The Royal Rumble match is one of the biggest traditions in the WWE every year. The winner has come to be guaranteed at least a shot at a world championship at WrestleMania, so the event is generally regarded as the beginning of the “Road to WrestleMania.” In some cases, as in 2016, the winner is actually granted the world title, with Triple H grabbing gold for the 14th time last year.
The tradition of predicting the Royal Rumble winner has become a tradition of almost equal prominence. Each year, fans and writers alike try to discern who will win, and this year is no different, especially with as wide-open as the odds seem so far. Here are five guys who could come out on top in 2017.
Braun Strowman
Braun Strowman has been a pleasant surprise in his move from the Wyatt Family to a solo act on Raw. His feud with Sami Zayn has been better than was to be expected, and he is completely believable as the unbeatable juggernaut. That could serve him well in the Rumble environment.
Vince McMahon notoriously loves big, strong giants like Strowman as main-event participants, so Strowman’s push to the top shouldn’t be unexpected. Having him go over in one of the company’s big events would be a sure sign that the creative team is ready to take him to the next level.
Chris Jericho
Despite all the accomplishments Chris Jericho has racked up in the WWE, including essentially every championship and a record nine Intercontintental Championship reins, he’s never won the Royal Rumble match. This year, that drought could come to an end.
This wouldn’t just be a shock move or an attempt to add to Jericho’s resume, either. If his best friend, Kevin Owens, can retain the Universal Championship at the same event, a match between the two down the road would work well with their up-and-down friendship story angle.
Seth Rollins
Seth Rollins has been in his fair share of big matches, even at the Royal Rumble event. In 2015, he had a stellar world championship match against John Cena and Brock Lesnar. But he’s never really been a factor in the Rumble match itself, and that could end this year.
Rollins has been a mainstay in the main event scene when he’s been healthy, and a Royal Rumble win would solidify him there for at least a couple months. Add into that his tension with Universal Champion Kevin Owens, Stephanie McMahon and Triple H, and he’d be an ideal pick. That said, Triple H is bound to come back and stoke the fires of an expected feud with Rollins at some point, and screwing up his Rumble chances might be just the way to do it.
Brock Lesnar
This would not be a great idea, but that doesn’t make it any less likely to happen. Already the winner of the 2003 Royal Rumble, Brock Lesnar is often regarded as one of the biggest draws in the WWE, so the creative team might be tempted to have him win it again.
Of course, everyone expects that Lesnar’s participation in the Rumble match will be simply to set up a WrestleMania match with Goldberg. But would it really be shocking for the WWE to turn that match into one for a major title somehow? That would be the biggest mistake of all, but again, it wouldn’t be completely shocking.
Bray Wyatt
About this time the last two years, Bray Wyatt seemed headed for a major push. He eliminated six men and lasted more than 47 minutes in the 2015 Rumble, and last year, he was locked into a feud with Brock Lesnar that fizzled due to Bray’s nagging injury issues.
This year, Wyatt finally won his first championship in the company when the Wyatt Family won the Smackdown Live tag team titles. That run was brief, but it’s always possible that it was just to get him ready for even bigger accolades down the road. Even though Wyatt has always been a heel, he would be a popular choice for a major title run, and he’d certainly make a WrestleMania feud feel even bigger with his microphone work.
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