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The WWE anoints the Royal Rumble pay per view as the official start to the Road To WrestleMania. This year the Rumble takes place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, so there will definitely be a rowdy crowd for this weekend.
One of the things that the WWE Universe loves most about the Royal Rumble is its unpredictability. Some of those unpredictable moments include Shawn Michaels winning the 1995 match from the #1 position, Mr. McMahon winning the 1999 Royal Rumble Match, John Cena's shocking return from injury and winning the match in 2008 and AJ Styles' debut in 2016.
Last year's Royal Rumble match was highly unpredictable. It was one of the most star-studded matches in history with The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar and Goldberg in among the rest of the WWE Superstars with Randy Orton coming out on top.
This article is going to try to make five bold predictions for what will go down in this Sunday's Royal Rumble match. At the time of this writing, barely over half the field has been announced, making this year's match as unpredictable as ever.
With Raw 25 occurring this past Monday, let's take a look at my first bold prediction below.
#5 Someone from Raw 25 will be a surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble Match
Raw 25 took place this past Monday. It was filled with nostalgic moments with some of the greatest WWE Superstars of the past 25 years that made Monday Night Raw so special. Many names returned including Bradshaw, Ron Simmons, The Godfather, The Boogeyman, Brother Love, The Coach. But one returning WWE Superstar is going to be an entrant in the 2018 Royal Rumble Match.
Much like how the WWE brought back Shelton Benjamin after several years away from the company, I believe that Montel Vontavious Porter or MVP wasn't just brought back to play a game of poker with the APA. He was brought back to ball in the WWE once again and I expect him to be one of the 30 to walk down that aisle in Philly.
#4 Jason Jordan eliminates both Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins
The slow burn of the heel turn of Jason Jordan has been done to perfection in my opinion. The crowd hates him, and he's a babyface, and that is what the WWE wanted to achieve.
It won't be long now before Jordan's heel turn is complete and now the rumours are he'll face Seth Rollins at WrestleMania. I fully expect The Bar to defeat Jordan and Rollins at the Royal Rumble and the losing tag team enters the Royal Rumble match.
For the past couple of months on Monday Night Raw, we have seen Jordan not think before he acts, which was causing his team to lose in some cases. At the Royal Rumble, I expect Jordan to think clearly, but play it off as a dumb move when he eliminates BOTH Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins from the match.
At least when Jordan eliminates Reigns, he'll get a pop from the crowd in Philly.
#3 Elias survives John Cena's revenge and makes it to the final four
On the year-end awards for my 'Lost In The Midcard' podcast, Elias won our "Marky" for 'WWE Breakthrough Wrestler of the Year'. Compared to his work in NXT, Elias' in-ring work has tremendously improved as seen in matches against Roman Reigns and John Cena.
Based on the results of Raw 25 when Elias laid out John Cena with a shot below the belt and then another with his guitar, you fully expect that Cena gets his revenge and eliminates Elias on Sunday.
I see it differently because Cena is no longer a full-time WWE Superstar. I think Elias could actually eliminate Cena on his way to an appearance in the final four. Another way that Elias could survive Cena's revenge is on the next slide.
#2 The Undertaker is a surprise entrant, eliminates John Cena to start their WrestleMania feud
The Undertaker returned to the WWE for the first time since WrestleMania 33 at this week's special Raw 25 episode of Monday Night Raw. The promo he cut for the WWE Universe at the Manhattan Center was interesting, to say the least.
Many expected the feud with John Cena to start on the way to their match at WrestleMania, but instead, Taker's promo left us wondering if this was his way of saying he's truly done. Not only do I think that The Undertaker will wrestle at WrestleMania this year, I think he will be wrestling in 2019 too.
With that said, I think The Undertaker enters the 2018 Royal Rumble when we least expect it. 'The Dead Man' will throw out John Cena and that will set everything in motion for the clash of the WWE titans in New Orleans.
#1 The Miz wins the Royal Rumble and headlines WrestleMania as the WWE Intercontinental Champion
On the Kickoff Show for Raw 25, The Miz recently proclaimed that he was going to do two things. One, win back the WWE Intercontinental Championship and two, main event WrestleMania by winning the Royal Rumble. After the results of Raw 25, he's halfway to that goal after defeating Roman Reigns on Monday.
Ever since the night after WrestleMania 32 in Dallas, when Maryse made her return to the WWE, The Miz has been on an absolute roll. His performance in 2017 earned him the Rolling Stone Magazine 'Pro Wrestler of the Year' award.
It has been a long time since The Miz has been a world champion and it is long overdue. The odds may not be in The Miz's favour to win the Royal Rumble and main event WrestleMania as the WWE Intercontinental Champion, but you can't ignore the hot streak he is on to completely dismiss it either.
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