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The 32nd edition of the Royal Rumble event will take place on Sunday, 27 January 2019, in Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona.
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I think that we can all agree that WWE is doing an exceptional job in building this event. Every week on Smackdown and Raw we see some interesting developments in the storylines.
Last week on RAW we saw a noteworthy change in the Universal Championship match. Finn Balor won a fatal four-way match and was chosen as a replacement for Strowman to face the Beast Incarnate for the Universal title.
Strowman was removed from the match as Vince McMahon (in kayfabe) was not happy with Strowman as he broke his Limousine and raised his voice when he was talking to him.
As of now, 6 championship matches have been announced for the Royal Rumble PPV.
The following championships will be defended at the PPV-
1) Universal Championship
2) WWE Championship
3) Raw Women's Championship
4) SmackDown Women's Championship
5) SmackDown Tag Team Championships
6) Cruiserweight Championship
In this article, I will predict the results of all the championship matches. The predictions are on the basis of the recent booking of the superstars, and the rumours surrounding their futures. So Let's Begin.
#6 Buddy Murphy (c) vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Kalisto vs. Hideo Itami - WWE Cruiserweight Championship
After his victory at WWE's TLC, Buddy Murphy told 205 Live general manager Drake Maverick that he is ready for a challenge, so he'll get what he asked for, at the Royal Rumble.
Murphy will defend his title against three of the best Superstars of 205 Live. He will face Kalisto, Akira Tozawa and Hideo Itami in a fatal four-way match. All the men involved in this match are astounding in-ring performers and they will definitely create a spectacular match.
The three challengers are amazing performers but it doesn't look like any of them is walking out of the Royal Rumble as the Cruiserweight Champion. So my prediction is that Buddy Murphy will retain the Cruiserweight Championship
Prediction-Buddy Murphy retains the WWE Cruiserweight Championship
#5 The Bar (c) vs. The Miz and Shane McMahon - WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship
This one is tough to predict as the Bar has been booked pretty strongly by WWE. Then again, the newly formed team of Shane McMahon and The Miz which claims to be 'The Best Tag Team in The World' is extremely engaging and the WWE Universe loves them. Also, they will most likely not be defeated in their first match.
The team of The Miz and Shane McMahon has a better chance of winning as they have entertained the audience with their new and refreshing gimmicks and the Smackdown tag team division needs some significant changes to make it enjoyable once again.
They will most likely win the titles and lose them at a future PPV due to some misunderstanding which will ignite a feud between them and that feud can reach its conclusion at 'The Grandest Stage Of Them All'.
Prediction - The Miz and Shane Mcmahon defeat The Bar and become the new SmackDown Tag Team Champions
#4 Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Sasha Banks - WWE Raw Women's Championship
This match came as a total surprise as most of us expected that, The Boss 'n' Hug Connection will be chasing the newly announced women's tag team championships.
But instead of that, WWE made a very interesting decision by booking Sasha Banks against Ronda Rousey at the Royal Rumble.
Both the women are incredible in-ring performers and their match will certainly be worth watching but the build of this match is quite unimpressive. A 'face vs face' match in this situation is not working.
Rousey will most likely win the match as Banks is not the right choice to dethrone her and certainly not at this time as WWE has put a lot of work to make Rousey look invincible.
Also, rumours have been floating around that Rousey will face Lynch and Charlotte at Wrestlemania, so WWE will definitely not make Rousey look weak before the event.
Prediction- Rousey retains the Raw Women's Championship
#3 Asuka (c) vs. Becky Lynch - WWE SmackDown Women's Championship
This match is really difficult to predict as both Asuka and Becky Lynch are crowd favourites and are also over with the WWE Universe.
Both of them are incredible performers and will definitely have a marvellous match at the PPV.
Asuka has more chances of winning this match as according to some rumours, Becky is the favourite to win the Royal Rumble.
So this will most probably how the events will take place- Lynch will lose the match and then enter the Rumble as a surprise entrant and win the rumble.
But don't expect Asuka to take a clean win, there will definitely be some kind of outside interference as WWE will not allow The Man to take a clean pin if she is set to win the Rumble.
Prediction- Asuka retains the Smackdown Women's Championship
#2 Daniel Bryan (c) vs. AJ Styles - WWE Championship
This rivalry has been going on for quite some time now. Bryan and Styles have faced each other in a couple of matches over the past few months. But still, they have managed to keep the rivalry entertaining.
WWE is doing a tremendous job in building this rivalry. Every week we see some interesting segments involving Bryan and Styles which further intensifies their rivalry.
The match at the Royal Rumble will most probably be the last match between these two for now and they will face new opponents in the future.
But who will walk out of the Royal Rumble as WWE Champion?
I think it will most probably be Bryan. The current heel character of Bryan is playing off amazingly and if he loses the title it will significantly hurt his credibility.
One way that he can win the match is with the help of outside interference. If Bryan wins by some outside help, it will reduce the impact of loss on Styles.
Prediction- Bryan retains the WWE Championship
#1 Brock Lesnar (c) vs Finn Balor- WWE Universal Championship
I can say with 100% conviction that this was the biggest swerve that WWE has thrown up in some time. Who would have thought that Strowman will be removed from the Universal Title match and Balor will replace him as the contender for the Universal Title?
The fans loved the decision of the management to finally give the push that Balor deserves but, will he be able to dethrone the Beast Incarnate? Most of the people think that Lesnar will squash Balor and retain the title but, WWE can shock us all by making Balor the champion.
Lately, Balor is being booked pretty strongly, he defeated McIntyre and Ziggler in a triple threat match, and won the fatal four-way match by pinning John Cena and all of this shows that WWE believes in Balor.
The ratings of WWE are falling and one of the reasons for that is a part-time Universal Champion like Brock Lesnar so WWE might be planning to make a full-time superstar like Balor the Universal Champion.
Many people might complain that Balor is not a believable opponent against Lesnar but if he appears as the demon king he will certainly look more convincing and will have a chance to dethrone the Beast. I think that Balor will defeat Lesnar at Royal Rumble.
Prediction-Balor defeats Lesnar and becomes the new Universal Champion
