WWE Royal Rumble Discussion

[iMoreland]

Date: January 27th, 2019
Location: Phoenix, Arizona

Kickoff Show

— Cruiserweight Championship: Buddy Murphy (c) vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Hideo Itami vs. Kalisto

— United States Championship: Rusev (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Royal Rumble

— Men's Royal Rumble Match

— Women's Royal Rumble Match

— SmackDown Tag Team Championship: The Bar (c) vs. Shane McMahon and The Miz

— SmackDown Women's Championship: Asuka (c) vs. Becky Lynch

— Raw Women's Championship: Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Sasha Banks

— WWE Championship: Daniel Bryan (c) vs. AJ Styles

— Universal Championship: Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Finn Bálor

[Spens1]

— Cruiserweight Championship: Buddy Murphy (c) vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Hideo Itami vs. Kalisto

I'm glad Alexander isn't actually in the title match for once. now FFS give Itami a title, the disrespect of a Legend by WWE is just ridiculous. Give him the title and have him run roughshod like Neville did.

— United States Championship: Rusev (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Rusev's winning, either Nakamura gets a wwe title match, or both are going their separate ways, i don't think we're getting much middle ground anymore (because WWE isn't going to pay 7 figures for a midcarder).

Royal Rumble

— Men's Royal Rumble Match

Rollins would be a very uninspired choice, i kind of hope either Braun finds a way in and wins the whole thing or McIntyre wins. My hope against hope pick though would be Kofi Kingston (daniel bryan vs the New Day would be gold).

— Women's Royal Rumble Match

I have a feeling that Becky will enter and win or Ronda will enter and win after either one loses their match (though with Rousey, one would think it would be because she got cocky).

— SmackDown Tag Team Championship: The Bar (c) vs. Shane McMahon and The Miz

If Shane McMahon wins a tag team title, then tag team wrestling in the WWE would truly be dead and i'd recommend just about every team on the roster request a release.

— SmackDown Women's Championship: Asuka (c) vs. Becky Lynch

I think Asuka has a good shot at retaining this, but if she does lose something's happening later on with the raw womans title.

— Raw Women's Championship: Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Sasha Banks

I'm not so convinced its as set in stone this match. Sasha's been using AEW for leverage for sure so i wouldn't be shocked if she could steal a quick roll up pin over Rousey (i wouldn't be happy with that though, if Rousey is to lose, it should be on the big stage and in a proper clean pinfall rather than a fluke).

— WWE Championship: Daniel Bryan (c) vs. AJ Styles

I'm not prepared for another Styles reign just yet (it got rather stale towards the end). Bryan on the other hand has been the best thing in the entire company.

— Universal Championship: Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Finn Bálor

If its just Finn, i don't see him winning (i think he'll have a good showing and lose), if its the Demon, Balor's going over.

Hopefully the company does it more like last year instead of the 5 years prior and be massively disappointing (basically 2012-2017, yikes).

[jakecronus8]

This will be better than the Mania card. Really looking forward to it.

[iMoreland]

— Men's Royal Rumble Match

Rollins would be a very uninspired choice, i kind of hope either Braun finds a way in and wins the whole thing or McIntyre wins. My hope against hope pick though would be Kofi Kingston (daniel bryan vs the New Day would be gold).

Kofi winning would be so good, and while DB vs Kofi isn't the biggest draw of a match, who cares? WrestleMania sells itself. Kofi deserves it, I've literally never heard a single bad thing said about him. They need to reward those who bust their ass year after year for the company.

I'd have Kofi start at 1, do some crazy saves throughout the Rumble, and then win the whole thing.

[Scott Hall]

Cruiser-weight Tittle match...

Don't really watch 205 Live so don't know how they've been building this. Process of elimination though
Akira literally has no chance and Kalisto seems to be more involved with RAW now. Since Itami has come
into the company he's been constantly injured and also injured others but I think he's started to gain
some trust and Daniel Bryan recently cut a promo about how dangerous he is so that must be a sign
for bigger things on the horizon. I don't expect to many tittle changes on this show so my pick is Itami
to win.

U.S. Tittle Match...

Woof... This match is so unimportant that this feud got zero build on the go home edition of Smackdown. Shinske
won the Rumble last year and now most likely will be jobbing on the preshow. This feud needs to die a quick death
and hopefully for both guys sake they're also in the Rumble match. Rusev most likely wins.

The Bar vs. The Besties...

I believe this angle from the beginning is leading to a Shane vs. Miz match at WM. I expect them to win the tittles
then drop them back to the Bar at Elimination Chamber or Fast Lane. Shane gets pinned then Miz blames Shane
for losing the tittles claims he's the one that's really "The best in the world" attacks him and sets up the match.
But at the Rumble the Besties win on this night.

Asuka vs. Becky...

Asuka just won the tittle at the last PPV and it's rumored Vince is high on her. It would be shocking to see her
drop the tittle so quickly. Becky also can't take a clean loss and needs the seeds planted for WM. I gotta think
Charlotte gets involved somehow costing Becky the match.

Sasha vs. Rousey...

Sasha has no chance in hell but benefits from getting the rub and being in a high stakes PPV match. No way Rousey
loses the tittle before WM especially not to Sasha who's been a non factor all year.

AJ Styles vs. The Planets Champion Daniel Bryan...

The "New" Daniel Bryans tittle reign is also pretty fresh so can't see him dropping the tittle especially since Styles
is coming off a year long tittle reign. What's interesting is who these guys are gonna face at WM though.

Finn Balor vs. Brock...

