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Now, I don't know about you guys, but I love the Royal Rumble.
I have loved Battle Royals, ever since I started watching wrestling. Naturally, my favorite type of Battle Royal is the one that comes once a year, every January - the first stop on the proverbial "Road to WrestleMania," the Royal Rumble. Sure, we haven't really gotten a wholly satisfying Rumble match since maybe 2010, but it's still a thrilling bout nonetheless.
The match features roughly an hour of nonstop action, including dominating performances from our favorite superstars, surprise returns (from legends and injured superstars alike), and thrilling face-offs, some of which we didn't even know we wanted. The Rumble is also a great place to introduce NXT superstars to mainstream audiences. Granted, WWE has only done so twice (Rusev in 2014 and Tye Dillinger this year), but I have a strange feeling that it is going to become a trend.
So, I've looked through the NXT roster and determined which five superstars I believe are most likely to enter the 2018 Royal Rumble. Feel free to disagree with me here, as none of these are fact-based in any way; I just happen to think that there are a few talents that are not quite "done" with NXT, so to speak. Also, I find it worthwhile to note that most of these entries have some kind of condition to it, but you'll find that out as you read.
Anyway, onto the list -
#5 Andrade "Cien" Almas
It took a long while for Andrade "Cien" Almas to really make a splash in NXT. Saddled with a white-meat babyface gimmick upon his debut, the former La Sombra regularly received lukewarm-at-best, apathetic-at-worst responses from the Full Sail crowd.
That was until he turned heel and aligned himself with Zelina Vega.
With Vega as his manager, Almas began racking up wins, beating the likes of Johnny Gargano and No Way Jose before shockingly defeating Drew McIntyre for the NXT Championship at NXT TakeOver: WarGames. He's easily one of the most interesting characters on the entire NXT roster, and he's been main-roster-ready from an in-ring perspective since he arrived.
For all of these reasons (and because WWE is likely looking for someone to further help them appeal to the Mexican market), Almas could feasibly enter the 2018 Royal Rumble. Of course, this is under the condition that he loses the NXT Championship at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia the night before. If he doesn't lose his title, then we'll have our answer.
#4 The Velveteen Dream
If Andrade "Cien" Almas is one of the most interesting characters in NXT right now, then The Velveteen Dream is THE most interesting.
Dream has only been wrestling since 2014, but he certainly does not show it. Seriously - if you haven't watched his match with Aleister Black at NXT TakeOver: WarGames, do it. Honestly, he keeps up really well with one of the best pro-wrestlers in the world. In addition to his in-ring aptitude, he is also very much in touch with his character. You don't even see an ounce of the old Patrick Clark Jr. from Tough Enough - every move he makes is Velveteen Dream.
The condition here, however, is that I personally do not believe that an appearance in the 2018 Royal Rumble would indicate his permanent move to the main roster. In other words, it would be a one-off appearance until his actual main roster debut, much like Rusev's appearance in the 2014 Royal Rumble. I say this for two reasons - the first being that I don't think NXT is quite done with him yet, the second being that I fear that he will go the way of Tyler Breeze upon his main roster debut.
So I hope that, if they do call him up for the Royal Rumble, they don't make him look like a joke.
#3 Eric Young
The soon-to-be 38-year-old Eric Young has been wrestling for about two decades now. Which begs the question - what is he still doing in developmental?
Look, I get that NXT is less of a "developmental territory" and more of a brand of its own nowadays, but I digress. Eric Young is definitely ready for the main roster, both from an in-ring and a character perspective. He's a multiple-time World Champion who gives 110% to any gimmick he takes on, he has a unique look and voice, he sells and his work with SAnitY has been among the best in his career.
Seeing as SAnitY just lost their NXT Tag Team Championships to Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly, who knows? Perhaps a main roster debut is in line for EY. Perhaps the entire SAnitY stable will make their WWE debut soon. Or maybe they'll have a lengthy game of Hot Potato with the Tag Team Championships down in NXT. Or maybe EY will win the NXT Championship, Dain and Wolfe will win the Tag Titles back, and Nikki Cross will win the NXT Women's Championship, all at the same time. I don't know, I'm not a fortune teller.
All I know is, Eric Young is not getting any younger, so if they want to move him up to the main roster at all, they should probably act sooner rather than later so that they can get a few good years out of him.
#2 Drew McIntyre
2018 could very well be the year of "The Chosen One".
Despite being "hand-picked" by Vince McMahon as the future of WWE, Drew McIntyre's first run for the company was...well, let's just say it was less-than-satisfactory. Luckily, after toiling in the indies for several years and winning World Championships pretty much everywhere he went, McIntyre re-signed with WWE. He would go on to dominate anyone and everyone he faced before capturing the NXT Championship from Bobby Roode just four months after his debut.
Unfortunately for McIntyre, his first loss in NXT would not only see him lose the Championship to Andrade "Cien" Almas, but he also tore his bicep at the end of the match. So, the condition here is that McIntyre would have to make a hasty, John Cena-like recovery in order to even consider returning for the 2018 Royal Rumble.
The current timetable for his return is around April 2018, so it's likely that he'll return a little closer to WrestleMania season (maybe even for NXT again), but stranger things have happened in the WWE. For example, this one time Drew McIntyre got pinned by El Torito...sorry to remind you of that.
#1 Killian Dain
In my opinion, out of all the wrestlers in NXT, Killian Dain is the most likely NXT superstar to enter next year's Royal Rumble.
Think about it - Dain enters the Rumble, the commentators say "how can anyone POSSIBLY throw this guy out?!?", he lays waste to a bunch of dudes, faces off with Bray Wyatt, Finn Bálor, and/or Braun Strowman, then he's finally eliminated by every guy in the ring.
Pretty believable, right? That's classic WWE tropes for you.
Anyhow, the former Big Damo's entrance in the 2018 Royal Rumble would be an excellent way for WWE to re-introduce him to the mainstream audience following his impressive showing in last year's Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Plus, I'm not sure that they have much for him to do in NXT. That is unless they're thrusting him directly into the NXT Championship picture, which is a bit unlikely considering his focus on tag team wrestling as of late. But, again, I'm no fortune teller.
All I can say is, one of the main narratives of the Royal Rumble match is written for guys like Killian Dain, and I think that he'd make a worthy addition to the match and to the main roster.
