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The Royal Rumble is now only a few days away and the card is the best in many years. We would hope to expect a great show on Sunday, but WWE has a very bad habit of dropping the ball when everything is set up for a smooth goal. The right booking decisions on Sunday are essential or the great card will disappoint and leave fans feeling shortchanged.
It's unlikely that Brock Lesnar or Ronda Rousey will drop their respective titles, nor should they at this time. Like it or not, the SmackDown tag team titles are a lock to change hands. Rusev will probably retain his United States Championship, even though his reign is quickly becoming as forgotten as Shinsuke Nakamura's. What about the other matches on Sunday night, then?
Let's hope WWE does the right thing and that these things happen in Phoenix. If they do, WWE could solidify this as the best pay per view in recent memory.
#1 Buddy Murphy must retain the Cruiserweight Championship
Buddy Murphy has had a nice reign atop the Cruiserweight division, going on almost four months now, but it still feels premature for him to drop the title, certainly to any of his opponents in the fatal four-way match with him.
The odds will be stacked against the champion, but this is as good a time as any to prove that he's the unstoppable juggernaut of the division that he claims to be. The fact is that he's still far and away the best choice to lead 205 Live at the moment. Anyone but him leaving the Royal Rumble with the Cruiserweight title would be the wrong choice.
Murphy should have his toughest opponent slowly built up on the road to WrestleMania.
#2 Asuka must retain the SmackDown Women's Championship
It's far too early for Asuka to be losing the SmackDown Women's Championship. Despite her recent renaissance, she's still very much recovering from a span of horrendous booking from last April to November. Her dropping the title, especially after Becky Lynch's insults, would feel like putting her back in a pit she doesn't belong in. For Asuka's sake, she needs to retain and shut Becky's big mouth on Sunday.
For Becky, Asuka needs to retain as well. Regaining the SmackDown Women's Championship is a step backwards for her, not forward. Becky's destination should be a date with Ronda Rousey at MetLife Stadium. Getting the SmackDown Women's Championship back would complicate that picture, if not preclude it.
For both of their sake, Asuka should retain after a furious brawl of a match where both come out looking like warriors.
#3 Daniel Bryan must retain the WWE Championship
It seems we're running with a theme of retentions this time. That's because WWE's Champion roster is in a good place as the company heads into WrestleMania 35. For the most part, these men and women should stay champions during this biggest time of the year for the company.
That's certainly the case with Daniel Bryan. He's done more with the WWE Championship in two months than AJ Styles did in a year. Bryan makes everything he's involved with feel like it matters more and his heel turn has been masterful. AJ Styles regaining the title would be another step backwards, rather than forward.
AJ Styles should lose on Sunday and then we can have a true race on our hands to figure out Bryan's challenger for WrestleMania in April. The field is wide open and anyone can potentially step up.
#4 Seth Rollins must win the men's Royal Rumble match
With each Royal Rumble, there's one guy who's "year" it naturally is. This is the guy that's stood out the most and should be the headliner of WrestleMania. WWE's refusal to pick this natural guy has led to disappointing Rumbles over the past decade. This time it's another no brainer.
Seth Rollins has been the highlight of a dismal Raw for the last year. On Monday, he cut one of the most authentic and relatable promos in a long time. The crowd is behind him. They want to see him win.
Brock Lesnar should retain the title on Sunday for one reason - to drop it to Rollins at WrestleMania. Rollins being the hard-working mainstay of Raw while its absentee champion didn't care about the show's decline is a story that writes itself and feels authentic in ways it didn't with Roman Reigns.
It's time to crown Rollins as the company's ace. That should start this Sunday.
#5 Becky Lynch must win the women's Royal Rumble match
This is another no-brainer, and if Charlotte Flair was there on Tuesday night to play the antagonist that nobody wanted to see win the Royal Rumble, she did a decent job, right down to her cringe reference to "Ken."
This has been Becky Lynch's year and it's time to capitalize.
After a humbling of some kind from Asuka, there would be yet another obstacle in her way. How can she possibly hope to win the Rumble, having just competed in such a grueling match? Again, it's a story that writes itself. Becky will want to prove herself again, giving her a great character evolution, from arrogant to humbled, to triumph again in one night.
To make things better, Ronda Rousey should taunt her, to better set up the match everyone wants to see.
Charlotte Flair will probably find her way involved in it somehow, but the fans want this Rumble to be Becky's. WWE should give it to them.