I believe Strowman gets involved costing one of the guys the match as this could be a possible 3-way at WM.
It's hard to imagine Balor winning after a 2 week build after toiling around the mid card for most of the year.
If Balor wins I prefer he goes on the "chase" and overcomes the odds at WM on a bigger stage. It's also hard
to see Brock being a challenger at WM and potentially losing twice in a row. Although there is a part of me
that thinks they might want to do something big and have at least one buzz worthy tittle change coming out
of the PPV. If Strowman does cost Brock the tittle those 2 could do their own separate program especially since
there isn't automatic rematches for tittles anymore supposedly and Balor can be free to feud with someone else.
Vinnie Mac didn't drop the David vs. Goliath reference and have Balor call him out for not believing him for no
reason. So Balor winning is inevitable it's just whether it happens at the Rumble or WM?

Womens Royal Rumble match...

Gotta be Charlotte or Becky (if/when she loses). I don't know how you plant the seeds of them facing the inevitable
Ronda Rousey match without one of them winning the Rumble and picking the champion they want to face that's
on the other brand. I'm gonna say Becky wins the Rumble and eliminates Charlotte at the end. I felt they took the
tittle off Becky at TLC so she can go on the classic Babyface chase and face some adversity and have her crowing moment
at WM. Her and Charlotte can feud in the time being with Charlotte trying to coax her into putting her Rumble win
tittle match guarantee on the line at Fast Lane or the Chamber with a draw or something getting Charlotte involved
in the WM match. My dark horse pick is Ember Moon because I have no idea who Asukas gonna face at WM.

Mens Royal Rumble match...

Maybe it's silly logic but I don't see Braun winning because he won the last Rumble with 50 guys in Saudi Arabia.
Also they don't seem to fully believe in him yet. I thought for sure Rollins was the automatic pick since Meltzer
has reported Rollins vs. Brock at WM for months but I think plans have changed the last week or two. Seems like
this Rollins vs. Ambrose feud still isn't over yet and this Rollins vs. Lashley feud is just starting although there's still
2 PPV's after the Rumble. Rollins is still my pick but I think he chooses to face Daniel Bryan at WM and when he wins
the tittle he goes to Smackdown with the draft the week later since he's been on RAW for awhile. I'd also like to see
Drew win but I don't think they're 100% sold on him just about 80%. Looks like they've also lost complete faith in
Lars Sullivan already. Does Cena win if he's actually in it? can't see it. Also can't think of any surprises that would
warrant a tittle match at WM and please I hope it's not old ass Taker or HHH. Looking at the rest of the list I can't
see anyone winning Samoa Joe would be cool but like Drew he has a glass ceiling on him right now. If it's not Rollins
or Braun I'd be shocked. If I'm booking I'm having Velveteen Dream win and shock the world. I believe this kid is
a blue chip prospect and the type of talent that comes around every 10-15 years. This company has done such a piss
poor job creating stars always leaning on old guys like HHH, Taker, Shane and Cena or rebelling against the fans with
Reigns. Not many rookies ever warrant a push of this magnitude but Dream is that special and this company desperately
needs a new young superstar that can be the face of the company. Since Dream and Hogan have this little thing going
have Hogan manage him or "endorse him" to give him the rub and pass the torch as the next big thing in the business.

*Bonus Predictions* - Bella Twins are surprise entrants since the Rumble is in their backyard of Arizona and they'll
probably want to film behind the scenes stuff for their show. Also Angle will be in the Mens Rumble and will probably
face Corbin at WM.

[Stanford]

Read on Twitter

Wait, Sasha's finisher is called the "Bank Statement?" That don't make no sense, WWE!

[iMoreland]

EC3 is definitely entering at #3

[Scott Hall]

Watching the 2017 Royal Rumble hated it at the time but wanted to see if I've changed my mind
after 2 years...now just find it incredibly boring. Can't wait to watch 2018 after.

[improper]

Watching the 2017 Royal Rumble hated it at the time but wanted to see if I've changed my mind
after 2 years...now just find it incredibly boring. Can't wait to watch 2018 after.

Prior to last year, which had two good ones, the previous three or four years all sucked, didn't they? That's why we were all so surprised that last year's Rumbles actually delivered.

[Scott Hall]

Watching the 2017 Royal Rumble hated it at the time but wanted to see if I've changed my mind
after 2 years...now just find it incredibly boring. Can't wait to watch 2018 after.

Prior to last year, which had two good ones, the previous three or four years all sucked, didn't they? That's why we were all so surprised that last year's Rumbles actually delivered.

Yeah just finished the 2018 Rumble still enjoyable but this has been a bad decade for Rumbles

[Scott Hall]

Read on Twitter

[iMoreland]

Good way to set up AOP vs Revival vs Gable/Roode, triple threat tags are always fun

[heatwillbeback]

Good match with Rusev and Nakamura. Pretty obvious ending though. Could see it a mile away.

[iMoreland]

Shinsuke as US champ again, ugh

[Scott Hall]

Fun match with Shin and Rusev but bad acting by the ref he should be distracted by Lana but literally looks
at Shin removing the turnbuckle and does nothing then just banters with Lana after the fact.

Also surreal they're coming out of a baseball dugout and there is no entrance set or Titan Tron feels
like a throw back to the 80's and early 90's.

[improper]

This cruiserweight match is getting real good. They've even got the crowd fired up. Nice to see.

[Stanford]

So, Becky is definitely winning the Rumble...

[improper]

So, Becky is definitely winning the Rumble...

Plot twist...she fails to win the women's Rumble (Charlotte does), but then beats the sh*t out of Truth, takes his spot, and wins the men's Rumble.

[Scott Hall]

Read on Twitter

[Stanford]

So, Becky is definitely winning the Rumble...

Plot twist...she fails to win the women's Rumble (Charlotte does), but then beats the sh*t out of Truth, takes his spot, and wins the men's Rumble.

I'm OK with this.