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When the first-ever women’s Royal Rumble was announced in December 2017, MMA star Ronda Rousey was immediately made favourite to win the match.
She last competed in UFC in December 2016 and continued speculation about her potential switch to the squared circle escalated recently when she was spotted leaving a restaurant with WWE executive Triple H.
Other than Rousey, who has previously made WWE appearances at WrestleMania 31 in 2015 and during the Mae Young Classic in 2017, the next realistic winner of the historic match appears to be Asuka.
“The Empress of Tomorrow” hasn’t been pinned or made to submit ever since she debuted in NXT in October 2015 and she has been portrayed in recent weeks as the overwhelming favourite to be the last woman standing.
So, who will emerge victorious? Will Rousey make her in-ring debut and outlast them all? Will Asuka’s reign of dominance continue? Or will a surprise contender win the match?
In this article, from the least likely to the most likely, we take a look at 10 possible finishes to the women’s Rumble.
#10 Ronda Rousey doesn’t enter; Sasha Banks makes history
To clear up Ronda Rousey potentially not even entering the Royal Rumble, it’s possible that she could appear at the end of the match or during the match to eliminate somebody and set up a featured non-title match at WrestleMania 34.
If that does happen, then Sasha Banks could be in the mix to win. She has already made history by featuring in the first-ever women’s Hell In A Cell match, as well as the first WWE women’s match in Abu Dhabi, and she remains one of the company’s most popular female performers.
From a storyline perspective, “The Boss” has unfinished business with both current women’s champions, Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair, and a one-on-one match with either of them wouldn’t look out of place on the WrestleMania 34 card.
#9 Ronda Rousey doesn’t enter; Becky Lynch shocks the world
Becky Lynch has been a regular presence on our screens ever since she was called up to WWE’s main roster with Sasha Banks and Charlotte Flair in July 2015, yet her screen time doesn’t always match up to her undoubted ability.
Everyone loves an underdog story, and should WWE decide to go down that route in the first-ever women’s Royal Rumble, then the underused “Becky Balboa” is the woman to win, setting up a WrestleMania match with her best friend Charlotte Flair in the process.
Admittedly, it’s unlikely, and it would probably mean that Ronda Rousey doesn’t feature in the match at all, but stranger things have happened!
#8 Ronda Rousey doesn’t enter; Nia Jax outlasts them all
Nia Jax is “the Andre the Giant of the women’s division”, to quote WWE owner Vince McMahon, and as the largest and most powerful woman involved in the match, much of the Rumble will centre around how she will be eliminated.
Despite her dominance over much of the Raw roster over the last 18 months, Nia is yet to hold a title in WWE (or even NXT) and it’s surely only a matter of time before she ascends to the top of the division and has a lengthy title reign.
As for how she could win, perhaps Ronda Rousey doesn’t feature in the match and Nia simply eliminates Asuka at the end to finally set up a one-on-one PPV match with Raw Women’s champion Alexa Bliss, her real-life best friend.
#7 Ronda Rousey doesn’t enter; Asuka eliminates Ember Moon to win
If Ronda Rousey doesn’t appear in the match, Asuka will almost certainly win and she is bound to come face-to-face at some point during the match, most probably near the end, with her greatest NXT/WWE rival to date: Ember Moon.
Ember hasn’t been officially announced for the match but, with 12 spots still remaining, the top star of NXT’s women’s division will surely be an entrant.
The two women spent the majority of 2017 fighting over the NXT Women’s Championship and a face-off between them at the end would certainly get the Philadelphia crowd rocking.
#6 Ronda Rousey doesn’t enter; Asuka eliminates Nia Jax to win
There are so many face-offs in the women’s Royal Rumble that are bound to get a loud reaction from the Philadelphia crowd, and a confrontation between Asuka and Nia Jax could be the loudest of the lot.
In all likelihood, Nia will be eliminated by multiple people in the Rumble, just like how it took three people to eliminate her at WrestleMania 33, but there’s a chance that WWE allows just one person to knock the 6-footer over the top rope.
If a single person eliminates Nia, it’s got to be Asuka at the end of the Rumble.
#5 Ronda Rousey wins with help from the Four Horsewomen
Talk of a match between the Four Horsewomen of WWE (Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch and Bayley) and the Four Horsewomen of MMA (Ronda Rousey, Shayna Baszler, Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke) seems to have gone quiet recently.
With Baszler competing on NXT Takeover: Philadelphia the night before the Rumble, we can’t rule out her appearing one day later in the same arena alongside her fellow MMA fighters.
If WWE still wants to go ahead with the 4-on-4 match at some point, the most likely scenario is if Rousey finds herself in a 3-on-1 battle with Sasha, Becky and Bayley towards the end of the Rumble and Shayna, Marina and Jessamyn interfere to help her win.
#4 Ronda Rousey wins by last eliminating the Riott Squad
If Ronda Rousey is going to become a part-time WWE performer moving forward, then the company is surely going to want her to get cheered, at least initially.
We’ve seen in the past how Royal Rumble matches can go horribly wrong towards the end when a fan favourite gets eliminated and a supposed ‘good guy’ wins and receives boos from the crowd, and WWE will surely have learned from those mistakes.
If they want Ronda to win and receive cheers, then a triple elimination on Riott Squad members Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan would almost certainly appease the Philadelphia fans and make them cheer for her.
#3 Ronda Rousey wins by last eliminating Asuka
It sounds simple, but why not? Ronda Rousey and Asuka are the two favourites for the first-ever women’s Royal Rumble and they’re bound to face off at some point in 2018.
Assuming the Rumble winner is allowed to challenge for either the Raw or Smackdown Women’s titles, the obvious match for Ronda would be against Charlotte Flair, but let’s not forget that Asuka already defeated Alexa Bliss in a non-title match and she is surely set to receive a shot at her title soon.
Maybe Ronda enters the Rumble at #30 and wins by last eliminating the former NXT champion, who later defeats Alexa for the Raw Women's title to set up a match with the Rumble winner at WrestleMania 34.
#2 Ronda Rousey eliminated by Stephanie McMahon; Asuka wins
Well, we’re looking at 10 possible finishes, so we’ve got to explore every possibility, haven’t we?! Before shouting at your reading device, just hear us out.
It has been announced that Stephanie McMahon will be commentating on the women’s Royal Rumble match this Sunday, but why? She isn’t a commentator and isn’t involved in any storylines with the women’s division, except the fact that she revealed that this match would happen.
We reckon there’s more to her presence at ringside than meets the eye, and we wouldn’t be totally shocked to see her get involved in the Rumble.
What if she eliminates Ronda Rousey, setting up a non-title match between the two at WrestleMania 34, and then Asuka goes on to win?
#1 Ronda Rousey wins by last eliminating Stephanie McMahon
You know how Roman Reigns was used as a ‘heat magnet’ in the 2017 Royal Rumble so that fans would cheer Randy Orton at the end when he won?
Well, fast forward to 2018 and imagine the exact same scenario, only with Stephanie McMahon playing the role of Reigns and Ronda Rousey playing the role of Orton.
Let’s face it, whether fans want to or not, WWE will want the audience to cheer for Rousey, and there would be no better way for the MMA star to get fans on her side than by last eliminating one of the most unpopular women in the company.
As you can tell from our top two choices, we’re convinced that Stephanie will be involved in the match somehow. Even if she doesn’t enter the Rumble, expect her to make some kind of impact!
