WWE Royal Rumble 2018: 5 Things That Could Happen

The Royal Rumble pay-per-view is huge, a night famous for its shocking twists and genuine surprises. Every year we all conspire together and try to figure out who’s going to be the one chosen to win the 30-man match, we try to fathom who might show up for a special cameo appearance, it’s probably the most fun you can have as a wrestling fan. This year is no different, we’ve all been left blind with a plethora of main-event talent who are waiting for their breakthrough moment, plus, there’s a tonne of suspected names that could potentially be making their debuts and returns during the coveted Rumble match. So let’s take a look at five potential things to expect at this year’s Royal Rumble event.

 

1. The US Championship regains some prestige

At least we’re guaranteed at least one new champion, right? The US Championship has suddenly been revitalised with this new tournament happening on SmackDown Live. Top-tier talent are mixing with some of the most popular mid-card performers, showing the depth of SmackDown’s roster, and providing some pretty great matches and creative promos on a weekly basis. Even if these guys are vying for the role of place-holder until Dolph Ziggler returns to contest them, it’s been fun and it should lead to a feud with a decent amount of momentum behind it.

I think it’d be safe to assume that the two biggest names are going to make it to the finals – those being Bobby Roode and Jinder Mahal. Whether you’re a fan of either of these two or not, it’s hard to deny that the US Title is going to garner a lot more attention than what it has done since Cena’s last reign ended. The belt is in a constant struggle for prestige, but having two main-eventers clash over it may finally let it reach its necessary status.

 

2. Sami Zayn’s redemption

I personally think the end goal of Sami Zayn’s heel turn was to eventually have him feud with his former/current best friend, Kevin Owens once again. If you were to look for the perfect time for Sami to execute his vengeance on the man that has essentially ruined his WWE career so far, then it would be during their huge championship match. Owens and Zayn have been performing the douchey best pals act perfectly on SmackDown Live and it has propelled them both into the championship picture.

I believe that we’ll be seeing AJ carry the WWE Championship into WrestleMania season, meaning somehow he has to work his way around the 2-on-1 situation. The finish will most likely involve Owens and Zayn disagreeing over who gets to defeat AJ and take the title, thus allowing Styles to take advantage and retain.

The story writes itself really.

Owens has had a fantastic run so far, but Zayn has floundered, struggling to find a place on the roster. The shadow of his losses to Owens haven’t left him and it’s about time he puts that behind him and is allowed to move on to developing a presence. Everyone knows he can put on an excellent match, so why not let him do just that with Owens at WrestleMania this year?

I think the seeds will be sown at the Rumble, watch this space.

 

3. Debuts galore

With two Rumble matches to fill, there’s no better time to start bringing in some fresh faces. Taking a look through the male and female rosters, it’s hard to fill up a total of 30 names for each Rumble match. Lucky for us, there’s a tonne of NXT superstars and indy stalwarts waiting to make their triumphant debut.

Looking at the first ever Women’s Rumble first, it certainly wouldn’t surprise me if we saw at least three NXT names showing up to help boost the numbers. For something so historic, WWE are going to want to pull out all the stops to make sure people remember the match. Unfortunately, not every female superstar currently on the main roster is going to be able to make it very memorable, but there are certainly a few on the NXT team who could get heads turning. A lot of predictions are being thrown out and it seems the majority are convinced that we’ll see The Iconic Duo – Peyton Royce and Billie Kay. The two have certainly become characters to say the least, not having much in the way of success on NXT, but not everyone necessarily needs a championship to become a big deal.

Similarly, Sanity’s Nikki Cross would be an ideal candidate to make an impact in the Rumble match, already shining in two MOTY nominees, Cross has the potential to become a household name. Other stars such as Kairi Sane, Ember Moon, or even former UFC Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey could all make their main roster debuts as part of this year’s women’s Rumble match. Of course, this might not necessarily mean that they’ll be sticking around on either Raw or SmackDown, but even for just the one night only appearance, it would make for an unpredictable playing field.

The issue with the men’s Rumble match is that there’s already a plethora of massive names being crammed into the 30-man contest. It’s gonna be hard to fit in NXT stars or even debuting indy names. Nevertheless, it wouldn’t be a Rumble match without at least a couple of surprising entries.

If I put money on who I were expecting to show up, it would be ‘The Future of Flight’, Ricochet. It would be a risk having him show up in similar fashion as AJ Styles, depending on how smarky the Philly crowd are going to be. He might not receive the same reception as the debuting ‘Phenomenal One’ back in 2016 as he has less of a presence in American wrestling. I just can’t see them throwing such an established name into the NXT mix when 205 Live is in desperate need of exciting new acts, though. Most sources have confirmed that Ricochet is set to debut towards the end of the month, but nobody has been able to figure out just where he’ll be making his debut. Could he become one of the illusive crowd members that happens to show up at the weekend’s TakeOver event? Or might he make his triumphant appearance during the main event of the Royal Rumble pay-per-view?

 

4. The champion among monsters

2017 was the year of BRRAAUUNNN. ‘The Monster Among Men’ has finally managed to cement himself as a consistent part of the main event scene, and deservedly so. It’s about damn time he gets himself a championship.

Despite only wrestling a few matches since winning the title, Brock Lesnar’s Universal Championship run has been pretty successful, but does it deserve to make it to WrestleMania? Probably not. Most people have Reigns/Lesnar II penned for the main event of this year’s supercard, but if I know WWE, I reckon there’s a twist lying in wait at this year’s Rumble. Braun Strowman has been the fiercest contender for Brock and it seems like there’s a payoff waiting to happen. Having Kane in the match even allows Lesnar to scuttle away without taking the fall, leaving the possibility of a rematch between the two open for Mania, or even later on if they still want to have Roman Reigns be the almighty hero.

Either way, I see this being the night Strowman finally captures his first major championship in the WWE. He’s one of the biggest draws for Raw, a top merch-seller at live events, and a great worker to top it all off. This is the man to topple Lesnar and shake up the championship picture for WrestleMania.

 

5. The Year of Strong Style

Shinsuke Nakamura is a diamond in the rough for WWE. Even though his debut year hasn’t quite taken off in the way that I think they anticipated, Nakamura still has star power waiting to be utilised. Already having flirted with the main event scene against Jinder Mahal throughout the Summer, it seems that it’s only a matter of time for Shinsuke to take over SmackDown Live and dominate as its champion.

At the moment however, he’s stuck hanging around in the upper mid-card scene. In order for Nakamura to break away from that, he needs a massive win. What better way to give him the triumph he deserves than at this year’s Royal Rumble? Not only would it establish Nakamura as the main eventer they’ve purported him to be, but it would also open up the opportunity for the dream match between Styles and Nakamura at WrestleMania this year.

There’s a traffic jam of talent heading into the Rumble match, so for one person to be chosen to outlast the likes of John Cena, Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins, they have to be pretty damn special. This is Nakamura’s year, I fear the worst if they don’t capitalise on it.

The 2018 edition of the Royal Rumble has so much potential to kick-start a year of dream matches and incredible story-telling. Or it could all just be a vehicle for Cena’s third Rumble win, who knows?

Who have you got as your Rumble winner? Who do you think will be walking out of Philly as our WrestleMania champions? Let us know in the comments section below.