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2018 is done and dusted, and we are on to a new year. Naturally, the WWE universe is all set to welcome the first Pay Per View of the year - Royal Rumble. The Royal Rumble is a WWE PPV with significant history. Royal Rumble is coined as the start of "the road to Wrestlemania."
Traditionally, the Royal Rumble winner gets the opportunity to challenge any world champion of his choice. From last year, WWE has also introduced a women's Royal Rumble, which was won by Asuka, who went on to challenge Charlotte Flair for the Smackdown LIVE Women's championship.
The Royal Rumble plays a crucial role in the build-up to Wrestlemania. The first feud heading into Wrestlemania would be unofficially pictured after this event. It is imperative that WWE gets the winner right lest they would spoil a marquee match on the Wrestlemania card.
After the brand split, Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Asuka have won their respective Royal Rumble match. Who will join these superstars? In this list, we will take a look at five superstars - male or female - who could win their respective Royal Rumble match.
#5. Seth Rollins
2018 has been brilliant for Seth Rollins. Except for a couple of matches, the architect got everything right in the last year. Hence, it would be only appropriate for him to get rewarded and put an end to Brock Lesnar's miserable title reign.
According to many reports, Triple H is hell-bent on having his protege beat Lesnar at Wrestlemania 35, giving his the big rub to transcend him as the face of the company. Thus we might actually see "the Kingslayer" slay the beast this April and a Royal Rumble victory may be the first step towards it.
#4. Drew McIntyre
We mentioned earlier that reports suggest Triple H's pick for winning the 2019 men's Royal Rumble was Triple H. Guess who the reported pick of Vince McMahon is? Yes, it is the Scottish psychopath himself - Drew McIntyre. McIntyre has everything that one needs to be THE TOP GUY in a professional wrestling company. He has the killer looks, size, mic skills, agility, and excellent in-ring ability.
According to rumors, Vince McMahon wants Brock Lesnar to drop the Universal title to Braun Strowman at Royal Rumble. This clash would be followed by Drew's win in the Royal Rumble match. In late 2018, Strowman and McIntyre had started a mini-feud which did not have any conclusion. If the rumors are to be believed, this feud would resume post-Royal Rumble.
In that case, WWE would have ample time to build towards their epic clash at Wrestlemania.
#3. Charlotte Flair and/or Becky Lynch
Here we have two names in the place of one. Even though Charlotte Flair has been in the title picture for far too long, it seems that WWE has no intention to pull her from that scene. Becky Lynch also has a huge stake now in the women's title picture. Charlotte and Becky are two big names heading into Wrestlemania season to main event Wrestlemania 35 along with Ronda Rousey for the RAW women's championship. The seeds of such a triangle rivalry have already been planted when Rousey interfered the TLC triple threat match for the Smackdown Women's championship.
However, how WWE will build this is still in doubts. In 1994, both Lex Luther and Bret Hart were declared the winner of the Royal Rumble match when both of their feet touched the ground at the same time. A similar scenario might happen here.
#2. Andrade Cien Almas
Cien Almas has been one of the earlier names pitched to be the Royal Rumble winner from mid-2018. The backstage crew is extremely pleased with the third generation superstar. Cien had a brilliant start to 2018, where he and Johnny Gargano had a 5-star match for the NXT title. After Wrestlemania, he was inducted to the main roster.
Even though Almas has not yet won anything of worth, Smackdown LIVE crew gives him marquee matches on Smackdown LIVE episodes against the likes of AJ Styles, and Daniel Bryan. The Luchador has already proven his excellent heel works in NXT. It is only a matter of time before he shows it to the casual fans and the Royal Rumble could be a great start for his push.
Fans are skeptical with his chances since he is not good at English. However, Almas' business partner Zelina Vega's mic skills make up for his shortcoming at English.
#1. Kenny Omega
One of the far-fetched prediction is that Kenny Omega would win the Royal Rumble match. The former IWGP world heavyweight champion recently lost his title to Hiroshi Tanahashi in a grueling match at the Wrestle Kingdom 13. However, Omega's future in Japan is not clear at the moment. His contract is due to expire this month.
WWE has always been keen to sign The Cleaner. They have had several contract negotiations, but Omega declined them. However, according to Dave Meltzer, WWE has given Omega a "fantastic" offer.
If AJ Styles win the WWE championship from Daniel Bryan at Royal Rumble and Kenny Omega wins it, we could potentially see the clash between two former leaders of the Bullet Club inside a WWE ring. This one is a dream match for many and WWE would be looking forward to having this at Wrestlemania 35 if Kenny is to sign with WWE.
