The road to WrestleMania begins now. Which man and which woman will pave their way to the Showcase of the Immortals by winning the Royal Rumble tonight? Here are our predictions for tonight’s big event.
Men’s Royal Rumble Match
| Name | Prediction | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| betonline.ag | Big E : +350 | Big E |
| Matthew Byer | Unlike the Women’s Royal Rumble match there haven’t yet been any participants who are not part of the current roster announced for this bout. While many are speculating about some wrestlers from AEW instead some Impact Wrestling or NXT stars might appear. What is difficult to figure out is who might actually win as there isn’t a clear cut favourite. However, if Rollins wins the WWE Title from Roman Reigns it will likely be someone from the RAW Roster. All that being said I’ll go with Big E as my pick. | Big E |
| John Powell | With the Elimination Chamber show set for Saudi Arabia next month one wonders what kind of serious impact the Rumble will have on the WrestleMania landscape. I am going to hazard a guess that perhaps Drew McIntyre was supposed to take this one home but how injured is he? In my mind, the top candidates are Big E and AJ Styles with The Rock as a dark horse winner, if he is even in the match to begin with. Unless McIntyre’s injury status changes, he is my pick to win it all. | Drew McIntyre |
| Bob Kapur | What I would love to see is Roman Reigns beat Seth Rollins in the opening match of the show then enter the Rumble as champion, win it and go on to challenge Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania and unify the titles but I think that’s unlikely. I’d also love to see “Stone Cold” Steve Austin come in as a surprise and win it, so he can headline Mania in his home state of Texas but I think that’s even more unlikely. So with those two scenarios out, I’ll instead go with someone who I would love to see main event at Mania and who I think deserves that spot: AJ Styles. | AJ Styles |
| Alex Podgorski | This is a wild pick, but I’m going all in with it: Gable Steveson enters at #27 accompanied by Kurt Angle and wins the match and immediately challenges Lesnar, setting up what amounts to the inverse of Angle vs. Lesnar from WrestleMania XIX. | Gable Steveson |
| Shelby-Liza Ndumbi | Wrestler: Sheamus Why?: This guy is ‘The Most Fearsome Wrestler’ among the entire lineup that I’ve seen. He makes you want to scream along with him for some reason and I love it. |
Sheamus |
Women’s Royal Rumble Match
| Name | Prediction | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| betonline.ag | Bianca Belair : +300 | Bianca Belair |
| Matthew Byer | Charlotte Flair entering the Women’s Royal Rumble as champion is very reminiscent of when Brock Lesnar entered the Men’s Royal Rumble match as champion a few years back. That particular Men’s Royal Rumble match saw Drew McIntyre eliminating Lesnar and going on to win and a similar storyline will probably play out on this night. So who will eliminate Flair and win the Women’s Royal Rumble match? Prior to her injury the safe money would have been on Sasha Banks. Now there are several possibilities, but the most interesting and the one that would get the biggest crowd reaction would be Lita. Will it happen may be dependent on any other surprise entrants, but for now Lita seems a pretty good pick to win. | Lita |
| John Powell | It shows how weak their women’s roster is for the WWE to keep pulling in talent from outside the company to fill out the Rumble field every year. Flummoxed at every turn to get a rematch with Lynch, Bianca Belair might win it all for the second year in a row…but perhaps the returning Asuka will be in the title picture as well or could this be part of the Naomi angle with her winning to tick off Deville? You just never know. I am betting that with the big announcement that if Charlotte wins she will get to pick her opponent at WrestleMania that this is the angle the WWE will follow. | Charlotte Flair |
| Bob Kapur | With so many participants yet to be announced, this one has the potential to be fun if only for the surprises. Sasha Banks would have been my pick if she came out as a surprise, but by having her return last night on Smackdown, I don’t think it will be her. Sentimentally, I would love for Rhea Ripley to win, because to me she’s the best woman on the roster. I would also like to see Charlotte win and go on to challenge Becky Lynch at Mania to unify the titles. But what I expect will happen is Ronda Rousey comes in as a surprise and takes it, so she can challenge Becky at Mania and finally close the book on their story. | Ronda Rousey |
| Alex Podgorski | Since Charlotte is doing the novel thing and is entering as champion, I want to see that story through. I think it’d be cool to see her win the Rumble and then choose her own challenger. | Charlotte Flair |
| Shelby-Liza Ndumbi | Wrestler: Summer-Rae Why?: I don’t know this girl, or at least I don’t recall, but I want to see what she can do. I chose someone I didn’t know to see where that would lead. |
Summer-Rae |
Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Bobby Lashley – WWE Championship Match
| Name | Prediction | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| betonline.ag | Brock Lesnar: -230 | Brock Lesnar |
| Matthew Byer | This could be a truly great match if it goes at least 20 minutes with Lesnar and Lashley clobbering each other until The Beast Incarnate ends it with a F5. The only thing not in doubt is that Lesnar will retain to setup his bout with Roman Reigns at WrestleMania. | Brock Lesnar |
