With only hours to go before the first pay-per-view of the New Year, The Royal Rumble looks like a card that's stacked and ready to deliver on a massive scale. We cannot remember a more unpredictable Royal Rumble match ever.
The rest of the card too is filled with potentially classic matches and match-of-the-year contenders. However, as we have seen time and again, WWE has a tendency to ruin even the most perfect scenarios.
Here are 5 things that WWE should try and avoid doing to ensure that this event goes off without a hitch. Do you agree? Let us know in the comments.
#5 Having Braun Strowman win the Royal Rumble match
In a company filled with smaller athletes than in the days of yore, Braun Strowman stands out of the lot, in every sense. The massive giant has been one of Raw’s biggest successes, growing from the mid card to main event status.
With the kind of push he’s received recently, it is definitely not impossible to presume that he may go on to win the Royal Rumble. We sincerely hope that this is not the case.
Also read: 10 Potential surprise returns and debuts at the Royal Rumble 2017
While Strowman can certainly put on a decent match with a good worker like Sami Zayn, he’s not ready to main-event the biggest PPV event of the world's largest wrestling promotion just yet.
He's grown leaps and bounds over the past few months, and we are certain that he’s on his way to conquer great heights, but for now, there’s no shame in being eliminated by one of the other giants who will be participating this year.
#4 Not having enough surprise entrants
One of the greatest thrills of the Rumble match is having the clock count down to zero, and anticipating who's next (sorry for using the phrase, Goldberg).
Last year, while AJ Styles blew the roof off the building with his debut, there weren't as many surprise entrants as we had originally presumed there'd be.
With rumblings (no pun intended) of Kurt Angle’s return and Kenny Omega possibly being an entrant, WWE needs a few surprise entrants in the Rumble match to make the crowd mark out.
The easiest way to do this is call up NXT talent, and who’s better to call up, than Samoa Joe?
After dropping the championship to Nakamura in Japan, and losing in the steel cage rematch, Joe hasn't been seen on NXT. Nakamura’s moved on to a new program (with Bobby Roode), but his opponent seems to have disappeared.
Is he waiting in the wings to be called up to the main roster? Will Tye Dillinger also debut at number 10?
#3 Making The Club lose yet again
Remember when Gallows and Anderson were the hottest names in wrestling, coming in from Japan, aligning with Styles and striking terror in the Raw tag team division? Those days are long gone now.
As Vince McMahon was so hell-bent on The New Day breaking Demolition's record and becoming the longest reigning tag team champions in history, The Club slid down the ranks.
After losing month after month on TV, The Club are just as meaningless as a unit now, as the Golden Truth. Okay, maybe not that bad! But Anderson and Gallows really need a win on a big stage to appear like serious competitors.
This will give Cesaro and Sheamus quality opponents to work against as well. Everyone benefits if The Club pick up the tag team titles at the second largest pay-per-view of 2017.
#2 Having Sasha Banks go over Nia Jax
Compare Nia Jax with Braun Strowman. Yet another giant in her own right, Jax had a lot of momentum after her debut. Unlike Strowman though, she's lost clean at a number of places, completely stunting her growth as an unbeatable monster in the roster.
What she needs to regain a semblance of authenticity as a top heel again is a clean win against a star like Sasha Banks at the Rumble. A loss won't hurt Sasha, and will definitely help Jax grow.
If not, much like The Club, she too will become a victim of bad booking and lose all credibility.
#1 Making Randy Orton turn on Bray Wyatt
After a series of disappointing matches following the brand extension, Randy Orton aligned himself with Bray Wyatt. Nobody expected this alliance to last, and it was presumed that Randy Orton would destroy the Wyatt Family from within (as he has done with Luke Harper getting ousted from the bearded backwoods family).
Him turning on Bray Wyatt at the Royal Rumble would be a predictable conclusion to the storyline. Do we want any more Randy Orton-Bray Wyatt matches anyway, honestly?
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