WWE Royal Rumble 2018: Early predictions for all the matches

The 32nd edition of the annual Royal Rumble pay per view is just two weeks away now, and the build towards the event has commenced in a full swing. The superstars have been announcing their entries into the Royal Rumble in the last few weeks through promo segments on television as well as through posts on social media.

Currently, eight matches are announced for the Royal Rumble PPV, which will be held on January 27 in Chase Field, Phoenix.

Brock Lesnar (c) vs Braun Strowman for Universal Championship, Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Sasha Banks for the WWE Raw Women's Championship, Daniel Bryan (c) vs. AJ Styles for the WWE Championship, and Becky Lynch vs. Asuka (c) for the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship are the four singles matches for World championships on both brands.

Considering the latest booking trends here are the predictions for the 8 matches announced so far.

#8 Asuka (c) vs. Becky Lynch - WWE SmackDown Women's Championship match

This match can practically go either way as both the competitors have a chance to emerge victorious at Royal Rumble PPV. But Becky Lynch is one of the strong favorites to win the Royal Rumble so that gives Asuka the upper hand in this encounter.

Asuka might manage to retain the Smackdown Women's Championship either cleanly or through a disqualification victory. There are high chances of a disqualification finish for this match, as WWE would not want Becky Lynch to lose cleanly before her rumored clash with Ronda Rousey at Wrestlemania 35.

Expect Asuka to retain the Smackdown Women's championship which would then free up Becky Lynch for bigger things awaiting her in the near future.

Prediction - Asuka wins and retains the WWE Smackdown Women's Championship

#7 Buddy Murphy (c) vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Kalisto vs. Hideo Itami - Fatal four-way match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship

Four quality in-ring superstars Buddy Murphy, Kalisto, Akira Tozawa and Hideo Itami from WWE 205 Live are expected to steal the show at the event through their performance. All the three contenders have earned the opportunity to fight for the primary championship on WWE 205 live but it does not look like any of them are going to win the championship at the event.

Buddy Murphy is expected to retain his Cruiserweight championship after a hard-fought battle.

Prediction - Buddy Murphy retains the WWE Cruiserweight Championship

#6 Daniel Bryan (c) vs. AJ Styles - WWE Championship match

The two superstars have faced each other multiple times in the last few months and had decent outings. This is expected to be their last encounter before both of them move onto fresh challengers.

So the author's bold prediction would be that new Daniel Bryan will win the contest either cleanly or through an outside interference from a certain debuting megastar whose name ends with Omega, which then set's up a marquee bout between him and the Phenomenal one at Wrestlemania 35.

Prediction - Daniel Bryan retains the WWE Championship

#5 The Bar (Cesaro and Sheamus) (c) vs. The Miz and Shane McMahon - WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship match

The unlikely teams have always been successful in WWE as they managed to entertain WWE universe through unique chemistry and antics. Even both members of the Bar were initially at loggerheads before becoming a potent team.

Shane McMahon and the Miz are the latest unlikely duo who have recently aligned to form a tag team and are set to challenge for the Tag team titles at the upcoming PPV.

Expect Shane and Miz to win the titles at the event only to lose them in the near future to set up a one on one match between Shane McMahon and the Miz at Wrestlemania 35.

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 match

This match came out of the blue, as until very recently Sasha Banks and Bayley were regarded as strong contenders to win the inaugural Women's tag team titles. Ronda Rousey running out of credible challengers on Raw has forced WWE to book this match for the Royal Rumble PPV.

This is expected to be a one-match affair between the two superstars as it is clear that Ronda Rousey is just biding her time until Wrestlemania 35 where she is set to face the toughest challenge yet in her WWE career.

Sasha Banks also will in all likelihood resume her tag team partnership with Bayley after this encounter and will be on a pursuit to win the Women's Tag team Titles.

Expect a hard-fought quality bout between the two top superstars with Ronda Rousey emerging victorious cleanly in the end.

Prediction - Ronda Rousey wins and retains the Raw Women's Championship

#3 30-woman Royal Rumble match for a women's championship match at WrestleMania 35

Will The Man have the last laugh at this year's Women's Royal Rumble match?

The Women's Royal Rumble match has two undisputed favorites this year in the form of Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch. Some people are even speculating that both will be joint winners after an ambiguous finish to set up a triple threat match for Raw Women's Championship at Wrestlemania 35.

Coming to other contenders, Alexa Bliss, Nia Jax, and Bayley seems like the only other contenders with a farfetched chance. Becky Lynch is currently scheduled to face Asuka at the Royal Rumble for the Smackdown Women's Championship but that may not restrict her from entering the Royal Rumble match as several superstars have done it in the past, with most recent being Roman Reigns in 2017.

Expect a clean victory for Becky Lynch at the upcoming Royal Rumble PPV as Charlotte Flair can be bought back into the mix in the later stages through the Elimination Chamber match.

Prediction - Becky Lynch wins the Royal Rumble match and earns herself a World championship match opportunity at Wrestlemania 35

#2 Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Braun Strowman - WWE Universal Championship match

The build to the Universal Championship match has been pretty dismal up to now, and the things do not seem bright for the future also, as Braun Strowman is yet to be cleared for in-ring return. The awkward promo segment between the two behemoths on last week's episode of Raw played a major role in dampening their feud.

Braun Strowman's popularity is slowly fading away due to lousy booking decisions by WWE as recurring losses to Brock Lesnar have hurt his credibility as a main-eventer. Coming to this encounter, Braun Strowman looks highly unlikely to emerge victorious at the event as he lost a lot of momentum in the last few months.

Also, Brock Lesnar is now expected to remain in the company at least until Wrestlemania 35 so WWE might continue with him as a champion until the mega event and give a more popular superstar a chance to dethrone him on the grand stage.

Prediction - Brock Lesnar retains the WWE Universal Champion

#1 30-man Royal Rumble match for a world championship match at WrestleMania 35

The overwhelming favorite to win this year's Men's Royal Rumble match - Seth Rollins

Major Superstars like John Cena, Drew McIntyre, and Seth Rollins have already announced their entry into this year's 30-man Royal Rumble match, and also they are regarded as the early favorites to win the match. Many more superstars are expected to be added to the match in the coming weeks on Raw and Smackdown.

The results of both the World Championship matches at the Royal Rumble are going to play a huge role in deciding the winner of this Royal Rumble match. Both the current champions Daniel Bryan and Brock Lesnar are widely expected to retain their respective championships at the event.

Right now no one on Smackdown live seems a credible contender to win the Royal Rumble match so the winner is likely to emerge from Monday Night Raw. Seth Rollins is the overwhelming favorite to win the match given the current booking direction on Raw.

If Brock Lesnar is still the Universal Champion after Royal Rumble then Seth Rollins will in all likelihood be the victor else if WWE springs a surprise and books Braun Strowman to win the Universal Championship then Drew McIntyre may be the strong contender to win the rumble.

Finn Balor and John Cena are the next possible contenders in case the above-mentioned superstars fail to win.

Prediction - Seth Rollins wins the Royal Rumble match and earns himself a World championship match opportunity at Wrestlemania 35