The WWE Royal Rumble match has, for a long time, been about surprises. Whether the winner is a big surprise, or it’s a surprise return from injury, or a surprise blast from the past, something shocking or unexpected always happens in the Royal Rumble match.
This year won’t be any different, as there are plenty of surprises in store for us Rumble fans on Sunday night. There are so many possibilities, between surprise entrants, men from NXT coming up to the main roster or just coming along for one night, and the all-important winner.
The 2017 Royal Rumble match is looking like the most unpredictable one in many years.
These 5 men, however, will not be a part of the unpredictable event.
#5 Kenny Omega
Despite John Cena making references to Omega on Instagram and Seth Rollins mentioning his name in a video on WWE’s Youtube channel, there’s no chance that New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Kenny Omega will appear in the Royal Rumble match.
His contract with NJPW doesn’t expire until two days after the Rumble pay-per-view, and the owner of the Japanese company does not hide the fact that he dislikes Vince McMahon and his business practices.
Also read: 5 intriguing pairings for the #1 and #2 entrants of the 2017 Royal Rumble match
There’s no way he does business with Vince and lets Kenny Omega shock the world by entering the Royal Rumble match.
He’s arguably the hottest act that New Japan has right now, and unlike AJ Styles, he has claimed that he has intentions to stay in Japan for a very long time. AJ’s signing with WWE was shocking, but not unpredictable or unfathomable.
Kenny Omega becoming a part of the WWE family anytime soon (if ever at all) is not very easy to imagine.
#4 Shelton Benjamin
The star, who was set to make his return to SmackDown Live months ago but fell to the injury bug, won’t be showing up in the Royal Rumble match. Mum’s been the word on the guy, and there has been no official word as to whether or not he has been cleared by doctors to compete.
Maybe WWE is holding this information back, realising that Benjamin is under the radar at this point because of everything else going on right now in pro wrestling, and all of the other rumours, but that’s difficult to say.
In any event, chances are very low that the Royal Rumble match will see the reintroduction of Shelton Benjamin to WWE.
He will hopefully be back, but with SmackDown Live being in a fairly similar position now as it was in the early stages of the new brand split, I expect that his return would go the same now as it would have last year when he was first hyped up.
#3 Tye Dillinger
Because why would WWE throw the fans a bone? As great as it would be to see Tye Dillinger come into the Royal Rumble match at number 10, it’s just not going to happen. In fact, I foresee the number 10 spot going to The Miz, who WWE fans will boo out of the building when it occurs.
I understand that a Royal Rumble appearance doesn’t mean a call-up to the main roster for an NXT member (Sami Zayn went back to NXT for a few months after last year’s surprise appearance) but that still doesn’t mean that Tye is slotted in for a spot on Sunday.
The fans will count down, very excited to see Dillinger, and then hear “Aaaaaaaaaawesoooooommmmee…” over the loudspeakers and be very, very upset. And that’s how it should be.
#2 Shinsuke Nakamura
He may end up losing his title to Bobby Roode this weekend at Takeover: San Antonio, but that doesn’t free up Nakamura for a spot in the Royal Rumble match.
I expect that the current NXT Champion will be making his way up to the main WWE roster this year, likely sometime right after WrestleMania, but the Royal Rumble match won’t be his first taste of the true WWE spotlight.
Nakamura is one of those guys, unlike Tye Dillinger, that if he makes an appearance in the Royal Rumble match, people are going to expect him to stick around.
Another guy like that is Samoa Joe, who is actually rumoured to make his main roster debut in the Rumble match and not only stay on the main WWE roster but has also been touted to actually win the entire match.
Another reason Shinsuke Nakamura won’t show up at the Rumble is because it would actually be detrimental to Joe’s entrance, as it would weaken the surprise. One big-time NXT superstar is enough for the Rumble for now.
#1 Finn Balor
By most reports, Finn Balor may not even be fully healed yet. In interviews, he has stated for a while that he isn’t going to necessarily be ready and 100% by the time the Royal Rumble came around, but would gladly enter if Vince McMahon wanted him in it.
On social media and in other appearances he’s been very back-and-forth, sometimes seeming to allude to being ready for the Rumble match, and sometimes making it look like there’s no chance at all that he will be running down that aisle on Sunday night.
It’s tough to make a really strong point on either side of the argument as to whether or not he’s going to show up, but I personally don’t think we’re going to see Finn Balor show up in the Royal Rumble match. That is, unless, he’s going to win it. If he’s in, he wins.
If they aren’t going to have him win the match, then he isn’t going to be in it. Simple as that, in my book.
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