Predicting each brand's remaining representatives for the Royal Rumble matches

The first entrants for the men's Rumble match
The first entrants for the men's Rumble match

It has been rumored for the last few months that this year's Royal Rumble will involve 10 Superstars each from RAW, SmackDown and NXT. While that's great for NXT and it furthers the yellow and black brand's place in the WWE hierarchy, it will mean that a lot of stars will miss out on a chance in the annual battle royal.

The big news from RAW was that current WWE Champion Brock Lesnar would be entering at #1 instead of defending his title at the PPV. It's a way to prolong his reign as Champion but it takes away a title opportunity at the PPV for someone like Randy Orton, Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens or someone else.

The fact still remains that each brand could very likely be represented by 10 stars each. Paul Heyman claimed that it didn't matter if the stars in the match were from RAW, SmackDown or NXT because The Beast would destroy all challengers.

In addition to the current WWE Champ, six more RAW stars were also announced for the match. SmackDown's Roman Reigns had announced himself as the first participant in the match last week and he was joined this week by Lesnar, Ricochet, AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, Ricochet and Erick Rowan. That only leaves three more spots for RAW competitors.

Regarding the women, only Charlotte Flair has been officially announced as a participant in the women's match. Who will join those already announced in the match?

Here are predictions regarding who will represent each brand in the 2020 Royal Rumble. These are educated guesses based on current storylines and TV appearances, but there are always some surprises and unexpected returns.


10 SmackDown Women

Nikki Cross
Nikki Cross

Only one woman has been declared for the match in Charlotte Flair. She's on RAW and it appears that Lacey Evans will be challenging Bayley for the SmackDown Women's title at the PPV. That potentially takes both Evans and the Champ out of the battle royal, but Becky Lynch competed in the Rumble after failing to recapture the title last year.

The weird thing about the blue brand's female roster is that due to current circumstances, it only would offer up nine entrants if Bayley and Evans don't join the match. Ember Moon is listed as a member of SmackDown but had double knee surgery. She's likely not going to be back in time to join the action at the end of the month.

If Evans and/or Bayley do double duty, then SmackDown's entire female division will essentially be in the Royal Rumble match. That's perfectly fine because most of them deserve a chance at a potential title shot anyways. Mickie James was out with an injury but may not be cleared in time to compete.

Naomi, Ruby Riott and Nia Jax were "left out of the draft pools" and thus could be explained away as members of SmackDown during the match should they return. Riott and Jax are both rehabbing injuries but are listed as returning in January 2020 according to Fightful's list of wrestling injuries and expected return dates.

The Usos returned to the blue brand, so when Naomi comes back, she'll be most likely be rejoining Friday night. WWE tries to keep married/dating couples together on their shows. The Rumble match would also be a good way to further the dissent between friends Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville since it appears they are headed for a break up.

10 SmackDown entrants: Evans, Rose, Deville, Naomi, Alexa Bliss, Nikki Cross, Carmella, Sasha Banks, Dana Brooke, Tamina

10 RAW Women

Charlotte Flair
Charlotte Flair

Charlotte Flair is the only woman to have declared for the match as of this writing. RAW's roster is a little harder to predict because of injuries to two women and due to a potential return from Ronda Rousey.

I don't think Rousey is going to be in the match because it would completely overshadow a potential Shayna Baszler appearance and win. Baszler is earmarked for the main roster after both her win at Survivor Series and her loss of the NXT Women's title to Rhea Ripley.

Stranger things have happened, though, so Rousey might make her way and appear either at the show in or the match itself. She already overshadowed one Rumble (when Asuka won) so it could happen once more.

The women who will likely represent Monday nights in the match are Flair, Natalya, Kairi Sane (if cleared), Peyton Royce, Billie Kay and Sarah Logan. There are women like Liv Morgan who just came back but who have competed in the match before. Zelina Vega isn't used much as a wrestler but she has also participated in a Rumble. A couple of them could also be returning from injury.

10 RAW entrants: Flair, Logan, Natalya, Kay, Royce, Sane, Morgan, Asuka, Ruby Riott, Nia Jax

10 SmackDown Men

Reigns was the first man to announce himself as a participant in the Rumble.
Reigns was the first man to announce himself as a participant in the Rumble.

The Intercontinental Championship and SmackDown Tag Team titles may both be defended at the PPV due to a need for matches. Both Women's titles are likely to be defended and with Lesnar not defending his title, it necessitates the other belts being up for grabs.

The feud between Braun Strowman and Shinsuke Nakamura has been teased for a month or so but it hasn't been officially announced. I think it will be, and the Monster Among Men will finally win his first singles title in the WWE. That would also provide an easy explanation as to why he both isn't in the Rumble and not winning it.

