Welcome to part 2 of my predictions series breaking down which WWE Superstars will be entering the record books when it comes to the 2024 Royal Rumble matches.
In part 1, I focused my 3-Count on the men and women I think could have the best staying power and last the longest. For this part, I want to shift my attention onto people who may play the best offense, instead, by scoring the most eliminations and tossing people out left and right.
While we don’t know the full field of competitors for either the men or women’s matches, I’ve narrowed down my picks to the top 3 Superstars I think have the best chance of standing out as the most dominant wrestlers in the crowd.
By the way, if you want to take part in my annual Royal Rumble Predictions Contest, have at it!
So when it comes to who could potentially toss out the most wrestlers, here are my spotlight names to mention:
WOMEN’S ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH
Bianca Belair
As I mentioned in the Longest Time predictions, I expect Belair to start the match (or close to it) and last until the Final Four. Along the way, she’s going to be a powerhouse who can toss ANYONE out at ANY time and it would make sense.
Maybe she takes out all members of Damage CTRL and some others, like a Piper Niven or a Shayna Baszler. I could see her being responsible for eliminating Jade Cargill to start something there, too.
I don’t anticipate Belair winning this match, so WWE will do something else with her to make her a standout. Longest time, most eliminations, runner-up, or even all three could be viable.
Becky Lynch
At the very least, she’s taking out Nia Jax, right? While that isn’t worth multiple eliminations as far as the history books are concerned, it’s an indication that Becky could be the most dangerous threat in the match.
Arguably the favorite to win, that should put her in the finals, setting her up for at least 3 eliminations even if she were to be the #30 entrant, as she could clean things up to get to those final four participants. The longer she’s in the match, the higher her chances get to toss out people like Katana Chance and Kayden Carter, or Zoey Stark, or Tiffany Stratton, in order to boost those numbers.
Damage CTRL (as a whole)
I’m lumping in together Asuka, Bayley and Kairi Sane to talk about here, taking 2 away from my Honorable Mentions. To be up front, Asuka is the one I’d lean the most toward here, with Bayley and Kairi coming up behind her, but I’ll put them in as a trio to say that they’ll be working together during the match and we could see some doubled-up eliminations.
By that, I mean we might see Bayley and Asuka toss someone out, adding 1 to the total “Damage CTRL points” while technically having 1 each, even though it’s the same person being tossed out.
As I expect Asuka to enter the match first out of those three, that’ll give her an advantage to score at least one elimination solo. But maybe Bayley wins and she gets a few at the end.
4 HONORABLE MENTIONS
- Jade Cargill = If she’s in this match, she’s absolutely going to toss out some people. There’s no way she just gets one elimination and taken out or something. But since she’s isn’t 100% confirmed to even be in it, that takes her down a peg from my top 3 picks. I do feel uneasy that I should have her in the Damage CTRL spot, though, I’ll say that.
- Liv Morgan = Early entrant, lasts a while, takes out some lesser names like Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn, maybe someone like Xia Li, and makes a mark in the match without winning. I’m not as confident she’ll be tossing people around as I will be that she’d last a long time, though.
- Shayna Baszler or Tiffany Stratton = The Queen of Spades has had a great run of eliminations, but she’s just not as much of a priority as she used to be. I think her spot could be usurped this year by Tiffany Stratton getting a handful of people out. Not the record, by any means. It’d have to be 4 or 5 at most. But I do think Stratton could get some notches under her belt, with Shayna not being as much of a focal point this time around. I still have to mention Baszler, though, just based on history.
MEN’S ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH
Cody Rhodes
As mentioned before, I expect Cody Rhodes to start the match or be at least one of the first people in it. Then, like Belair, he’ll go all the way until the end, even if he loses. In the meantime, he’ll have plenty time to get someone out every few entrants.
My estimate for Rhodes is 5 eliminations, maybe 6 if he is entrant #1 or #2. He won’t break any records, but he’ll have a good shot at setting this year’s highest number.
Some potential targets could be Shinsuke Nakamura, Drew McIntyre, all members of The Judgment Day, and more. Who knows, he might even win it, and in that case, add someone like CM Punk to the list.
Gunther
WWE has given Gunther more of a push than most talent ever gets to see. Last year, he had the distinction of setting a length record. Could this year be more on the eliminations side of things?
He’s a beast. It’d be easy for him to toss 90% of the competitors over the top rope. Not only could he be fed talent like Chad Gable and Ricochet, whom he’s beaten before, but he could also be one of the go-to options to take out even bigger names like Cody Rhodes (to offset last year) and maybe even this next guy…
Brock Lesnar
Calling it now. Brock is #30. He comes in like a roaring fire. At least 3 people are gone within a few seconds. Then, he either gets one big elimination left, like Gunther, before being taken out, or he lasts until the final 2.
Never count out Lesnar as the person who will toss the most people out of a match. He’s set the record before and is always booked in a good position.
5 HONORABLE MENTIONS
- Big E = Easily my most off-the-wall prediction. Something is telling me Big E could possibly show up here. I don’t know why I think that. Maybe it’s just because Imperium has a feud going on with The New Day, and we could see Big E against Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship coming up. I don’t know. But if Big E does pop up in this match, I think he could go into a frenzy and toss 4 or 5 guys out.
- CM Punk = My pick to win the whole thing. That gives him an advantage. I do think he’ll be a later entrant (#24-#28) though, so it all depends on how many people are still in the ring when he enters. He’s going to either clear house or rack up a few points over the final stretch.
- Drew McIntyre = He won’t win. Maybe he gets the most eliminations to look strong in his loss? It’s a good way to show off his anger and size. The more people he takes out, the more of a threat he looks until someone like Zayn, Punk or Rhodes takes him out.
- Jey Uso = Will he be yeeting them over the top rope? Maybe.
- The Judgment Day (combined) = As mentioned with the Damage CTRL section above, I think Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio and Damian Priest (and maybe JD McDonagh) will have some double-team scenarios that can put them in a good spot for getting points here. Maybe they become the ones responsible for taking out a good amount of the field midway through the match until a big name stops them.
Who do you think will end up eliminating the most wrestlers? What number do you think they’ll reach? Tell us your predictions in the comments below!
For more information on Royal Rumble statistics, check out my running page of records on Smark Out Moment here: http://www.smarkoutmoment.com/p/wwe-royal-rumble-statistics-records.html
