Who will win the 2017 Royal Rumble?
It’s time to break down this year’s Royal Rumble! Who wins, who main events WrestleMania, who show up to surprise us? So many questions so let’s get right to it.
1) NXT Takeover: San Antonio was last night. What were some stand out matches in your eyes?
Corey: Obviously the main event match between Shinsuke Nakamura and Bobby Roode definitely stood out and with Roode now the new NXT Champion it’s clear that Nakamura will be heading to the main roster pretty soon. I loved the women’s Fatal 4 Way with Asuka walking away with the title. But I may have to say Authors of Pain vs DIY for the NXT Tag Titles was my favorite. Now if this means DIY will also be showing up on the main roster then I’m all for it!
Josh: The match of the night was Andrade Almas vs Roderick Strong. Those two had a crazy hard-hitting match that got better the longer it went. Almas looked strong in a loss and this was the defining match needed to ascend Strong into the NXT main event picture.
2) At the Royal Rumble we will see five titles defended along with the main event — the Royal Rumble match. What titles, if any, do you see exchanging hands?
Corey: I have the biggest feeling that Sheamus and Cesaro are going to be dropping the tag titles. By the way Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson have been booked lately, it’s obvious WWE are trying to make them look strong again, which I have no problem with at all. Charlotte will definitely retain. I can’t see her losing the title until Wrestelmania. Also I definitely don’t see Roman getting the win here and honestly he doesn’t need it right now. I like Rich Swan, but at the current time no one in the cruiserweight division has the crowd investment that Neville has so Neville should definitely get the win for the Cruiserweight Championship here. Regarding the WWE Championship match I really don’t want Cena to win the title off of AJ Styles just yet since AJ has done an amazing job as champion. This is the one match I don’t know which way WWE will go.
Josh: Conventional WWE wisdom says they’ll move the titles to ‘top stars’ in preparation for WrestleMania, but I think we’ll only see two title changes tonight. The most obvious is Neville taking the Cruiserweight Championship from Rich Swann. Neville is going to be the clear leader of that division so it makes sense to put the strap on him until they have someone else ready to challenge. The other title change is on the pre-show where The Club is probably going to knock off Cesaro and Sheamus for the Raw tag titles. There’s still more story to tell with Cesaro and Sheamus as a tag team, but WWE is probably ready to break them up and use them as singles competitors for the Raw main event scene.
3) Going back to Sheamus and Cesaro, how much longer do you see their tag team lasting?
Corey: Not much longer honestly. The scenario I have in mind is that they will drop the titles tonight and then next month will get their rematch and be unsuccessful in recapturing the gold which will lead to Sheamus turning on Cesaro which would then lead to their final grudge match at WrestleMania.
Josh: Looks like I jumped the gun for this question. I think this marks the end of their tag team, as sad as I am to see it go.
4) The Royal Rumble generally has a lot of surprises every year with surprise entrants, someone trying to break elimination records, quick eliminations, and so on. This year who do you predict to have the shortest amount of time in the Rumble match?
Corey: Mojo Rawley. Something about him just doesn’t click with me and I would just love to see him get eliminated as quickly as possible which doesn’t seem too unlikely because ever since his tag partner Zack Ryder got hurt Mojo has just been floating around lately.
Josh: Big Show, I would guess that he’ll have a rather late number entry and will probably go a minute or two before being eliminated by Braun Strowman. I don’t think we’ll see anyone eliminated in less than 30 seconds.
5) Tonight we will finally get our answer as to who will be heading to WrestleMania to challenge either Raw or Smackdown’s World Champion. Who is your pick?
Corey: I’m honestly stuck on two people. Either Chris Jericho, would have to drop the US Title at some point before the match or Sami Zayn. They’ve been pushing the underdog story of Sami Zayn for a while now and even though we’ve seen Owens vs Zayn already I’m absolutely sure that if those two were to meet in the Main Event at WrestleMania that they would steal the show.
Josh: I’m going to stick with Chris Jericho as my pick to win the Royal Rumble Match. However, there’s a nagging feeling in the back of my head that Braun Strowman is the betting man’s choice for Rumble winner. It’s definitely the hardest Royal Rumble to call in recent memory.
Final Thoughts:
Corey:
– I absolutely loved the stare down at the end of raw between Undertaker, Lesnar, and Goldberg.
– I know this won’t happen, but if one of the members of the New Day were to win the Rumble and go on to win the title at WrestleMania I would be ecstatic!
– I know I mentioned this previously, but I really wish WWE would find a way to have a Women’s Royal Rumble as well.
Josh:
– I’m going the early Match of the Night candidate to be AJ Styles vs John Cena. Those two work great together and this will be another excellent chapter in their rivalry.
– I’m curious to know what the match time for the Rumble match is going to be. My guess is that it will clock in at an hour and some change, but WWE is known for trying to find some record to break in their Rumble matches, so could we bear witness to the longest Rumble match in history.
Corey Stewart
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