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On January 28th, WWE will be hosting its 31st annual Royal Rumble PPV and we already can't wait for it.
Apart from being one of the most highly anticipated matches of the year, this year's Rumble is creating a lot of buzz. This is because, while the last few Rumbles match results have been quite foreseeable with the likes of John Cena, Batista, Roman Reigns and Triple H coming out on top, this year's match is gearing up to be the very unpredictable.
Sure, many hadn't predicted a Randy Orton victory last year, but a mostly uninspired and forgettable feud with Bray Wyatt that followed, somewhat dampened the significance of the Royal Rumble event. For this reason, we can expect WWE to go in all guns blazing with this year's match.
So, here are my top five picks to win the Men's Royal Rumble 2018.
#5 Braun Strowman
Braun Strowman has been wrecking havoc in WWE for the last year or so. Anyone who stood in his way was beaten down, destroyed and powerslammed.
While he is slated to compete for the WWE Universal Championship in a triple threat match against Kane and Lesnar on January 28th, Lesnar is not expected to lose the championship until WrestleMania, making Kane the one most likely to be pinned by him.
Braun has been over with the fans for almost a year now and has proved that he can hang with the best in a ring, in main events. So, expect WWE to strike the iron while its still hot and give us a Braun Strowman Royal Rumble victory, leading to a monstrous moment at the grandest stage of them all.
#4 Roman Reigns
It is highly unlikely that an article predicting the top 5 winners of a WWE event won't feature Roman Reigns.
While The Big Dog is currently the Intercontinental Champion, expect him to drop the title to a returning Miz and move on to bigger things - a Royal Rumble win could be one of them.
This would allow the WWE to tell the story that they left unfinished when Seth Rollins cashed in his Money In The Bank three years ago at Wrestlemania 31. Knowing how much backing Reigns has from Vince and his creative team, this looks like a very real possibility.
#3 Kevin Owens
Kevin Owens has been heavily featured on Smackdown Live ever since he joined the brand. His feuds with AJ Styles and Shane McMahon kept the show interesting when the WWE Universe was having a difficult time accepting Jinder Mahal as their top champion.
Like Braun Strowman, Kevin Owens is also slated for a championship match on the Royal Rumble PPV. He will be fighting alongside his 'best friend' Sami Zayn in a handicap match against AJ Styles for the WWE Championship. This match gives WWE a lot of storytelling options including a scenario where Zayn and Owens turn on each other.
Thus, the Royal Rumble match culminating in a Kevin Owens victory gives the creative team an opportunity of exploring matches like Owens vs Styles or Owens vs Zayn at WrestleMania which are guaranteed not to disappoint.
#2 Shinsuke Nakamura
From mediocre matches with Dolph Ziggler to multiple defeats at the hands of Jinder Mahal, Shinsuke Nakamura's run on the main roster has been disappointing, to say the least.
But, come Royal Rumble and things may start to swing back in favour of the 'King of Strong Style.' A win at Royal Rumble and a match against AJ Styles at Wrestlemania for the WWE championship is a mouth-watering prospect and WWE will be naive to overlook such a great opportunity.
SmackDown Live may be able to produce entertaining content on a fairly regular basis, but it is not a secret that there a dearth of star power when compared to Raw. This makes Nakamura a strong contender to win the Royal Rumble and represents SmackDown Live in one of the main events of Wrestlemania.
#1 Finn Balor
The WWE Universe has been disgusted by the treatment of Finn Balor from WWE creative. He has been thrown together in uninspired feuds and meaningless matches with Kane and Miztourage in the last few months that have done nothing to help him.
He has gone from being a main event player to a complete afterthought within a few months. Many believe that his size and accent could be the reason for this. But, the only beacon of hope is that this may be a ploy on WWE's part to surprise us with a Finn Balor victory at Royal Rumble.
His recent pairing with former Bullet Club mates Anderson and Gallows seems like a step in the positive direction as they can certainly make up for his size disadvantage, similar to the way Adam Cole has been paired with his former ROH colleagues at NXT.
Will this lead to the Demon King laying waste to 29 other men at Royal Rumble? Only time will tell.
What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comment section below.
