WWE Royal Rumble 2019 Preview and Analysis

The road to WrestleMania begins

Get all WWE Royal Rumble 2019 live commentary, live updates, and highlights here

We're finally about to kickstart the Royal Rumble, which means the beginning of the road to WrestleMania! It's always the most exciting period of the year. This year at the Royal Rumble, we have quite a stacked card, featuring seven matches on the main card.

The best part is that every single match on the card, minus the two Rumble matches itself, are all championship bouts. With every title but one being defended, it's going to be nothing short of exciting.

We have two matches on the kickoff show. The first will feature United States Champion Rusev defending his title against former champion Shinsuke Nakamura. The United States title has hardly been featured since Nakamura won the title, and we expect Rusev to come out with the victory.

In the second match, we see Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy taking on his toughest test yet, as he goes up against three other superstars in Hideo Itami, Akira Tozawa and Kalisto. We expect the champion to retain in this instance as well.

Moving on from the kickoff show, let's look at the seven main card matches and what to expect from them!

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#7. The Bar (c) vs Shane McMahon & The Miz - SmackDown Tag Team Championship

It's 2019 and Shane McMahon is competing for a title! Can you believe it? The partnership between Shane McMahon and The Miz has been nothing short of fascinating. United by their World Cup trophy, The Miz finally convinced Shane McMahon to join forces with him.

Sooner than later, The Miz approached The Bar and asked for a title shot, which they gladly accepted. As great as The Miz and Shane are together, there's no doubt that the odds are stacked against them.

However, we still firmly believe that The Best Tag Team In The World, as they call themselves, have a big chance of upsetting The Bar and walking out as tag champions!

#6. Ronda Rousey (c) vs Sasha Banks - RAW Women's Championship

This is a dream match for the big stage! We've all wondered when Ronda Rousey and Sasha Banks were going to cross paths, and we got our answer. This is such a high-profile match that it could even main event the PPV (obviously, it won't).

Rousey had nothing but respect for Sasha Banks and she's always been open about the fact that she's a big fan of The Boss. Banks came out and would defeat Nia Jax to earn her opportunity at the Rowdy RAW Women's Champion.

However, Banks hasn't been friendly with Rousey. She's stirred up the RAW Women's Champion in a clear attempt to get inside her head. With Sasha Banks ending Rousey's unbeaten run in a tag match, their war of words continued.

Sasha Banks undoubtedly represents Rousey's toughest test yet, and though she might lose, she could turn heel after the match along with Bayley

#5. Asuka (c) vs Becky Lynch - SmackDown Women's Championship

Becky Lynch may have been the single hottest superstar in WWE in 2018, male or female. After a hot winning streak, she would turn in the summer of 2018 and unleash a new attitude that we've never really seen out of her.

This led her popularity to soar higher than ever, and it even led her to a SmackDown Women's title win. However, come TLC, she would take on Asuka and Charlotte Flair in a TLC match in the main event. Thanks to Ronda Rousey's interference, Asuka ended up winning the title instead.

Now, Becky Lynch had to earn her opportunity to face Asuka, and this will be the first time they face each other on television. Asuka may be the favourite in some ways, but don't count out The Man.

This has the potential to be an absolute show-stealer at the Royal Rumble, so don't be surprised to see this open the show.

#4. Brock Lesnar (c) vs Finn Balor - Universal Championship

The original match for the Universal Championship, as you probably know, was supposed to be Braun Strowman vs Brock Lesnar. However, Vince McMahon stripped Strowman of his title opportunity after The Monster Among Men destroyed his limousine. Oh, and he was fined a $100,000 too!

Finn Balor stepped up to take the opportunity, defeating John Cena, Drew McIntyre, and Baron Corbin to earn the right to face Lesnar. Cena endorsed Balor after the match, telling him that he has another believer.

Vince McMahon has made it very clear that he doesn't believe Balor can defeat Brock Lesnar. However, Finn Balor has the support of the WWE Universe and that's all he needs. Realistically, he's a major underdog in this, and we don't expect him to walk out with the title either. However, we really hope that we're wrong in this case.

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

It's "The New" Daniel Bryan vs "The Real" AJ Styles. While Bryan should have had Styles behind him now after beating him at TLC, Vince McMahon urged The Phenomenal One to bring out his "inner animal". Despite being attacked, McMahon was happy at seeing Styles' new aggression.

Styles had to earn an opportunity to the WWE Championship, which was fair. He now finds himself with another shot to get one over Daniel Bryan and become a 3-time WWE Champion. However, Bryan has a lot of momentum on his side.

Whether you find his preachiness about the environment annoying or not, this new aggressive side of Bryan has seen him get a lot of success, and his confidence has never been higher. Think about this - it's the longest reign of his as WWE Champion, and he's won the title three times previously!

This is going to be an absolute banger!

#2. The Women's Royal Rumble match

Are you ready for the second annual Women's Royal Rumble? We saw the very first one in 2018 last year, and it was a huge success. It also became the second Women's main event in WWE history and the first time that women have main evented a big 4 PPV.

Last year was notable for not just Asuka winning, but Ronda Rousey making her debut after the match. While we won't be seeing any post-match debuts this year, this one is going to be exciting beyond belief. We know that Carmella is #30, so based on the stats, she should be the favourite.

Even so, the #27 spot has always been more successful. Charlotte Flair seems to be the odds on favourite going in this year, but with superstars like Nia Jax looming, expected NXT debuts and the return of legends, who knows what could happen?

Our prediction is that Charlotte wins the Rumble and will defend her opportunity against Carmella on one of the 2 upcoming PPVs before WrestleMania!

#1. Men's Royal Rumble match

Unlike last year, the Men's Rumble match will most likely be the main event. Last year, a big streak was broken. From 2011-2017, the Royal Rumble match winners were extremely unsatisfactory in the eyes of fans, with superstars like Batista, Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, John Cena, etc. winning and making it underwhelming.

However, 2018 saw Shinsuke Nakamura win the Royal Rumble match, and 2019 will very likely be the same. Unlike the last few years, we won't really be having the presence of part-timers.

Even John Cena, the only part-timer in the match, is unlikely to even participate due to an alleged ankle injury. Kurt Angle is rumoured to return too, but he obviously won't win it. Seth Rollins is the favourite to win the Royal Rumble match this year, and given the hot run he had in 2018, fans would most definitely love to see The Architect pick up a Rumble win and secure his ticket to WrestleMania.