In regards to the tag titles, the New Day might pull double duty due to their overwhelming popularity. The WWE Universe wants to see Kofi Kingston get another chance at a major title and he usually delivers memorable moments in which he staves off elimination at the Royal Rumble. He needs to be in the match either way. Their opponents in a title defense, however, could be anyone like The Revival (again) or the Miz and John Morrison if they form a tag team based on their history.

There also might be some qualifying matches since there are so many deserving men who should be in the match. They could book the likes of the New Day battling Miz and Morrison for the right to be in the match or Dolph Ziggler against Otis for the privilege to compete. Or they could just announce the men like they did with RAW.

10 SmackDown entrants: Reigns, Kingston, Big E, Ziggler, Otis, Cesaro, King Corbin, Ali, Shorty G, Sheamus

10 RAW Men

Heyman announced that Lesnar would enter the 2020 match as the #1 entrant.
Heyman announced that Lesnar would enter the 2020 match as the #1 entrant.

With such a loaded roster on Monday nights, I thought they would have had some qualifying matches since only 10 spots could be open to each brand. Instead, several stars either announced their participation in the match or were announced by graphic on RAW.

As we all know by now, Brock Lesnar will be entering the match at No. 1 and won't be defending the WWE Championship. It's somewhat disappointing that he won't be battling against someone in one-on-one action, but that opponent would have likely lost to The Beast anyway. We now will likely see Lesnar's WrestleMania opponent set up in the match by whomever eliminates the Beast.

Drew McIntyre also put himself into the match while the likes of Randy Orton, Ricochet, Rey Mysterio, AJ Styles and Erick Rowan were also announced as RAW representatives. That leaves three spots for several talented and deserving wrestlers. The likes of Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe, Aleister Black, Andrade, Buddy Murphy, Lashley, Seth Rollins, Humberto Carillo and Rusev all could take part in the match.

The main factor is if the likes of Rusev, Lashley, Rollins, Owens and Joe all have matches prior to the Rumble match itself. Rollins won last year so he's not going to win this year. He might not even be in the match. There might be a Joe/Owens vs. the Authors of Pain match prior to the Rumble which would also take Owens and Joe out of the match. If that's the case it would make sense for Black, Murphy and Andrade to have the last three spots.

10 RAW entrants: Lesnar, Orton, Ricochet, Rowan, Mysterio, Styles, McIntyre, Buddy Murphy, Aleister Black, Andrade

10 NXT Women

Bianca Belair
Bianca Belair

Crrent NXT women Io Shirai, Candice LeRae, Xia Li and Rhea Ripley have represented the yellow and black brand in one of the last two years at the PPV. Kairi Sane and Ember Moon also participated in Rumble matches as parts of NXT but both women are members of the main roster now.

With 10 spots potentially open to the roster, however, a lot of talented women will get a chance to earn a match at WrestleMania 36. There are some names that seem like slam dunks - Shayna Baszler, Shirai, Bianca Belair, LeRae and Toni Storm. None of those women are currently Champions and will be met with raucous applause when/if they are in the match.

The rest of the representatives are a little harder to predict. Ripley was not NXT UK Women's Champion when she entered the match, losing the title a few weeks prior to the PPV. But since Storm isn't the Champion and has been featured lately in NXT, she seems like a likely participant.

The same goes with Kay Lee Ray who despite holding the NXT UK Women's title, should be in the match. A couple of the other spots are up for grabs between the rest of the roster.

10 NXT entrants: Shirai, Storm, LeRae, Belair, Baszler, Kay Lee Ray, Li, Dakota Kai, Mia Yim, Taynara Conti

10 NXT Men

The Original Bro
The Original Bro

As with the NXT women, there are loads of possibilities regarding which men from the yellow and black brand might show up. In the past, Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano, Aleister Black and Pete Dunne have all competed in the match while still members of NXT. I don't think Gargano or Cole will take part this year because they are both engulfed in top storylines in NXT. If they show up again it would almost necessitate a move to either RAW or SmackDown.

A lot of men recently made marks during the build to Survivor Series. Matt Riddle, Walter, Damian Priest and Keith Lee were all a part of the NXT Men's team at the PPV. I would expect all four of those men to be in the match as representatives of NXT/NXT UK.

Velveteen Dream would also be a shock return due to being out of action for a few months. His injury is to his back and back injuries are hard to figure out regarding return time table. He also has unfinished business with the Undisputed Era since they "put" him on the shelf. If he's cleared for action, he'd be a great pick to be in the Rumble.

Dominik Dijakovic was left off of the NXT team after helping Team Ciampa win at TakeOver: WarGames 2. He should get his chance in the battle royale. Another strange possibility would be if Finn Balor shows up as a representative of his new brand.

10 NXT entrants: Walter, Lee, Priest, Riddle, Dijakovic, Dunne, Tyler Bate, Isaiah "Swerve" Scott, Kushida, Killian Dain

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