| John Powell | The WWE has two ways they could go with this. Lashley wins, which sets up Brock and Reigns at WrestleMania or Lesnar wins and they scrap his entire angle with Reigns. They have built up Brock versus Lesnar too much with the entire Paul Heyman angle to ditch it now as WrestleMania looms around the corner. | Bobby Lashley |
| Bob Kapur | That awesome video package on Monday, helped give this one a big fight feel. In fact, it makes me think they jumped the gun, and that they actually should have been given more time to build the hype and have the match at Mania. With a little more time to build Lashley up, he could have earned the perception of being a Mania headliner. But, for now, I don’t think he’s there. Meaning Lesnar gets the win. | Brock Lesnar |
| Alex Podgorski | Lesnar vs. Lashley will end in a double-count-out or a double knock-out after the two men maul each other for over twenty minutes. They’ll throw everything at each other from MMA submission holds to power moves, to killer bumps through announce tables. The match will end with some crazy bump that’ll leave both men laying, which will lead to a rematch in some big stipulation match at Elimination Chamber. | No Winner |
| Shelby-Liza Ndumbi | Winner: Bobby Lashley Why?: I believe he’s a good brawler. Anyone who faces Lesnar is a champion to me. |
Bobby Lashley |
Becky Lynch (c) vs. Doudrop – WWE Raw Women’s Championship
| Name | Prediction | Winners |
|---|---|---|
| betonline.ag | Becky Lynch: -1200. | Becky Lynch |
| Matthew Byer | This match probably won’t go very long, but Big Time Becks will retain the WWE RAW Women’s Championship. | Becky Lynch |
| John Powell | You gotta be kidding me. That clown Lynch is right about one thing. Nobody cares about or wants this match. Like, nobody. | Becky Lynch |
| Bob Kapur | I would list out all the problems I have with the way this one has been booked, but honestly it would take more time than this one deserves. Becky wins. | Becky Lynch |
| Alex Podgorski | Lynch will retain in under fifteen minutes. But that’s not what’s important here. This match will take place after the women’s Rumble match has taken place and the winner of that match will be someone from SmackDown. As for Lynch, her celebration will be cut short by a returning Ronda Rousey, who will have a stare down with Lynch to setup their feud for WrestleMania. | Becky Lynch |
| Shelby-Liza Ndumbi | Winner: Becky Lynch Why?: It felt like no competition to me. That’s that. |
Becky Lynch |
Edge and Beth Phoenix vs. The Miz and Maryse
| Name | Prediction | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| betonline.ag | Edge & Beth Phoenix: -500 | Edge & Beth Phoenix |
| Matthew Byer |
The Miz & Maryse actually have done well in the past inter-gender tag team bouts. So that’s why despite many expecting Edge and Beth Phoenix to win at the Royal Rumble I’ll go with The Miz & Maryse. |
Miz & Maryse |
| John Powell | I have found this entire angle to be a snoozefest. How many times now have we seen Maryse dragged into a Miz storyline that eventually culminates in a mixed tag team match of some sort? The sooner this ends, the better. | Edge and Beth Phoenix |
| Bob Kapur | Look, I get it. Edge’s comeback and Rumble win a couple of years ago was a nice feel-good moment. But should they really be trying to squeeze out more of them two years later? And now doing them with Beth, too? Nostalgia is all well and good, but hopefully it all ends here. | Edge and Beth Phoenix |
| Alex Podgorski | Edge & Beth Phoenix win to put this feud to an end and open Edge up for a bigger opponent for WrestleMania.. | Edge & Beth Phoenix |
| Shelby-Liza Ndumbi | Winners: Miz & Maryse – The M team lol. | Miz & Maryse |
Roman Reigns (c) vs. Seth Rollins – WWE Universal Championship Match
| Name | Prediction | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| betonline.ag | Roman Reigns: -240 | Roman Reigns |
| Matthew Byer | Look for Kevin Owens to interfere in this contest in order to counter The Usos who despite being banned from ringside will show up here. In the end Reigns will lose the WWE Universal Title due to a distraction and once again lose to Rollins. | Roman Reigns |
| John Powell | The feeding frenzy surrounding Roman’s reign continues with Seth Rollins giving him a run for his money but being fed to him in the end. | Roman Reigns |
| Bob Kapur | With Seth seemingly taking the heel role for this one, based on the closing segment on Smackdown, look for someone to interfere on his behalf – likely Kevin Owens. But I can see that backfiring, leading to Roman getting the win. | Roman Reigns |
| Alex Podgorski | Reigns retains again Seth in a hard-fought battle following interference from the Usos. The key here is that they’re banned from ringside, but not from the entrance ram. I predict that they will attack Rollins from behind and hurt him badly, forcing him into an underdog position for this match. But it’ll be for naught as Reigns will remain champion. | Roman Reigns |
| Shelby-Liza Ndumbi | Winner: Roman Reigns Why?: Here me out. It’s not only because I would always choose Reigns over Rollins, but Seth gives me egotistical vibes ever since I first saw him wrestle. He reminds me of Dolph Ziegler a bit. Egomaniacs never truly win. And Reigns has a stronger aura and durability. He screams “I’m a winner!” even if he doesn’t. |
Roman Reigns |