5 Potential Winners for the Men's Royal Rumble 

The Royal Rumble pay-per-view is four weeks away and many fans are speculating what level of quality we'll get from the 2018 edition of event.

The WWE Championship will be defended in a handicap match, the Universal Championship will be defended in a triple threat match, a new United States Champion will be crowned, and the Women of WWE take their next step on their road to elevating women’s wrestling with the first-ever 30 Woman Royal Rumble match set to take place.

All of those matches will make for an interesting show and a few more matches may be added, but the biggest draw for the 2018 Royal Rumble pay-per-view is still the Men’s Royal Rumble.

With a guranteed world title match and a potential main event on the line, watching 30 superstars compete for the chance at glory is always entertaining especially when you factor in debuts from NXT and former wrestlers and legends returning and making us feel nostalgic.

AJ Styles and Brock Lesnar are the current world champions and while there are a variety of superstars that fans want to get these title opportunities, there’s rarely more than 5 wrestlers with a realistic chance at winning the match.

So, this article will be looking at my top five picks to win the 2018 Men’s Royal Rumble match.

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#5 Finn Bálor

Will we get the Irish Young Gun or the Demon King in the Royal Rumble?

Finn Bálor eclipsed Monday Night Raw’s midcard and barreled through the main event scene to become the first Universal Champion in 2016. Unfortunately, 2017 would not be as fruitful for the Irish Young Gun.

Aside from Bálor’s dream match against Bullet Club alum AJ Styles at TLC, most of 2017 was filled with uninteresting feuds and continued losses for the former Universal Champion. His status as a top star saw an even further decline when Bálor’s planned match with Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble was replaced by the triple threat match with Kane and Braun Strowman.

Bálor needs a big win in 2018 to prevent any further damage to his main event status and a Royal Rumble victory would be an unexpected delight for many – especially considering how fans were hoping for him to make his Royal Rumble match debut in 2017.

Bálor facing Lesnar in a singles match is a divisive topic amongst fans due to the size difference and believability factor, but Bálor challenging AJ Styles for the WWE Championship could make for a great twist.

Styles’ match with Bálor at TLC was a last-minute call and many fans felt that both men could have an even greater match if given more time. If Bálor wins the Royal Rumble, WWE would have more time to build up the match and ensure that the next meeting of the former Bullet Club leaders is everything the fans hoped for.

#4 Baron Corbin

Andre the Giant Battle Royal Winner, Money in the Bank Winner, Former United States Champion...and the Royal Rumble Winner?

The Lone Wolf winning the Royal Rumble isn’t a possibility that a lot of people are considering, but it makes perfect sense when you look at WWE’s track record.

Baron Corbin has been highly favoured by WWE management since his debut at WrestleMania 32 and has continued to compete against main eventers while racking up some big accomplishments.

With only two years on the main roster, Corbin has won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, the Money in the Bank Contract, and the United States Championship – not exactly a rocket getting strapped to his back, but it’s definitely a progressive buildup.

Corbin did lose the Money in the Bank cash-in match, but that was rumoured to have more to do with his comments backstage rather than WWE management being displeased with his wrestling or persona. In fact, his mounting losses in 2017 seem like they’re building to something and a Royal Rumble victory could be the endgame.

This isn’t an outcome I’d prefer, but I can’t shake this feeling that all these losses for Corbin are leading to a big win in the near future.

#3 Shinsuke Nakamura

Could the King of Strong Style win in his Rumble debut?

The King of Style’s debut on the main roster has not been what many fans were expecting. His confrontations with Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin, and Jinder Mahal damaged his stock in a big way and have caused many fans to lose faith in Shinsuke Nakamura becoming a World Champion.

A Royal Rumble victory would be a great way to prove those fans wrong and get the 2-time NXT Champion back on track with a rematch fans have been dying to see since 2016.

One of the biggest matches coming out of Wrestle Kingdom 10 was the IWGP Intercontinental Championship match between Nakamura and AJ Styles. The match was fantastic, and people have been waiting to see the rematch since Styles and Nakamura signed with WWE.

If Nakamura won the Royal Rumble and defeated Styles for the WWE Championship, the WWE would have given the fans a highly-anticipated rematch for WrestleMania 34 while establishing Nakamura as a definitive top star.

Sounds like a plan to me.

#2 John Cena

Could the 16-Time World Champion tie the record for most Rumble matches won?

John Cena’s last appearance in a Royal Rumble match was in 2013 when the Face That Runs The Place eliminated four superstars to earn the right to challenge for the WWE Championship. Five years later and the similar circumstances suggest that he’s a lock to win the Rumble.

The 16-Time WWE Champion has been rumoured to win the Royal Rumble match since SummerSlam when many fans thought we were headed towards another Patriot vs. Heel Foreigner match with Jinder Mahal as the champion. Thankfully, that isn’t on the horizon but there’s still a strong chance that Cena will get his next world championship opportunity by winning the Royal Rumble.

Also, Cena won his first Royal Rumble in 2008, so its plausible that the company would want him to win the match 10 years later and tie the record of Stone Cold Steve Austin by winning three Royal Rumble matches.

Cena hasn’t been a factor in the World Championship picture for WrestleMania since his victory against The Rock at WrestleMania 29 and history could repeat itself if Cena wins the Royal Rumble match and beats AJ Styles at WrestleMania to break Ric Flair’s record and become a 17-time World Champion.

#1 Roman Reigns

The Road to WrestleMania for Roman Reigns may be a repeat of 2015

We’ve known this was a possibility since WrestleMania 33 when he defeated The Undertaker in his third WrestleMania main event. A singles match between the two men who defeated The Undertaker seems like a logical next step and many feel that it is all but guaranteed that Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar will main event WrestleMania 34. The only question remaining is how we get there.

Reigns has proven to be highly efficient in past Royal Rumble matches and has never been eliminated from a Rumble without a dominant display. He broke the elimination record in 2014 before being the last superstar eliminated, won the 2015 Rumble, defended the WWE Championship in the 2016 Rumble, and was the last superstar eliminated from the 2017 Rumble.

WWE’s clearly building Reigns up as a man who thrives in elimination matches, so winning the 2018 Royal Rumble is a strong possibility.

On the other hand, the Elimination Chamber takes place after the Royal Rumble and will be a Raw-exclusive show. So, there’s a chance that a SmackDown superstar could win the Royal Rumble and Reigns could win an Elimination Chamber match to become the No.1 Contender for the Universal Championship.

However, I believe that everything we’ll witness with Reigns for the next few months will be a repeat of the Road to WrestleMania 31, but on a much larger scale. So, the following is the scenario I think is the most likely for the Big Dog as his fourth main event at WrestleMania approaches.

Reigns will win the Royal Rumble, he’ll defend his newly won No.1 Contender’s status at the Elimination Chamber, and he’ll go on to face Lesnar for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 34.