This year’s Royal Rumble is being promoted as the night where we will witness ‘more rumble than ever’ considering that there will be not one but two prestigious battle royal matches. For the first time ever, we will be having a women’s Royal Rumble match who will get a chance to challenge the Raw or Smackdown women’s champion at Wrestlemania 34.
There will be the original men’s Royal Rumble match with a star-studded lineup. Plus, both the prime titles from Raw and Smackdown will also be on the line with three superstars being involved in it. The tag team championships will also be defended on that night. The 31st edition of Royal Rumble will take place at the Well Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. WWE Network will the place to watch this first dual-brand PPV of the year.
Check out the predictions for every match on the evening:
WWE RAW Tag Team Championships
Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan (c’s) vs. Sheamus and Cesaro
Prediction: The Bar is definitely the favourite heading into this match considering Rollins and Jordan are not even near to being on the same page. Their team is volatile since the night they were forced to team up and especially the way Jordan is acting, nowadays. But, somehow the title reign will continue with a fallout in-store for the future. The Bar will still be hunting the titles even after the PPV night.
WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championships (2-out-of-3 falls)
The Usos (c’s) vs. Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin
Prediction: For the past few weeks, the challengers in this match picked up huge momentums on their side targeting the champs. They are even the favourites heading into the contest considering that Jey Uso is feeling backstage heat due to his arrest, earlier this month. The only thing that might help the champions to retain is that the Wrestlemania season is coming up and the officials will not want to see Benjamin-Gable as the winners with the least reaction from the crowd. We need to mention that the contest will be a solid one.
WWE Championship
2-on-1 Handicap Match
AJ Styles (c) vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
Prediction: The concept of having co-WWE champions in the programming is definitely something interesting. As much as we want it to happen in the form of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, it will not happen. WWE officials will not take such type of risk considering Wrestlemania season is coming up and AJ Styles should head to the event, as the reigning champion. He deserves every bit of it to receive a dream match against Nakamura.
The #UniversalTitle will be on the line when @BrockLesnar defends his title against @BraunStrowman and @KaneWWE THIS SUNDAY at #RoyalRumble! #SDLive @HeymanHustle pic.twitter.com/vI7zuhdD08
— WWE (@WWE) January 24, 2018
WWE Universal Championship
Triple Threat Match
Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Kane vs. Braun Strowman
Prediction: With three monsters involving in this match, this is going to be absolute carnage at the ringside area. The behemoth superstars will rip each other apart with Braun Strowman being the absolute favourite to win the Universal Championship. But, since Brock Lesnar is already scheduled to face Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania 34, the champion is expected to retain by pinning Kane to win the match.
Women’s Royal Rumble match
Prediction: Needless to say, there will be multiple surprise appearances in this match to make it a memorable affair. Names like the Bella Twins, Molly Holly, Kharma, Kelly Kelly are expected to come back for one night only. Asuka is the favourite one to win this contest and receive a title shot at ‘Mania. A surprise appearance by Ronda Rousey is also expected who will make her debut. Plus, Nia Jax might also win it to set up a match against her best-friend, Alexa Bliss.
Who do YOUR favorite @WWENXT Superstars think is walking out of the Men’s #RoyalRumble match victorious? pic.twitter.com/jV4GQU2bQ9
— WWE (@WWE) January 26, 2018
Men’s Royal Rumble match
Prediction: The horrifying experience of Roman Reigns winning the 2015 Royal Rumble hosted from the same venue might repeat to the much disgust of the fans in attendance. It’s a fact that the Big Dog is still the favourite one to win the Royal Rumble and then go on to face the beast incarnate at the biggest event of the year.
Shinsuke Nakamura is the other favourite to win this battle royal which might please the fans. This will solidify WWE’s effort to make a match official between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura as a dream match that the fans wanted to see ever since the latter one’s debut on the main roster.