What’s the story
The card for the 30th edition of the Royal Rumble is beginning to look stacked. Among the first ten Superstars that have entered the Royal Rumble, we can easily name more than five former World Champions and it looks like the list is going to get even better as we near The Royal Rumble.
On this week’s edition of SmackDown Live!, former WWE Champions Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, and The Miz announced their intentions to enrol in this year’s Royal Rumble.
In case you didn’t know...
“The Lunatic Fringe” Dean Ambrose has been feuding with the “A-Lister” The Miz for the past few weeks on SmackDown Live! The feud began when the A-Lister embarrassed Dean Ambrose’s off-screen partner Renee Young by calling out their relationship publicly during a post-match interview.
An outraged Renee Young slapped The Miz and walked away. The Miz took it upon himself to punish Dean Ambrose for Renee’s actions.
Ever since then, the duo has been feuding intensely. Last week, Dean Ambrose faced The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship. Despite Maryse’s shenanigans, Dean Ambrose defeated The Miz and became the Intercontinental Champion for the second time in his career.
The heart of the matter
During this week’s SmackDown Live, The Ambrose Asylum was back on our TV screens with the guest being The Miz and Maryse. Before The Miz and Dean Ambrose went on to continue their rivalry, both Superstars announced their intentions to take part in this year’s Royal Rumble match.
Later, the “Show Off” Dolph Ziggler announced his entry into the Royal Rumble match to the WWE Universe during Talking Smack. Dolph Ziggler talked about his recent heel turn on the show and expressed that it felt like a rebirth to him. Towards the end of the show, Dolph announced his name for the Royal Rumble match and Shane McMahon accepted it.
What next?
With the inclusion of Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler and The Miz, the total number of Superstars entering the Rumble now stands at 13. The trio will now join the illustrious list of former world champions like Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker, Seth Rollins and Chris Jericho who are entering this year’s Royal Rumble.
The following weeks of WWE programming will see more Superstars entering the Royal Rumble match. Also in the upcoming weeks, there is an inevitable face-off between all these major stars before the Royal Rumble, as it is a long-standing tradition of WWE programming.
Sportskeeda’s Take
While it is hard to imagine either of these men winning the Royal Rumble, this provides a platform for the duo to intensify their rivalry without an actual match. One of the little quirks of the Royal Rumble match is the rivalries between Superstars and the occasional team up of former rivals in the match.
It will be interesting to see how Dolph’s recent heel turn affects the match.
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