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With the 2018 Royal Rumble fast approaching, WWE Raw and SmackDown Live Superstars continue to confirm their entry in the annual match.
Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura, Finn Balor and Bray Wyatt are among the star names who have announced their participation so far, while the returning John Cena is many people’s favourite to win.
As ever with the Rumble, we can expect to see a few surprises. Tye Dillinger, The Boogeyman, DDP, Kevin Nash and JBL have all been unexpected recent entrants in the 30-man match, and we can expect a shock name or two to appear again in 2018.
In this article, we take a look at five Superstars from NXT who could feature in the match, ranking them from the least likely to the most likely.
#5 Lars Sullivan
If you were to choose any NXT Superstar who would make a huge impact in a Royal Rumble match, there’s a good chance you’d go for Lars Sullivan.
“The Leviathan” has a monstrous presence about him, not too dissimilar to Braun Strowman, and he made quite the name for himself by defeating Kassius Ohno in the opening match at TakeOver: War Games in November 2017.
He is highly thought of by Triple H, who tweeted a photo of a hand in 2014 with the caption ‘This fist could change everything’. It was later revealed that the hand, much larger than HHH’s, belonged to Sullivan. Not to mention, many fans consider Sullivan to be the next Brock Lesnar!
Would the Denver native make a massive impression at the Rumble? Definitely. But is it a little too early for him to make his main-roster debut, if only as a one-off appearance? Probably, which is why he’s only fifth on this list.
#4 Akam and/or Rezar
Without giving away spoilers for TakeOver: Philadelphia, let’s just say it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Akam and Rezar on Raw or SmackDown Live in the not-too-distant future.
The no-nonsense Authors of Pain, with Paul Ellering as their manager, held the NXT Tag Team titles for 203 days before losing them to SAnitY at TakeOver: Brooklyn III in August 2017.
If we’ve learned anything from NXT title changes over the years, it’s that losing a title – or, in this case, titles – is generally a sign that a Superstar’s time in NXT is up and that they’re destined to join the main roster.
In all likelihood, AOP will probably debut in WWE by attacking a tag team on an episode of Raw or SmackDown Live. However, like with Lars Sullivan, it’d be wrong to rule out a Rumble appearance, even if the call-up is initially only a one-off.
#3 No Way Jose
No Way Jose has not been involved in a meaningful storyline in NXT since he joined forces with Tye Dillinger, Roderick Strong and Ruby Riott to feud with SAnitY in early 2017.
Since then, the man from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic hasn’t been seen much on NXT programming and he has been kept off television over the last couple of months due to an injury.
Various reports throughout 2017 suggested that he could be set for the main roster when the next round of call-ups from NXT are due, so what better way to introduce him to the WWE audience than at the Royal Rumble?
Jose returned from injury on the 4 January NXT tapings and if reports are true and he is set for a call-up to Raw or SmackDown Live soon, then it’d make sense to debut him in front of an audience of die-hard fans who are likely to be familiar with him.
#2 Pete Dunne
Pete Dunne has been the WWE United Kingdom champion since defeating Tyler Bate for the title at TakeOver: Chicago in May 2017 – a match widely recognised as one of the best in NXT history.
Since then, he has continued to defend his title around the world – not just in NXT but also in UK promotions – while he even defeated Enzo Amore on an episode of Raw in November.
It’s clear that Triple H & Co. think highly of “The Bruiserweight” and his fellow Brits. If the company fancies having a representative from the United Kingdom division in the Rumble, they could do worse than have Dunne enter.
#1 Killian Dain
While the Royal Rumble is known for its surprise entrants, so is the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
At WrestleMania 33, everybody remembers Mojo Rawley receiving assistance from best buddy Rob Gronkowski to eliminate Jinder Mahal to win the trophy, but it’s also worth remembering that NXT’s Killian Dain finished third in the match.
The Northern Irishman, unadvertised for the one-off main-roster appearance, established himself as one of NXT’s most impressive performers in 2017 and all four members of the SAnitY faction (Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe, Nikki Cross and Dain) are expected to be called up to WWE’s main roster in 2018.
If anybody, even just one person, from NXT is involved in the Rumble, expect it to be Dain.
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