4 things that must happen at the Greatest Royal Rumble

It feels odd to say we're only a day away from one of WWE's biggest shows on a Thursday, but the company has gone all out to make Friday's Greatest Royal Rumble feel like the second coming of WrestleMania for the year.

An odd mixture to be sure, but important matches have been booked, which will mean much for the months ahead.

Some matches do feel like glorified exhibitions. A that Undertaker will defeat Rusev in the casket match and that John Cena will walk out with a victory over Triple H.

The Bludgeon Brothers retaining the SmackDown Tag Team Championship and Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt claiming the vacant Raw Tag Team Championship seems assured. Things get murkier from there.

If booked properly, this pay-per-view might exceed WrestleMania in quality and nicely set up the post-Superstar Shakeup environment of 2018. Here's how the company can do that.

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#1 Both mid-card titles stay put

Raw should remain Monday Night Rollins

Despite the Superstar Shakeup, the Intercontinental and United States Championships might still flip shows, as Jinder Mahal will have his rematch with Jeff Hardy while two of Seth Rollins' challengers, Samoa Joe and The Miz, are now on SmackDown.

The mid-card was the division most affected by the shakeup on both shows, and the change promised a renewal.

While Joe bringing the Intercontinental Championship to SmackDown would certainly be interesting, The Miz winning would feel far too repetitive, especially since he has a much bigger feud looming with Daniel Bryan.

Finn Balor is just kind of there and doesn't feel like a real challenger to Rollins at the moment. Similarly, the United States Championship is in far better hands with Hardy than Mahal.

It would be for the best to let Rollins and Hardy lead their respective divisions over the coming months.

Promising matches and feuds await them both, and hot-shotting the titles to other people so soon after they won isn't best for business.

#2 AJ Styles must not beat Shinsuke Nakamura cleanly

Will Nakamura use...underhanded tactics to capture gold?

AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura will have a rematch for the WWE Championship tomorrow.

The heel turn for Nakamura since WrestleMania has been the wind in the sails that he's needed and in just a few weeks, he comes into Saudi Arabia with more momentum than he's ever had on the main roster, including his Royal Rumble victory.

That's why there can be only two acceptable outcomes in this match: Nakamura either wins or the match ends in some kind of screwy, unclean fashion which sees Styles retain only barely.

If Styles beats Nakamura cleanly tomorrow, the latter's winds either slow or stop. This feud has much fuel still left to burn. It would be a great mistake to stop it now.

#3 Braun Strowman must win the Greatest Royal Rumble match

49 other men need to get those hands

There are two fan favourites heading into tomorrow's Greatest Royal Rumble match. Of the 50 men, most either want to see Bryan or Braun Strowman emerge victoriously.

While it would be a sentimental triumph to see Bryan win after being denied the much more important 2014 and 2015 Royal Rumble matches, Strowman needs the win much more.

Bryan's schedule is booked. He has important feuds with Big Cass and The Miz which will carry him through the warm months. He's set. Strowman? Not so much.

Strowman is in a strange spot where he's the most over guy on Raw but doesn't have anything to do.

Denied a meaningful WrestleMania program despite his tremendous year, he won the Raw tag team titles only to relinquish them the next night.

He's meandered over the past two Raws since.

Strowman needs something big to keep him hot, and while the 50-man Royal Rumble match basically amounts to a glorified exhibition, a victory would still keep him in fans' minds and show that the company has tremendous confidence in him.

Hopefully, his picture will clear up following the next match tomorrow night...

#4 Roman Reigns MUST win the Universal Championship

No more stalling!

No more false starts. No more beating around the bush. It's time for Vince McMahon to either go all in on Roman Reigns or fold the hand.

Brock Lesnar's shock win at WrestleMania created more problems than it solved. For the past year, fans were expecting to see Lesnar carry the Universal Championship and drop the title to Reigns.

It was an unwelcome development, as the title was held hostage for an entire year, denying everyone else an opportunity to reach the top of the business, but at least there was an end in sight. After WrestleMania, that end became doubtful.

If Reigns fails to capture the championship tomorrow, the endless loop repeats itself. The title remains in limbo, directionless.

Other popular superstars on Raw that deserve a chance, like Strowman, Balor and Rollins, are denied. Hot new acts trying to make an impact, like the returning Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre, are denied.

Even people who the company would like to push, like Baron Corbin, are also denied a spotlight.

Storyline meets reality in more ways than one here. For the sake of the Raw roster, Reigns must win the championship, bring it back on television, and, while he'll inevitably have a substantive title reign, give more people a chance at the spotlight so that when he eventually drops it, it will be an object of competition again.

If Brock Lesnar retains, the hostage situation continues with no end in sight.

It's time for this nonsense, which has lasted on and off for four years, to finally end once and for all. If Reigns doesn't win tomorrow, it's time to drop the project entirely and let someone like Strowman win the strap off Lesnar.