Predicting all 30 Participants in the 2019 Men's Royal Rumble Match

Surprise Returns and Debuts:

Rey Mysterio made his surprise return at last year's Rumble

#8. Bray Wyatt - This spot was either between Bray or Matt Hardy. But as we saw Bray wrestle at Starrcade back in November, I chose to go with him. Also since predicting completely out-of-the-blue surprises like The Hurricane last year is near impossible.

#7. Kevin Owens - If you visit Kevin Owens' twitter page you will find a completely black profile picture and his name set as "Soon?" Initially, his injury was supposed to keep him out for 8 months. Thus his return should have been sometime in February. But WWE started promoting his return from December. Moreover, he was recently photographed and looked to have lost a lot of weight over his hiatus. Thus it is a good possibility that KO makes it in time for the Rumble and sets himself on the road to Wrestlemania.

#6. Sami Zayn - We just talked about Kevin Owens, so it's only fitting we talk about Sami Zayn now. Zayn has been out since June. He successfully underwent double rotator cuff repair surgery and is currently in rehab. A quick google search will tell you that the healing period from such a surgery is 4-6 weeks. It's been 7 months since we last saw Zayn. He should be in more than good enough shape by now. If you ask me, his return is more probable than KO's at the Rumble.

#5. Velveteen Dream - NXT has some amazing characters. Some incredible performers play truly captivating gimmicks for our entertainment. But none of those characters are quite like Velveteen Dream. Now Velveteen is the least likely to actually appear on the show among all 30 people I have here. I will even say that he will most likely NOT appear. Dream will also be participating in the When Worlds Collide tournament that will be held on the day of the Rumble. But still, if WWE needed someone from NXT to make an impression on the Rumble, Dream is the guy. I really don't want Ciampa or Gargano to be exposed to the main roster in this underwhelming fashion so, despite my best judgment, I will go with Dream

#4. Aleister Black - Black is an amazing wrestler. He is an amazing character and even an amazing promo. He has every tool necessary to succeed on the main roster and this, I believe, will be his official introduction to the WWE Universe. As one of NXT's top stars who has done basically everything he can on NXT, he will likely get called up after Wrestlemania. So just a little tease before a full-time shift cannot hurt.

#3. EC3 - EC3 and Lars Sullivan were announced as Main Roster call-ups late last year. But unlike Sullivan, who is rumored to be dealing with anxiety issues, EC3 actually made his debut at the taping of Main Event earlier this month. Also given his natural charisma and his looks, he is an obvious choice to debut at the Rumble. Someone like him can really benefit from making his debut to a huge pop and let his charisma take him from there.

#2. Kurt Angle - We haven't seen Angle since December when he defeated Corbin on Raw. WWE can get a gigantic pop from the crowd if they allow Angle in the Rumble match. He will definitely have a program heading into Wrestlemania and his return at the Rumble can just set seeds for it. A match against Drew McIntyre seems likely and returning to stop a rampaging McIntyre and eliminating him seems perfect for the story.

#1. Braun Strowman - Technically, Braun should have been on the Raw page. But I kept him for last because that is exactly where I expect him to appear at the Rumble. Brock Lesnar won't be losing his title so close to Wrestlemania, there is no way he will. So a furious Braun Strowman somehow replacing R-Truth at #30 and entering the Rumble fresh while everyone is tired is wrestling done right. Suppose the following scenario, R-Truth mistakenly enters the Women's Royal Rumble at #30. He is kicked out by the referees and Carmella isn't allowed in since Truth already took the spot. The officials give Carmella the Men's #30 spot jokingly and a furious Carmella rejects it. The #30 is kept ambiguous and we find out it's Braun at the very end.