Will WWE Royal Rumble 2017 Create a New Star?

The Royal Rumble 2017 pay-per-view could be the opportunity for WWE to create their next big star.

The Royal Rumble match is all about sending WWE into WrestleMania season, as the winner receives a World championship opportunity at the show. It used to be a guaranteed main event spot, but with the brand split returning and two top titles back, the Rumble winner could be shifted around the match card.

What this match has also achieved is creating a new star. At least, that has been the expectation. One or multiple Superstars are supposed to have a breakout performance to get on the map and be in line for a major push heading into WrestleMania. This doesn’t always come from winning, but more often than not, that should be the case.

The 2017 Royal Rumble match is about as wide open as any of the over-the-top-rope spectacles that we’ve seen in recent years. Having two World titles helps this with more feuds able to be created, and others having benefited from the divide in shows. This allows more air-time for certain Superstars that wouldn’t have had as much of a chance if the rosters were combined.  It’s no coincidence that potential breakout stars for the 2017 Rumble are ones who have been assisted by the brand split either.

Braun Strowman will be the first name that comes to mind when thinking of WWE stars that could stand out in the Royal Rumble. He’s gone from dominating enhancements talents within seconds to having segments with Goldberg, Roman Reigns, and other top Raw Superstars. Strowman still hasn’t taken a pinfall or been submitted either, which has been the groundwork for making him into a force. That goes along with his imposing size and presence that WWE may be salivating over.

Along with being a potential breakout star, Strowman likely heads into the Royal Rumble as one of the favorites to win. His protective and dominant booking could foreshadow a win like it did for Roman Reigns in 2015, who had also been on the rise. So, expect the Mountain of a Man to at least be one of the last Superstars remaining in the match.

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Baron Corbin, another imposing heel, has the opportunity to shine at the Royal Rumble. He’s benefited from the brand split by becoming one of SmackDown’s top heels, receiving a World title match in the process. Standing in the same ring for a segment with AJ Styles will boost anyone’s stock too, which has helped the Lone Wolf.

While Corbin could get a run in the Royal Rumble, his big banter and brand split dominance had been thwarted by John Cena on a recent episode of SmackDown. This kept him off TV the next week, relegating him to just a Talking Smack appearance. There’s only one episode of the Blue Brand left before the Rumble, so either the former NXT star is going to be used to pulverize someone, or he may just be kept off for another week so fans possibly forget about him being AA’d.

The wild card name is Samoa Joe, who hasn’t even made his WWE main roster debut. However, he recently appeared in rumors regarding an incoming “monster push.” It’s something that could begin at the Royal Rumble.

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A noteworthy part of the recent NXT taping had been Samoa Joe’s absence, except for a potential dark match. Even if it airs on TV, Joe’s presence was nowhere to be found throughout the January evening at Full Sail University. This kickstarted the “Will Samoa Joe be in the Royal Rumble match?” conversation.

If the Samoan Submission Machine is brought into the Royal Rumble match, it’s not going to be without purpose or to just get dumped out of the ring. This stands if past NXT stars being used in the Rumble stands for anything. Bo Dallas, despite him being a comedy character, received a lengthy run of over 21 minutes in the 2013 match. Rusev followed that up in 2014 with a run of only seven minutes, but had to be eliminated by four different Superstars. 2016 then saw Sami Zayn used, who jumped to the main roster a short time later.

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A run for Joe could be something similar to Rusev’s. He may join the Royal Rumble early on, eliminate a handful of Superstars, and be eliminated like he’s the toughest man ever to knock over the top rope. It would go a long way to making him look dominant when he appears on Raw or SmackDown in the ensuing nights.

If WWE wanted to be bold, they would make Joe look like a force and have him enter in the final third of the Royal Rumble. He would then get the rub of being one of the final competitors left for a World title shot at WrestleMania, which will go far toward establishing him near the main event scene. It would be the best way of making a new star out of the Royal Rumble since fans may already be aware of the rising stock of Strowman and Corbin.

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The Royal Rumble 2017 match could be the time when the newest star or stars shine in the WWE landscape. Will it be any of Strowman, Corbin, or Joe? Might it be someone else?