10 favourites to win the 2020 Men's Royal Rumble match

With the year of 2019 just wrapping up and 2020 starting up, it is time to look towards The Road to WrestleMania and the first PPV of the new decade, and that is the Royal Rumble. The Royal Rumble is one of the most exciting shows in WWE's calendar because of its unpredictability.

With 30 entrants, everything is up in the air. Superstars of the past, present, and future could surprise everyone by entering the match. Also, it is such an important match yet no one has a clue as to who is going to win.

This year, the Royal Rumble is going to consist of Superstars from RAW, SmackDown and NXT. The likes of Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre have already declared entry into the event, and for good reason. The winner will get to challenge for a world championship and will get the main event slot at WrestleMania 36.

Right now, it seems like the field is wide open, and it is anybody's for the taking. However, barring a surprise CM Punk returns to the ring, there are only 10 Superstars that could realistically win the Royal Rumble. So, let's take a look at all of the favorites to win the match.

Disclaimer: The opinions expresssed in the article belong to the writer and doesn't necessarily represent Sportskeeda's stand.

#10 John Morrison

CM Punk may not be making his return to a WWE ring at the Royal Rumble, but John Morrison the returning John Morrison will likely compete in the match. After being away from the company for over eight years, WWE announced that Morrison has re-signed with the company and will have his first match since returning next week against Big E on SmackDown.

The former Intercontinental champion and Slammy winner has appeared on WWE's The Bump as a guest and has just made his return on SmackDown alongside The Miz on Miz TV.

In his time away, Morrison built himself into a bonafide star by carrying multiple pro wrestling companies on his back, starring in movies, and appearing on reality TV shows. Now he is back to help out his old friend, even if it is an unpopular decision in the eyes of the WWE Universe.

Since Morrison was doing so well outside WWE, one would have to imagine that he came back to be nothing less than a top star, and there would be no better way to cement his status at the top than by having him shock the world and win the Royal Rumble.

On SmackDown, Morrison is currently by The Miz's side, which means that he could eventually be involved in this ongoing feud between The Fiend and The Miz and Daniel Bryan.

After defeating and "changing" The Miz at TLC, Morrison could look for revenge, and The Fiend could face The Shaman Of Sexy, the Royal Rumble Winner, in a WWE Universal Championship match at WrestleMania.

#9 Kofi Kingston

It is hard to argue that anyone had a better 2019 than Kofi Kingston. He had a historic chase for the WWE Championship that he ended up winning at WrestleMania 35. Then, he had a 180-day reign as champ defeating some of the best in the business. As soon as he lost the strap, he was able to bounce right back by once again winning the SmackDown Tag Team Championships alongside Big E.

Not only is Kofi one of WWE's hottest Superstars in terms of momentum and crowd reaction, but he is also synonymous with the Royal Rumble because of his mind blowing saves he makes each year to prevent himself from getting eliminated.

Now, Kofi can be synonymous with the event for another reason. His athleticism and crazy imagination that allows him to pull off these stunts combined with how popular he has become could be the equation for one of the loudest ovations of all time if Kofi Kingston wins the Royal Rumble. Not to mention, he could eliminate Brock Lesnar, who defeated him in eight seconds, to set up a surefire main event rematch at WrestleMania.

#8 Cain Velasquez

Cain Velasquez, despite signing a multi-year contract with WWE, has not been seen on any WWE programming since his title match against Brock Lesnar at Crown Jewel. In that match, he lost to Lesnar rather quickly, which would usually mean that Velasquez isn't getting a rematch any time soon.

However, Cain Velasquez defeated The Beast Incarnate for the UFC Heavyweight Championship, and Lesnar beat him at Crown Jewel, so that puts their head to head record at 1-1. So, we could potentially see the rubber match at WrestleMania 36, and one way to get there would be through Velasquez winning the Royal Rumble.

Velasquez has the star power thanks to his success in UFC and has taken to pro wrestling well, and is a credible challenger for Lesnar.

All of these factors would make for a big money match at WrestleMania, and having Cain Velasquez eliminate Lesnar and win the Royal Rumble would be an excellent way to give him success in WWE to set up a WWE Championship match with Lesnar.

#7 Braun Strowman

Braun Strowman was not seen on WWE TV for over a month and his absence was been notable. Not only is he literally one of the biggest Superstars in the company, but he is also a big piece of today's WWE. Now, The Monster Among Men is back in the fold and is in a feud with current Intercontinental Champion, Shinsuke Nakamura.

