The Royal Rumble match is perhaps the most beloved match type in the pro wrestling pantheon. It only comes, well, technically twice a year but on the same day annually now. Three times if Saudi needs another special show but that’s a topic for another day! Point is, it’s pretty special. I know plenty of people would call the Royal Rumble their favorite event of WWE’s calendar, even surpassing WrestleMania. It’s just hard to compete with the natural excitement and intrigue it brings. It really seems to be one of the scant few things WWE can’t dilute the value of.
This year, it seems they were quite selective with the rest of the card surrounding the Rumble bouts. So I only have six matches to talk about here tonight.
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships: Asuka & Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax
Charlotte Flair ended up being the surprise partner for Asuka at WWE TLC, subbing in for Lana, whom we still haven’t seen return from what I believe is a storyline injury. So this is of course Nia and Shayna’s rematch. Since winning the women’s tag titles, both Charlotte and Asuka have largely focused on absolutely everything aside from the tag titles, which is about par for the course with a WWE Superteam like this.
Charlotte and Asuka seem destined to have a nothing reign, but I still don’t really expect it to end this soon and I imagine they will atleast be transitioning to a different team. Maybe a SmackDown team so they can see what they can do with them over there for a while? Either way, I suspect they’ll retain here. Considering this is a Pre-Show match I especially wouldn’t think you’d have them drop tonight.
WWE Championship: Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Goldberg
This, I would wager, isn’t going to be an Ironman match. I mean they could pull some smoke and mirrors and make liberal use of re-shoots if they’re in that kind of mood. But realistically it doesn’t need to be anything more than a quick and explosive hoss fight. In that regard, it could be fun for a couple of minutes. It’s hard to see much more than that out of Goldberg.
It’s easy to be concerned that they may go with Goldberg again, given that they’ve had him return to win a world title shortly before Mania twice now. But, it’s a little different when he’s up against the guy that they would logically book him against at Mania this year in the first place. They could be setting up Spear vs Spear again but I feel like that’s passed, especially with Goldberg playing heel the last month. McIntyre retains.
Women’s Royal Rumble Match
These are extremely hard to call, and I Imagine I’ll be typing that again for the Men’s match but it’s true. Especially when you have two different championships, two different rosters, and Mania is a fine time for big babyface-vs-babyface matches. I will say, for the women’s match, I think it’s a little easier to narrow down the favorites. Charlotte Flair, Bayley, Bianca Belair and Alexa Bliss feel like the big ones among those advertised.
I think you can expect a lot of NXT guest stars here as well though, which is definitely a wildcard. Among them, I think it’s fair to say Rhea Ripley is the most serious candidate to win. But for my money, just looking at the state of things, I’d say Bianca Belair is who I’d bet on if I had to. Momentum rising at the right time, everyone knows she’s a big star if handled correctly. Bianca against either Sasha or Asuka could be absolutely great.
WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship: Sasha Banks (c) vs. Carmella
Carmella has been a bit of an unsung revelation of late. She may not be lighting the world on fire persay but she’s improved by leaps and bounds from the Carmella of old. She’s really starting to look like a star in the making. She proved a lot in defeat in her first attempt at the title and if this were any other point of the year I’d maybe think she takes it here in the second go. Otherwise why have the same person challenge twice at all, right?
Thing is, it’s WrestleMania season. And this is one of the titles that I think they’d really wanna keep on a big name, so as to make for an easy marquee match. Sasha Banks undoubtedly fits the bill. Carmella may get there but she’s not there right now and I don’t know that WWE is confident that she’ll get there via beating Sasha tonight. I could be wrong, but given the timing, she just doesn’t feel like a safe pick. I’ll go Sasha Banks.
Last Man Standing Match for the WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Kevin Owens
This has been the dominant feud of SmackDown for the past couple of months and it’s been a good one for sure. Some great angles, great matches. Compared to the rest of WWE it’s been quite consistent. Now definitely seems like the night for it to blowoff though and I can’t help but expect great things from it.
Owens is a guy that, had things gone differently, could’ve really been a big deal with his face turn. For a while it looked like it was the plan but as is often the case, they just failed to follow through and go all the way. The odds of him beating Reigns here are slim to none but I’m excited for this bout nonetheless. Roman Reigns over.
Men’s Royal Rumble Match
Now this one is rough! Interestingly I’d say this match benefits from one of WWE’s most stark issues. There’s very little separation between names in WWE. We have tons of guys at about the exact same level. That’s certainly a problem for the product at large but it does atleast have the benefit of making the Rumble very interesting, as I’d say there’s around a dozen people that seem equally likely to win this.
The likes of for example Sheamus, Shinsuke Nakamura, Edge, Randy Orton, Bobby Lashley, Big E, Keith Lee – if he’s here – all seem like realistic candidates to me. Guys like Braun Strowman, AJ Styles or Rey Mysterio don’t seem like they’re setup for it persay but I wouldn’t be stunned to see them just randomly win on a whim – which let’s be honest, happens in WWE.
But I think of everyone, Daniel Bryan is my pick. Historically, there’s just a lot to him finally winning a Royal Rumble and going after Roman Reigns. That’s definitely what his story has been foreshadowing for a while as well. Just feels right, moreso than anyone else.