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WWE takes over the Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas this weekend as they present the annual Royal Rumble pay-per-view with the winners of their respective Rumble matches being given the chance to fight for a Championship of their choice at WrestleMania 36 in April.
This year will be the third successive year that the women of WWE will also be given a 30-person Royal Rumble match, after Becky Lynch was victorious last year and went on to win her match at WrestleMania against Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair, becoming the first woman to do so.
There will also be Championships defended on the night and feud's settled as Roman Reigns collides with King Corbin and Sheamus returns to pay-per-view against Shorty G. It will be another stacked night of wrestling entertainment but there could also be a few ways for WWE to make some history.
#5 17 Superstars have won The Royal Rumble from an odd number and 17 have won from an even number
WWE presents their 33rd annual Royal Rumble pay-per-view this weekend and the pay-per-view itself has created quite a rare fact. Even though there have only been 32 Rumble matches, there have been 34 official winners (35 if you count the dual winners in 1994) and that has created the interesting statistic that 17 winners of the Rumble have won from an odd number entry and 17 from an even number.
This also includes the fact that there have been two women's Royal Rumbles over the past two years and Asuka and Becky Lynch have been added to the statistic. Of course if one even winner and one odd winner in each of the respective matches then next year's statistic will be 18/18.
#4 Bray Wyatt has already defeated Daniel Bryan at The Royal Rumble
Bray Wyatt has been one of WWE's most popular Superstars for almost a year now after re-debuting with the Fiend character as his alter-ego last year. After a fantastic first year under the mask, Wyatt found himself in a Universal Championship match against Seth Rollins and was able to take the title away from The Architect.
Wyatt remains undefeated as the Champion and walks into a match at The Royal Rumble knowing that he has already defeated Daniel Bryan on this stage. Bryan and Wyatt collided in the era of The Wyatt Family at The Royal Rumble and it was Wyatt who came out on top. Interestingly, this Rumble also took place on January 26th back in 2014.
In singles matches, Wyatt is actually undefeated at The Rumble, since he's had one match, against Bryan and all other years he's been in The Royal Rumble match and failed to come out on top.
The stars could be aligning for Wyatt to once again defeat Bryan and continue his undefeated streak as The Fiend and at The Rumble. It's also worth noting that this is the first Strap match at The Royal Rumble as well.
#3 Bayley is yet to win a match at The Royal Rumble pay-per-view
Bayley defends the SmackDown Women's Championship this weekend at The Royal Rumble and it could well be the toughest test Bayley has faced to date since Lacey Evans will be standing across the ring and since she is yet to win a match at The Royal Rumble pay-per-view.
Bayley has only had one singles match outside of the annual Rumble matches and that saw her taste defeat at the hands of Charlotte Flair when The Queen was being pushed to the peak of her career back in 2017.
Bayley has been part of both Women's Rumbles over the past two years entering at 29 and 27 respectively, but she was still unable to win either match since Becky Lynch and Asuka took the two victories.
Lacey Evans is a formidable opponent, but if Bayley wants to get back on track then there is no one better than Evans to do it against.
#2 Seth Rollins could become the fourth man to win consecutive Royal Rumble matches
Seth Rollins won the men's Royal Rumble last year whilst Becky Lynch was the one to pick up the accolade in the Women's version of the match. Interestingly, Seth Rollins was always the favorite heading into the match and then went on to become Universal Champion when he defeated Brock Lesnar in WrestleMania 35's opener.
Rollins has since lost the title to The Fiend and is now in a new role as The Monday Night Messiah, which means that it's possible that he could be the one to come out on top again this year. If this is the case then he would join a small class of individuals who have won consecutive Royal Rumble matches.
Hulk Hogan was the first man to do it in 1990 and 1991, Shawn Michaels followed suit in 1995 and 1996 and then Stone Cold Steve Austin was the last man to accomplish the feat in 1997 and 1998. Could Seth Rollins be the first men in two decades to win the Rumble match over two years?
#1 Asuka could become a Grand Slam Champion
Asuka has finally been built as the woman that she was destined to become when she was promoted to the main roster a few years ago. Despite the fact that The Empress of Tomorrow became another underutilized talent on SmackDown, it appears that WWE did allow the former NXT Women's Champion to build up some interesting victories.
Asuka was the first-ever Women's Royal Rumble winners, The Empress of Tomorrow chose to cash in the shot at WrestleMania against Charlotte, but failed to win the match. Last year Asuka stepped up to Becky Lynch and retained her SmackDown Women's Championship when she forced The Man to tap, just minutes before Lynch went on to enter and win the Royal Rumble.
Not only is Asuka undefeated at The Rumble, but when she wrestles Lynch for the Raw Women's Championship on Sunday night, a victory would make her just the second female Grand Slam Champion in WWE history behind Bayley.
