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The Royal Rumble is one of the most highly anticipated events of the year, second only to Wrestlemania. There are two Royal Rumbles this year instead of the usual one, so expect double the number of twists and turns. With that in mind, let's get to predicting.
#1 The Bar Reclaim the Raw Tag Team Titles
What We Know: Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan have had quite the intriguing storyline with the Bar. They are set to defend the titles against the duo at the Royal Rumble.
What Will Happen: The Bar will defeat Jason Jordan and Seth Rollins at the Royal Rumble to reclaim the tag team titles after a miscommunication by the champs.
Why: WWE seems to be heading towards a Jason Jordan heel turn in the story. For that to happen they need to drop the tag team titles.The Bar has been the most consistently high performing tag team on the Raw roster. Reclaiming the tag team titles will once again cement them at the top of the card after a couple of weeks putting over other teams and will start the gears turning toward a Jason Jordan hell turn.
The Bar reclaiming the titles will also give Raw heel champions again. Raw has an overwhelming number of face teams including Titus Worldwide, The Club, Rhyno and Slater, and the aforementioned Jason Jordan and Seth Rollins. A heel team has a lot more options at their disposal for opponents than a face team.
#2 SAnitY Debuts
What We Know: The Usos are set to defend the tag team titles against Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin at the Royal Rumble in a 2 out of 3 falls match.
What Will Happen: The Usos will retain their titles and will then be attacked by the debuting SAnitY.
Why: Smackdown has been lacking in quality tag teams, Breezango and The Ascension have essentially become the job squad lately. Rusev Day is not faring much better, having lost to the aforementioned Breezango and New Day. The Usos only real competition is the Bludgeon Brothers. Smackdown needs a new team to enter the tag team scene, and what better team than SAnitY? SAnitY's debut also adds to the US title picture and Woman's title picture, two titles in desperate need of fresh faces and opponents.
#3 Elias Eliminates John Cena
What We Know: Both Elias and John Cena have entered into the Men's Royal Rumble. Elias cut a promo vowing to eliminate John Cena at the event.
What Will Happen: Elias keeps his word and eliminates Cena.
Why: Elias seems to be John Cena's holdover feud until his Wrestlemania opponent is revealed. A great way to kick their feud would be to have Elias keep his word about eliminating John Cena. Though it is more likely that John Cena will eliminate Elias, I'm staying optimistic that Elias gets the better of Cena and starts the feud off strong.
#4 Ronda Rousey does not debut
What We Know: Rumors have speculated that Ronda has signed with the WWE and will be debuting at the Royal Rumble event. Ronda has denied these rumors.
What Will Happen: Ronda Rousey will not debut in the Women's Royal Rumble.
Why: WWE does not typically bring in big name talent unless that talent is winning the event or at least lasting till the final two. See Chris Jericho's return in 2010 and WWE holding off on bringing back Randy Orton in 2014.
Ronda will still wrestle at Wrestlemania against Charlotte, but WWE will be wiser and have Asuka win the Royal Rumble to face Alexa Bliss, giving that match a little more hype. Rousey herself brings the intrigue and hype to her match with Charlotte. Thus, she does not need to win the rumble to make her match interesting with Charlotte.
#5 Curt Hawkins Makes an Impact
What We Know: Curt Hawkins has lost over 100 matches in a row since returning to the WWE.
What Will Happen: Curt Hawkins will make an impact at the Royal Rumble by eliminating name talent, most likely The Miz.
Why: Now you are probably thinking that I am crazy for saying Curt Hawkins will last this long. I would like to showcase my evidence. Curt's losing streak has been one of the long going stories in the WWE, but last week, during Raw 25, WWE released a video with Curt Hawkins talking to the Brooklyn Brawler about losing streaks. He gave him a pretty good pep talk about winning and how Curt could turn his losing ways around. WWE might start teasing that the streak will end by having him actually start hanging in there with the best and making an impact in the Royal Rumble.
#6 Asuka Enters at the Royal Rumble at #1
What We Know: Asuka will be in the first ever Women's Royal Rumble. Many betting sites have her winning the event.
What Will Happen: Asuka will enter the rumble at #1 and win the event.
Why: What better way to show off the dominance of Asuka than to have her enter at #1 and win the event. Having her enter at #1 will keep the audience's interest throughout the whole event. Will Asuka suffer her first loss? Who will eliminate her? These questions will keep the viewers engage during the times when WWE has to rely on less noteworthy. Her victory will also mean much more winning from the #1 spot than winning at any other, except #2.
#7 The WWE Title Match will be Sami Zayn VS AJ Styles and Sami Zayn Wins
What We Know: Kevin Owens was assaulted by AJ Styles during the January 23rd edition of Smackdown. Combined these with the rumors that he was injured during a live show and his participation in the ring on Tuesday; Kevin Owens will not be cleared to compete on Sunday.
What Will Happen: Sami Zayn will face AJ Styles one on one for the WWE championship and win.
Why: When factoring in Kevin's injury, it is possible that they do not clear him at the event. This provides a fair match-up for AJ Styles in a one on one match-up, with the chance of interference from Daniel Bryan or Shane.
Knowing WWE, when a title match changes due to injury, the title normally changes hands. This has been an ongoing trend for a very long time that has contained moments such as: Zack Ryder winning the IC title and Alexa Bliss winning the Women's belt. So, look for Sami Zayn to beat AJ Styles after interference from either Shane or Daniel
#8 Roman Lasts Until the Final Two
What We Know: Roman Reigns will probably be in the Royal Rumble Sunday. After losing his IC title, it makes sense that he will be in the match.
What Will Happen: Roman Reigns lasts until the final two of the rumble, but does not win.
Why: Fun Fact, Roman Reigns has been in the final two for every single Royal Rumble he has been in, with the exception of one. In 2014, he was in the final two with Batista. In 2015, he won the event. In 2016, he lasted until the final three with HHH and Dean Ambrose. In 2017, he was once again in the final two with Randy Orton. WWE has started a trend and look for it to continue. Having Roman be in the final two makes many fans believe he will win and normally results in fans cheering for the other guy, no matter who it is (See 2015 when fans cheered an anti-America Rusev instead of him).
#9 Daniel Bryan does not return
What We Know: Daniel Bryan has not wrestled for the WWE since he vacated his IC title way back in 2015. His last match saw him teaming with John Cena against Tyson Kidd and Cesaro. Since then he has become Smackdown's general manager and is currently in a feud with Shane McMahon.
What Will Happen: Daniel Bryan will not return to the ring in Royal Rumble.
Why: Despite the betting odds saying otherwise and every dirt-sheet website predicting it, I just don't see it happening. If Daniel Bryan was going to wrestle for the WWE, I feel like that time would have happened already. It's been nearly three years since he has wrestled and there has been no indication that he has started training to make a return. Sorry WWE Universe, but Daniel Bryan is not coming back anytime soon.
#10 Ricochet Debuts and Makes it to the Final Four
What We Know: Trevor Mann, better known as Ricochet, has signed with the WWE and has reported to the WWE performance center. He is also not booked for any indie dates, so his schedule is open.
What Will Happen: Ricochet makes his WWE debut towards the beginning of the Royal Rumble. Makes it to the final four.
Why: What a better way for the king of indies to debut in WWE. Ricochet is skilled enough that he won't need to spend time in NXT. Couple that with the fact that NXT does not have a current need for him and you got a debut in the making. The high flyer will probably debut early in the match since that seems to be how WWE likes to do its debuts of known indie talents who skip NXT (AJ Styles in 2016), and lasting until the very end.
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