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The Royal Rumble presents a unique opportunity for one WWE Superstar. The winner of the Rumble match has a guaranteed championship opportunity for their brand's world title at WrestleMania.
The Royal Rumble match was created by Pat Patterson, the first-ever WWE Intercontinental Champion, in 1988. "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan was the winner of that match which had 20 competitors.
With the exception of 2011, the Rumble match has had 30 participants ever since. Beginning in 1993, the winner of this match would be granted the opportunity at the WWE Championship at WrestleMania.
Yokozuna was the first person to gain that opportunity and cashed in on it by defeating Bret Hart at WrestleMania IX, only to be challenged by Hulk Hogan and lose the title minutes later.
The roster for 2018's Royal Rumble will likely be stacked with WWE Superstars from both Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live. This year will be the first ever Royal Rumble match for some of pro wrestling's greatest including Shinsuke Nakamura and Bobby Roode.
This article will take a look at five WWE Superstars that have a good chance of winning the Royal Rumble for the first time in their career. Continue on to see number five!
#5 #4 Samoa Joe
One of the most dangerous wrestlers that will probably in the Royal Rumble in 2018 is Samoa Joe. He made his debut on the main roster on January 30th this year after many speculated he'd make his debut in the 2017 Rumble match itself. There were reports that Joe was actually going to be #30 at Royal Rumble 2017.
The WWE booked Joe to be an absolute monster during his debut year on the main roster. He's come very close to winning the WWE Universal Championship on a couple of occasions this year, including a one-on-one match against Brock Lesnar at WWE Great Balls Of Fire this past July.
Joe has all of the tools to win the Royal Rumble match, the only thing going against him is the lack of experience with this type of match. The wrong draw or who's in the ring when he enters could go against him, but he's an assassin who can catch on quickly.
Baron Corbin
It was difficult leaving such WWE Superstars as Bobby Roode, Dean Ambrose, and Seth Rollins off of this list. I think they have a great chance at being a future Rumble winner, but I don't think 2018 is the year for them to win the Rumble.
I put Corbin on this list because the WWE was high on him before having him win the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32. He also won the Money In The Bank Ladder Match but was unsuccessful in his cash-in attempt thanks to John Cena.
The fact that he's won a major battle royal previously is big, and so is the fact that he's had a great two-year run on the main roster since the call-up from NXT. I think it's too early for Roode, and the Ambrose/Rollins combo may still be tag champs going into mania; which leads me to put Corbin on here at number five.
#3 Kevin Owens
Kevin Owens made his main roster debut in the WWE since the middle of 2015 and earned a lot of gold along the way. Owens has become the WWE United States Champion three times, the WWE Intercontinental Champion twice, and was the second ever WWE Universal Champion.
It makes perfect sense that the crafty Owens could add Royal Rumble Winner and WrestleMania main eventer to his resume in 2018. Now that he has the help of his "guardian angel" Sami Zayn, a man who cost him the Rumble in 2016, he could win the match if the cards fell right.
If AJ Styles retains the WWE Championship, a reprise of the feud with Kevin Owens is definitely a WrestleMania-worthy feud and worthy match as well. Owens has a lot of enemies on the SmackDown Live roster though, and that could work against him.
#2 Braun Strowman
Until Braun Strowman wins the Royal Rumble, he will always make a list of this sort because of the intimidating force that he has become since breaking free from the Wyatt Family during the brand split of July 2016.
Much like Samoa Joe, Strowman has nearly taken the WWE Universal Championship away from Brock Lesnar on a couple of occasions including their one-on-one match at No Mercy this past September.
It is not a matter of if, but a matter of when Strowman is a world champion within the WWE, and he's definitely one of the favorites to win this year's match. It'll take an army of WWE Superstars to eliminate him, and if he draws one of the later numbers, look out!
#1 Shinsuke Nakamura
A common theme on this list with four of the five wrestlers is they have come VERY close to their first world championship with the WWE, but have yet to win one. Shinsuke Nakamura falls into that category as well due to his failed attempts to take the WWE Championship off of Jinder Mahal.
Shinsuke Nakamura is my prediction to win the 2018 Royal Rumble, and as long as AJ Styles retains his WWE Championship against Jinder Mahal at Clash Of The Champions, we will have a dream match at WrestleMania that will definitely steal the show.
The WWE has rightfully turned Nakamura into a special attraction in the WWE, and I feel like we're in store for a tremendous moment to close the show when The Artist tosses that final competitor over the top rope.
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