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The annual WWE Royal Rumble PPV is merely a few days away, as the company prepares itself for yet another massive WrestleMania season. The storylines will start shaping up for the Show of Shows this Sunday and WWE will officially kickstart the journey on the Road to WrestleMania.
Without any doubt, the biggest talking point in the WWE Universe right now is who will end up surviving the 30-man Royal Rumble match to secure himself a spot in the main event of WrestleMania 36. Massive names like Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, AJ Styles, Seth Rollins, and many more.
With "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt and the Beast Incarnate as the two World Champions right now, we are almost sure to get a babyface winner this year, but who will it be? Let's look at five possible finishes for the 2020 Men's Royal Rumble match. Be sure to let us know your thoughts and predictions in the comments section below.
#5 Kevin Owens shocks the world, eliminates Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns
There is arguably no bigger crowd favorite in WWE right now than Kevin Owens. The former Universal Champion has had one of the most interesting characters in the last few months, with him rebelling against the likes of Shane McMahon and finally getting the WWE Universe rid of him in a heroic manner.
Currently, the Prizefighter is involved in a storyline against the new faction helmed by Seth Rollins with Samoa Joe by his side. While the feud between these Superstars will run through the Rumble, and likely more, WWE has more potential in Owens as a singles Superstar chasing after the company's top title.
A final three of KO, Rollins, and Roman Reigns, ending with Owens eliminating both Shield members to win the Royal Rumble could tun out to be one of the biggest moments of 2020. This would eventually set up a first-time-ever feud between Kevin Owens and Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 36. Could 2020 by the year of KO?
#4 Cain Velasquez enters at #30 eliminates Brock Lesnar to win
The situation with Cain Velasquez and the Royal Rumble is a little perplexing. While he did mention himself entering the Rumble during his interview with The Sun, WWE hasn't officially confirmed his participation on their massive list of Superstars yet. This surely makes one wonder if Cain was supposed to keep his appearace in the match secret.
“I think I’m doing it [the Rumble match], right, I think so. I can win it, hell yeah, that’s my mentality for everything. For everyone as well, that is how your mentality has to be. I’m going in to win this thing.”
Anyways, he sure looks set to enter the Rumble this year and he has one thing in mind - to eliminate Brock Lesnar and win the whole thing. In fact, the entire storyline revolving around Lesnar entering the Rumble might be a set-up specifically to lead to a Brock-Cain rematch. It's possible that, like in his Universal Title defense at SummerSlam 2017, Lesnar will somehow end up out of the match without being eliminated, only to return during the closing moments, infuriating the crowd, similar to last year's Money in the Bank match. This time, however, his UFC nightmare would arrive, entering at #30 to eliminate him from the match.
Not only would this be redemption for Cain's embarrassing loss at Crown Jewel, but it would also set up a massive rematch with Lesnar for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 36. Of course, the WWE Universe might not be very happy to see a part-timer win the big match, but that's another story for another article.
#3 The Demon King wins the Rumble and sets his eyes on The Fiend
WWE has already announced 25 men for the Royal Rumble match and not a single Superstar from NXT is in the mix so far. With just five spots remaining, the company needs to be ready with some massive surprises to thrill the WWE Universe on Sunday night. Who better than a Demon to grace the match with his presence?
Before The Fiend started taking out multiple Superstars and before he became Universal Champion, the ferocious new character debuted by targeting, and easily defeating, Finn Balor. Things were never the same for the Irish Young Gun as he took a break, returned to NXT, and turned heel. An encounter with that sadistic alter-ego of Bray Wyatt surely changed Balor. That match from SummerSlam 2019 surely made the WWE Universe want to see the dream encounter between the Fiend and Balor's alter ego - the Demon King.
While the Royal Rumble is very likely to be won by a babyface, gimmicks like the Demon King and The Fiend are above the realm of heels and faces. Finn Balor entering the Rumble as the Demon King could be one of the biggest shockers in the PPV's rich history, and if he does so, a victory would almost feel guaranteed.
An encounter between two supernatural forces in "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt and "The Demon King" Finn Balor for the Universal Championship at the main event of WrestleMania 36 is sure to keep the WWE Universe on the edge of their seats.
Check out these latest tweets where Balor teased an appearance this Sunday, at the Royal Rumble.
#2 Roman Reigns wins by last eliminating Seth Rollins
This may not be a result many of us want to see, but one of the likeliest winners of the 2020 Royal Rumble match is Roman Reigns. If the rumors are to be believed, The Big Dog was the early favorite to win this year's over-the-top-rope battle royal, and he remains the favorite just a few short days before the show is set to take place.
It's difficult to guess how the live audience would react to Roman taking home his second Royal Rumble victory, but no matter the fan reaction the aftermath is what would truly be interesting. Anyone facing off against The Fiend has been known to go through a character change, and it will be interesting to see whether Roman starts showing signs of a heel turn as well and turns towards the darker side to defeat this devil.
To avoid a repeat of the horrible response Reigns received upon winning the 2015 Royal Rumble, it would be ideal to pitch Roman against one of the most despised characters on the roster - and who better than his former Shield brother, Seth Rollins? With Rollins already facing off against both Lesnar and Wyatt last year, him being in the final two along with Reigns would be the ideal situation where fans might not be that outraged to see The Big Dog emerge as the winner.
#1 Wyatt enters last, gets eliminated by Reigns, McIntyre eliminates Reigns to win the match
To be fair, fans are not completely against Roman Reigns going up against The Fiend at WrestleMania 36, as it does provide the opportunity for some interesting storytelling. The real problem here is the very real possibility of another fan backlash if Reigns were to earn his title shot by outlasting the rest of the roster. What if WWE could sow seeds for the Reigns-Wyatt feud at the Rumble without letting The Big Dog win the entire thing?
Imagine this scenario - the clock counts down to zero for the final entrant, and to everyone's surprise, entering at #30 is Bray Wyatt's Firefly Fun House persona. We saw Wyatt wrestle in this form at TLC and it was clear that he wasn't a anywhere near the level of the seemingly unstoppable force of The Fiend. Wyatt could enter and get beaten up by other Superstars immediately.
Toward the end of the match, Wyatt gathers his inner power and eliminates a couple of Superstars leading to him, Reigns and Drew McIntyre as the final three Superstars remaining. This is when Roman eliminates him from the match, leaving Wyatt enraged. The lights go off, and Wyatt disappears from ringside. Reigns and McIntyre are left as the final two. Just when everyone is expecting the Roman to fulfill his apparent destiny, the Scottish Psychopath turns the table and shockingly eliminates him to win the Royal Rumble.
This would result in WWE booking both the World Title matches for WrestleMania with Roman Reigns challenging The Fiend for the Universal Championship and Drew McIntyre challenging Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship. McIntyre gets his deserving main event push, and The Fiend gets a reason to target Roman Reigns, rather than it being the other way around.
