always a favorite. But Lesnar winning isn’t something I believe WWE will be progressing to at this point. After Monday’s ending, I think we could see a Lesnar/Wyatt feud down the line, so I think he is out. Chris Jericho considers himself one of the three favorites in the match, but if we’re being realistic, he’s just tooting his own horn and not even he can take himself seriously at this point. Bray Wyatt has never won a big match in his WWE career, and it isn’t going to start tomorrow either. Then, of course, with the bombshell dropped on us this week that AJ Styles is joining WWE, he could enter the Rumble as a surprise, but him winning the WWE Title on his first night is a tad much. Then of course, we can’t discount Daniel Bryan, who was cleared by UCLA doctors this week to return to wrestling and return for a pop, but I’m sure WWE isn’t ready to put the title back on him because of his history of injuries. Does an NXT star such as Finn Balor, Samoa Joe or Sami Zayn get some main roster burn? All intriguing, but shouldn’t be considered favorites by any means.
So who does that leave? Two people. We can obviously have Roman Reigns be the valiant person to become the fifth person to win the Rumble while being one of the first two entrants (Rey Mysterio, Chris Benoit, Shawn Michaels, Vince McMahon) while getting his retribution over Lesnar in the process and he can go into WrestleMania as champion. Or, WWE can go a different route, and have the COO Triple H, who has been out of action on WWE television since Roman Reigns’ brutal assault at TLC. This makes sense here, because this would be the perfect way to screw Roman and then they can have Roman build up sympathy from the fans to have him take it back from Triple H at WrestleMania, should they choose to do so. Yeah, I’d never think I would see the day either. That Triple H would win a Rumble in the PG era, and you know what? I’m picking him to win. I’m no fan of Hunter winning the championship in 2016, but with the injuries to some of WWE’s top stars, WWE isn’t left with much storyline direction to work with. I’m supposing maybe Triple H is entrant 31 to further screw Reigns or maybe they get people to jump Reigns and have Triple H pick up the scraps. It’s clear, Reigns and Triple H is happening at WrestleMania at this point, and they have to start with something at the Rumble. And I think that starts with something no one could have predicted one year prior, and that is Triple H winning the WWE Championship.
Winner: Triple H
What do you think will happen tomorrow? Let me know. Until next time. Oh, and by the way, for those of you who live on the East coast such as myself, get your shovels ready. Perhaps consult Cena or Triple H for your needs.
