5 bold predictions for the WWE Greatest Royal Rumble event

The Greatest Royal Rumble comes to us from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia this Friday, and it is as good as an top pay-per-view level event considering how stacked the card seems to be.

Basically, the who's who of the WWE is involved in the card, minus the women of course.

Even the Undertaker is confirmed for a match...which he wasn't for WrestleMania 34 if you can recall.

That probably gives you an indication of how highly the WWE prioritizes the Saudi market, that they've gone all guns blazing on the event.

And naturally, with a card this juicy, comes a lot of room for the WWE to pull off unexpected swerves and bold booking decisions that we just don't expect.

Add to that the fact that it's a Live Even - meaning that it isn't really that connected to the weekly story arc despite the references to the event on Raw and SmackDown - it does give the WWE a lot of leniency to spring creative surprises and left field booking decisions on us.

So what can we expect at the Greatest Royal Rumble?

Here are 5 bold predictions!

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Paul Heyman turns on Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns turns heel!

Lesnar's next port of call is the UFC.

It's been referenced enough times on social media and even on this week's episode of Raw. He may still be in contract with the WWE to return once his fight in the UFC is done, but he's going to be away from pro wrestling for the forseeable future.

Which is why people believe that Roman Reigns will defeat him at the Greatest Royal Rumble and take his belt in front of - what the WWE hopes - is a more favourable crowd than the one at WM 34 that will actually cheer him when he wins.

But so far, nothing in the build up to the match has suggested that Reigns has what it takes to defeat Lesnar. Like Samoa Joe has been kind enough to remind us all...everytime Reigns crosses paths with Lesnar, he's been on the receiving end of a beatdown.

So what's going to change in Jeddah?

Unless someone from Brock's side betrays him by turning on him, my guess is absolutely nothing.

Plus, without Brock around in the WWE in the near future, Heyman does need to piggyback of some Superstar to secure his own future in the company.

Who better than Roman Reigns to fit that bill?

Plus, there's always the little issue of his micwork that needs working upon for which including Heyman in his repertoire would be a perfect solution to.

And let's face it...a heel turn for Reigns is long, long overdue.

Aiden English comes out of the casket to distract the Undertaker

Oh what it would do for Rusev if he wins the Casket match against Undertaker!

While people marveled at the fact that John Cena was practically squashed by the Undertaker at WrestleMania 34, it is probably indicative of the fact that the hip-replaced, semi-retired Deadman is just not in good enough ring shape to work a 20 minute barn burner of a match.

So all signs point to the Casket match against Rusev - or was it Chris Jericho...oh wait, it's Rusev after all - being a short one.

Which is where Aiden English comes in.

The WWE's Sultan of Song could show up in the casket to distract the Deadman, giving Rusev the perfect opportunity to blindside him and win the match.

It would shake up the WWE Universe and give Rusev a much needed shot up the arm. The man's been incredibly over despite being the heel and the WWE have done their darn-est to ignore that so far.

It's about time he received a strong rub and who better than the Undertaker to give him that.

Ronda Rousey appears!?

Ronda Rousey could make a brief appearance to signal that times are a-changing!

Going into a place where the women aren't being allowed to perform for a crowd...it's all rather messy for the WWE especially since they're such strong, vocal proponents of the Women's Revolution.

But it is what it is at Saudi Arabia. They can't really go there and disrespect their laws, can they?

However, when Triple H fielded question from the media regarding this issue, he did hint at the situation changing in the next 2-3 years, meaning that we may well see the women wrestling at Saudi in the near future.

But what if Ronda Rousey just appeared to wave to the crowd this weekend itself? Or at least through the Titantron, carrying a message for the fans?

She is, after all, a global megastar and arguably the biggest mainstream start that the WWE have got in their roster.

Having her set the ball rolling on women empowerment in a small way - and in a place that really, really needs it - sounds like a good plan from a marketing point of view.

After all, they did sign her to spearhead the Revolution, did they not?

John Cena turns heel

Cena's mood right now...

Right about now, barring Roman Reigns, there may not be a more disliked man in the WWE Universe following the news that John Cena got cold feet and broke off his impending marriage with Nikki Bella.

It was, in all honestly, a d*ck move after leading her on for six years.

And since we know that Vince is very smart with bringing off screen issues into storylines, this could be the perfect time for John Cena to embrace his dark side as well.

Because god knows, he's probably in a dark place now.

And even if he wasn't, wouldn't it just be a good time to turn him heel after spending so many years speculating about it?

WWE goes non PG

As good an opportunity as any to take the gloves off

The PG era is of great significance in the USA, when the WWE shows are televised regularly, when Linda McMahon holds political office and when the company is a publicly traded company that has social responsibility.

In a house show, in a completely different part of the world, where women aren't even allowed to compete...I guess there is a case to be made for all bets being off.

The WWE doesn't have to adhere to PG rating in Jeddah, do they?

Which is why the Greatest Royal Rumble could be an opportunity for them to go totally non-PG.

We do know that they're comfortable with the occasional show of blood when it comes to Brock Lesnar, even in the USA.

But without all the political correctness of the country governing them, this could be an opportunity for many other Superstars to express the more feral aspects of their characters as well.

Obviously the WWE is gearing up for a historic megashow in Saudi Arabia. A little bit of blood wouldn't hurt the cause either.

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