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The 2019 Royal Rumble is now just three months away and already there have been a number of theories when it comes to who the winner could be. One of the most recent rumors suggested that WWE could be looking at Andrade "Cien" Almas since he's been one of the standout stars on SmackDown since his arrival back in April.
WrestleVotes recently declared on Twitter that WWE's current plan is to allow the victor to be a former winner of the match, which means that the net has closed somewhat on who the possibilities could be.
This is the 31st annual Royal Rumble, which means there are a lot of former winners for WWE to choose from, but just five that could potentially be on the company's radar at present.
#5 Brock Lesnar
Given how dominant The Beast Incarnate has been over the past few years, many fans will have forgotten that he has already won The Royal Rumble match, but his victory came all the way back in 2003.
Lesnar won the right to challenge for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XIX where he managed to defeat Kurt Angle and famously botched a shooting star press which gave him a concussion. This was just a year before his WWE departure, but he returned to the company back in 2012 and has since been part of both the 2016 and 2017 Royal Rumble matches but has been unable to recreate his historic win from 15 years ago.
Lesnar faces Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman for the Universal Championship in Saudi Arabia on November 2nd, but if Lesnar is unable to reclaim his title, he will go to the back of the queue and a Royal Rumble win could well be the only way for him to get back into the title picture.
#4 The Undertaker
The Undertaker has been on his "final run" in WWE for around five years now, but he's slowly running out of opponents that he has left to face. Undertaker was famously defeated by Roman Reigns at last year's WrestleMania and it was thought that he had finally retired from the ring, only to return and face John Cena at this year's Showcase of the Immortals.
When it comes to The Royal Rumble, The Deadman has already tasted victory back in 2007 and was eliminated from the match by Roman Reigns back in 2017 when he made his last appearance. If WWE wanted The Undertaker to go out on a high then a great storyline would be for him to win The Royal Rumble, 11 years after his last victory and then go on to face Roman Reigns in the main event, but this year allow Undertaker to come out on top and retire as Champion.
#3 Rey Mysterio
Rey Mysterio famously won the 2006 Royal Rumble match when he lasted for more than an hour from the number two position and then went on to become World Champion at WrestleMania WWE when he defeated both Kurt Angle and Randy Orton.
Thirteen years later, Rey Mysterio emerged as part of last year's Royal Rumble to a thunderous ovation and stole the show. With Mysterio's status with WWE still up in the air, it could be next year's Royal Rumble where he finally makes his return and once again could be looking at winning one of the biggest matches of the year once again. If Rey Mysterio won the match he would then have the choice of SmackDown or Raw, which means that the WWE Universe could have a fantasy match main eventing WrestleMania 35.
#2 Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels is widely regarded as the best wrestler in WWE history and given the accolades that he achieved throughout his career, it's hard to argue against it. Michaels has already racked up two Royal Rumble wins back in 1995 and 1996 and more than two decades later, he could be looking for a third.
Michaels is rumored to be looking at a return to the ring in the coming months and could then be part of around five matches. It's hard to imagine that he won't take this opportunity to dip his toe back into The Royal Rumble match and if WWE played it right, he could become just the second man in history to win the match three times behind Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Michaels could then go on to WrestleMania and bow out of WWE once again as a main eventer.
#1 The Rock
The most obvious choice to win The Royal Rumble next year would be former World Champion The Rock. There has been a rumor for a long time that The Rock could come back and main event WrestleMania against Roman Reigns, ever since The People's Champion popped up back at WrestleMania 2015 and tried to put Roman over.
The Rock is another star that has already tasted victory when it comes to WWE's annual match but was unable to capture the Championship in his match at WrestleMania 2000. Betting odds have supported the theory that The Rock could make his WWE return at next year's Rumble and WrestleVotes recent Tweet only adds more pieces to puzzle.
