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As soon as Survivor Series is in the rearview mirror, all eyes inevitably turn toward the Royal Rumble. Only a small pitstop awaits us beforehand. This year, it will be at TLC on December 16th. Afterwards, WWE will make the turn on the Road to WrestleMania.
Survivor Series usually gives us hints about what we can expect two months later, and last night, we got a few.
On the women's side of things, Charlotte Flair seems a lock to win that Royal Rumble match. No other contender even emerges as a likely possibility at this point.
On the men's side of things, we have ourselves a horse race, which should make things very exciting. Let's take a look at the five likeliest candidates as of today.
#5 Seth Rollins
Fresh off his victory over this year's Royal Rumble winner, Shinsuke Nakamura, Seth Rollins has regained all of the momentum he lost during the Shield reunion. He has had a tremendous year and is by every means an ideal Royal Rumble winner.
First, though, he'll need to deal with Dean Ambrose, which will make or break his chances on January 27th.
Seth Rollins will first need to drop his Intercontinental Championship if he's poised to be a Royal Rumble winner. Dean Ambrose might ironically do him that favor. If Seth Rollins emerges with the title still intact, though, it suggests that WWE will have other plans with him.
Either way, Dean Ambrose is set to haunt him for months to come. That will define him heading into Phoenix. At this point, Seth Rollins is in that place where he's a standout, but the needle looks more likely to be pointed elsewhere.
Chances: Possible, but improbable, as of November 19th, 2018.
#4 The Miz
Is it just me, or did The Miz look like he was veering toward turning babyface last night?
And with perennial rival Daniel Bryan now the WWE Champion as a heel, it looks possible that the company could choose to explore their feud from a completely new, and fresh, angle. There's still a lot of unfinished business between The Miz and Daniel Bryan, after all.
On the other hand, it is The Miz, and it seems unlikely that WWE views him as a main event player after all these years.
We also need to consider the fact that with Charlotte Flair likely to win the women's Royal Rumble match, the men's side of things will see the winner come from Raw, to balance things out. That's usually the case, and it means that there's another thing working against The Miz.
Chances: Possible, but improbable as of November 19th, 2018.
#3 AJ Styles
The now former WWE Champion has a lot of options going forward. He's certainly likely to feature heavily in WWE's WrestleMania plans, and, ironically enough, has unfinished business with both Daniel Bryan and Brock Lesnar at the moment. This puts him in an ideal position to win the Royal Rumble.
While it's likely that AJ Styles will get his rematch with Daniel Bryan either at or around TLC, the date of that rematch will be crucial. If AJ Styles competes in the Mixed Match Challenge finals on December 16th, he'll have the chance to enter as #30. And it's likely that the feud with Bryan can go on for months.
On the other hand, many fans would also be eager to see a rematch with Brock Lesnar on the biggest stage, so AJ has options there, too.
However, like The Miz, AJ Styles comes from SmackDown, and that will work against him with Charlotte likely to win the women's Royal Rumble match.
Chances: Dark horse as of November 19th, 2018.
#2 Drew McIntyre
Drew McIntyre checks every box. He's been heavily protected since returning to Raw in April. He just humiliated Kurt Angle. He looked like a beast at Survivor Series, lasting to the end of his match in good fashion and scoring an elimination, and he's involved in the show's main event picture already.
Put simply, Drew McIntyre has everything going for him right now. He would definitely look believable against Brock Lesnar, too, and the first time matchup between them would add some novelty to a Universal title scene that badly needs it right now.
He's also from Raw, which works in his favor.
The only thing that's holding him back is something else that we saw last night, which ironically he was also involved with, and will continue to be as the show goes on.
Chances: A favorite, and the second choice, as of November 19th, 2018.
#1 Braun Strowman
It's a year late, but Braun Strowman needs to be considered the favorite to win the Royal Rumble after last night. He scored four eliminations, tying Roman Reigns' record, and looked like the most dangerous competitor in the entire match.
The red brand is also stacking the odds against him. He needs to deal with Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre, and, eventually, Brock Lesnar, who he was wronged by and has a score to settle with.
He might wind up getting a title shot beforehand, as per the stipulation, but it seems a waste if WWE was going to make him that dominant in the match last night. We'll recall the success of Randy Orton and Asuka in 2016 and 2017, respectively, at Survivor Series, just before they went on to win their respective Royal Rumbles.
Chances: Very good, as of November 19th, 2019.
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