What will the match order be at Royal Rumble 2019?

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This year's Royal Rumble is a busy card, with nine matches on the show, including two hour-long Royal Rumble matches. On paper, it's the best card WWE has put together in years, but delivery will come down to how the show is booked, including the order matches take place in.

Match order can tell you a lot about a show, particularly with a Royal Rumble. With that in mind, let's take a look at the order WWE could have planned for tonight's matches.

#1 Buddy Murphy vs. Kalisto vs. Hideo Itami vs. Akira Tozawa

We already know that this match will take place on the pre-show. It being a Cruiserweight title match should have made that obvious enough. This will be the start of the pre-show, coming before any other match on the card when the arena is still mostly empty. That's just how the Cruiserweight title and the purple brand is treated.

It will still be a good match nevertheless. Buddy Murphy is nothing if not consistent, and it will be interesting to see how he defends his title against three other people at once. This should get the crowd amped up for things to come later.

#2 Rusev vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

What a year Nakamura has had. Last year, he won the Royal Rumble match, a match which he was advertised as being one of the star attractions. Now he's shunted to the pre-show, and while he might appear in the Rumble match later, it's still a huge drop for him.

Rusev has gotten in on the vanishing act since he became United States Champion as well. The match should be fine, but this being added to the pre-show as an afterthought tells us much about what the company thinks about the United States Championship.

#3 Asuka vs. Becky Lynch

Now we move on to the main card, and while most of the matches can start the show with a bang, this one is the most appropriate. It's essential that the Asuka vs Becky Lynch match takes place relatively early on in the night. This is so that Becky Lynch can enter the women's Royal Rumble match later.

If this doesn't take place early and Becky Lynch misses the Royal Rumble, fans won't be pleased, and we might well see a repeat of the 2014 and 2015 disasters.

For Asuka, Becky, and the Rumble's sake, this match should open the show, or be close to it.

#4 Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles

After the Asuka vs. Becky match, the successor will have a tough time living up, but if there's anything on the card that can, it would be this one. These two guys can go full speed ahead to keep things at a fever pitch.

It would also be appropriate to have this match take place at this time for another reason - it leaves open the possibility of the loser (probably AJ Styles) entering the men's Royal Rumble match later in the night. Styles would be one of the dark horses to win the contest, and many would like to see him in the Rumble match.

#5 Ronda Rousey vs. Sasha Banks

Ronda Rousey and Sasha Banks should be able to keep things exciting in the fifth spot on the Rumble card. Placing the match here also opens the possibility of Sasha Banks entering the women's Royal Rumble match, since she's unlikely to win the title.

When you think of Banks' performance at last year's Rumble, where she lasted nearly an hour and made everyone she came in contact with look good, she should be part of that match. It would also be a good way to tease coming feuds in the tag team division.

#6 Men's Royal Rumble match

With three firecrackers in a row, it would be best to give the crowd some time to recharge its batteries. Rumble matches can do that, as the pace slows at times while picking up at other times.

Like last year, the big story is centering around the women's Royal Rumble match, so the men's match should take place before it. That's just the way it's worked out.

Regardless, a Rumble match is still a Rumble match. The guys will put on a show, slowing down or picking up the pace as needed, until we hopefully get to the right winner.

#7 The Bar vs. The Miz and Shane McMahon

One match has to be the sacrificial lamb, and this is the clear one on the card to put in that spot. The crowd will want to recharge after the first Rumble match, so this is the best one to allow it to do so.

It might under-sell these guys, but this is the least anticipated match on the night, no matter how much Shane McMahon might be hyped up by the company. It would be most appropriate to place this match after the first Royal Rumble.

#8 Brock Lesnar vs. Finn Balor

Like last year, the Universal Championship match will come after the men's Royal Rumble match. It's tough luck that Finn Balor won't be able to participate after making such an impression last year, but he was never a favorite to win the contest anyway, and the roster is deep enough without him, unlike the way the women's equivalent would be without Becky or Sasha.

This should be a good match that gets the crowd back into things, and the disappointing ending will leave everyone hoping for something better to close out the show.

#9 Women's Royal Rumble match

Last year, it was about history. This year, it's about drama. The most explosive angle in the company now deals with the ongoing rivalry between Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, and Ronda Rousey, and now is the time to get the main battles of this war started. As such, this match needs to be the main event.

Everyone will be thinking about only one thing - will Becky enter or will she not? She needs to, and the show needs to close out with her winning the Royal Rumble match. Charlotte has been set up as the heel no one wants to see win, so Becky throwing a monkey wrench into things is a must.

It will ultimately make the difference between this year being remembered fondly or going down in infamy. We need to have the show fade out with Becky Lynch standing tall as the second women's Royal Rumble match winner.