Despite Strowman's dominance and connection to the crowd, he has not yet won a world championship in WWE. If the former Tag Team champion is unsuccessful in his attempt to dethrone Nakamura, he could get launched back into the main event scene if WWE decides to give him the ball and let him run with it. He could potentially be the one to dethrone The Fiend at WrestleMania 36.

There is a lot of history between Strowman and Wyatt. Wyatt brought The Monster Among Men into the Wyatt Family as "the black sheep" only to get abandoned when they got drafted to different brands.

Wyatt's new Fiend character goes after those who did him wrong, and Strowman just might be at the top of his list.

The program between Strowman and Wyatt tells such an incredible story that it would be a great main event of WrestleMania. The unstoppable force in Braun Strowman, after winning the Royal Rumble, would face the immovable object in The Fiend in what could surely be an incredible Universal Championship match.

Now, all it takes is for Braun Strowman to truly be a Monster Among Men and win the Royal Rumble to set up this grudge match.

#6 Adam Cole

The current NXT Champion, Adam Cole, is a pretty odd choice to win the Royal Rumble since he already holds gold in the form of the NXT Championship. He has been the flag bearer for the Black and Gold brand ever since they moved to primetime TV and for that reason alone, he could come out as the winner of the Royal Rumble.

As shown during Survivor Series, WWE is trying to put more of an emphasis on NXT now that it is on the USA Network. They are trying to show that not only is NXT no longer developmental, but the third brand is actually on the same level and potentially higher than the other two main brands.

There would be no better way to cement this new way of thinking than to have an NXT Superstar win the Royal Rumble for a title match at WrestleMania. With Cole currently being the face of the brand, he would be a perfect choice.

Adam Cole has been the ironman of WWE and NXT by competing on RAW, SmackDown and NXT all in one week, and he competed inside of WarGames and defended his NXT Championship the next day at Survivor Series.

Royal Rumble weekend will likely be no different as he and The Undisputed Era take on Imperium at Worlds Collide, and then he can shock the system at the Royal Rumble the next night.

Now, Cole could lose his NXT Championship before the Royal Rumble and challenge to regain it at WrestleMania, or he could challenge for the WWE or Universal Championship and attempt to become a double champ.

There are a lot of ways they could go with Adam Cole winning the Royal Rumble, which makes him an exciting and interesting choice.

#5 Brock Lesnar

As we have learned, Brock Lesnar does what he wants to do. He shows up when he feels like it and switches brands when he feels like it because he can. No one in WWE is a bigger Superstar than The Beast Incarnate, so he has earned the right to do as he pleases.

While many thought Lesnar would come to RAW this week to announce who would be defending for his WWE Championship at Royal Rumble, he and Paul Heyman shocked everyone with their announcement.

Lesnar, as WWE Champion, will be competing in the Royal Rumble and will be the first entrant in the match. This is the first time where a world champion will be entering a Royal Rumble match with his title, not on the line.

With that announcement, Lesnar automatically becomes a favourite to win it all. He is such a dominant Superstar that he could very well run through all of the competition and be the 2020 Royal Rumble winner. This would bring up the question: What happens next?

Since he already is WWE Champion, would he use this win to challenge for another world title, or would he be able to handpick his WrestleMania opponent? The other option would be that Lesnar doesn't have to face anyone at WrestleMania since he ran through everyone at the Rumble and is already a champ.

So, while it is a likely possibility that The Beast could reign supreme, it certainly wouldn't be an ideal outcome for the WWE Universe.

#4 Drew McIntyre

After Drew McIntyre got released by WWE back in 2014, he completely transformed his attitude, character, in-ring presence and physique on the independent scene. It was clear when he got brought back to NXT, that McIntyre was heading for superstardom in the WWE.

Shortly after, he got called up to RAW and got paired with Dolph Ziggler. Despite remaining on the top of the card on RAW since his return, the Scottish Psychopath still has not held a singles title on the main roster during this second run.

Well, after going toe to toe with Roman Reigns and The Undertaker in 2019, bigger things might be in store for 2020. Recently, McIntyre has been decimating his competition on RAW and with his cocky demeanor and perfectly timed jokes in his post-match promos, McIntyre is slowly turning into one of the company's top and most credible faces.

The best way to solidify Drew McIntyre's face turn would be to have him win the Royal Rumble, main event WrestleMania, and live up to the potential Mr. McMahon saw in him back in 2009.

With Lesnar's credible fighting background and monstrous size, it is usually pretty difficult to have his opponent come off as a credible threat. But with McIntyre's size, physique, and brutality, he will undoubtedly pose a threat for The Beast Incarnate and will be able to match Lesnar's star power.

At WrestleMania 35, Drew McIntyre had the opportunity to face a top star in Roman Reigns, but at WrestleMania 36, he could be main eventing the show competing for the company's biggest prize against the company's biggest draw.

#3 Keith Lee

If there is one Superstar that made the most out of NXT's appearance on Survivor Series, it has to be Keith Lee. Not only did he eliminate Seth Rollins and took Roman Reigns to his limit, but he also caught the eye of Vince McMahon.

McMahon was apparently high on Lee after his performance at Survivor Series, so it wouldn't be surprising if McMahon has bigger plans for him in the future. Currently Lee is in the NXT North American Championship picture in NXT but still hasn't gotten an NXT title shot.

If Lee were to win the Royal Rumble and challenge Adam Cole for the NXT Championship at WrestleMania, that would surely steal the show as both of these guys have proven themselves in big moments on the big stage.

Or, since McMahon is so high on Lee, a Royal Rumble victory could be an opportunity for Keith Lee to move to either SmackDown or Raw. Just imagine the spectacle that would be Brock Lesnar vs. Keith Lee at WrestleMania. These two would undoubtedly pull out all the stops and make people's jaws drop through the floor.

McMahon sees big things in Lee's future, and rightfully so. A huge Royal Rumble victory for the Limitless One could just be the first step in a soon to be illustrious WWE career.

#2 Kevin Owens

Rollins may claim to be the Monday Night Messiah, but nobody has more people behind them right now than Kevin Owens. KO, typically a vicious bad guy, is now one of the most beloved WWE Superstars on the roster.

His common man looks, family-oriented lifestyle, witty sarcasm, incredible in-ring athleticism, and attitude makes for the whole package. His anti-hero personality has been compared to the likes of Stone ColdSteve Austin, and to top it all off, Owens even uses the Stunner as his finisher now.

Currently, Owens is dealing with the newly formed stable of Rollins and AOP, and it looks like that feud might play out to and through the Royal Rumble. A great heroic ending would be for Owens to finally get one over on Rollins by eliminating him from the Rumble and winning the whole thing.

Kevin Owens winning would send the fans home happy, and it would provide us with a very unique matchup for WrestleMania that has never been seen on TV: Kevin Owens vs. Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship.

It would be interesting to see this clash of styles, and it would also be interesting to see if WWE would be willing to commit to Owens as "the guy" and let him defeat Brock Lesnar. While that is not yet decided, it seems like Owens at least winning the Royal Rumble is a huge possibility.

#1 Roman Reigns

It shouldn't be a surprise that none other than The Big Dog, Roman Reigns, tops off the list at No.1. Reigns is the face of the company and will undoubtedly get the spotlight on him whenever there is the opportunity.

Roman Reigns won the Royal Rumble before and it was received negatively, but in 2020, the reaction will likely be different. Reigns, both the character and the man, has changed drastically over the past year. Even his claims to win this upcoming Royal Rumble have been met with loud cheers so far.

Reigns got diagnosed with Leukemia and bravely fought back and won that battle. That bravery won over the respect of a lot of the WWE Universe that used to boo him, and Reigns is now one of the most popular guys in the company.

Also, WWE has done a good job of not going overboard with The Big Dog's exposure. For the most part, Reigns has been kept out of the title picture and main event scene since his return to action. Now, if he wins the Royal Rumble, it will be fresh and exciting rather than boring and more of the same.

Roman Reigns has headlined multiple WrestleMania's and will likely repeat it. Until someone can knock him off, WWE will truly be his yard. The Fiend is getting booked to be incredibly strong, but if there's one person that could knock him off at WrestleMania, it is The Big Dog.

The Royal Rumble could be the night where he finally puts his feud with Baron Corbin to rest in their singles match, and it could become the No.1 Contender for The Fiend's (or Daniel Bryan's) Universal Championship

Roman Reigns will likely go on to win the Royal Rumble in 2020 and main event WrestleMania 36, but all ten of these Superstars in this list have a real opportunity to win the match. Was there anyone left off the list that you think should win the Royal Rumble? Sound off in the comments with your picks!