While Survivor Series may be just around the corner, an even bigger PPV in the form of WWE Royal Rumble 2018 is just about three months away.
That being said, a lot can happen in three months before WWE Royal Rumble 2018. Championships can get traded between performers, Superstars can get released from the company (it’s a sad truth), or some freak injuries or even the mumps could keep Superstars out of action.
It is impossible to account for all of that when making predictions, but it is possible to account the current progress of storylines and the faith of WWE higher ups in their performers. So, that is what will be taken into consideration when we look at one of the most exciting matches of the year: the Royal Rumble match.
This match (usually) contains 30 Superstars and could feature anyone from women, to announcers, to legends, to even Hornswoggle. All 30 participants get to fight for a chance to earn a spot in a title match at the main event of WrestleMania.
Superstars are eliminated by getting tossed over the top rope with both feet hitting the ground, and the last man remaining will go on to WrestleMania to face a world champion. So, let’s take a look at what 30 Superstars are deserving of participating in the annual Royal Rumble match that will take place late in January.
Source: WWE.com via Twitter
30. Elias
The Royal Rumble is often in need of filler. While there are 30 men in the Royal Rumble, only 5-10 are actually legitimate contenders to win the whole thing. So, midcarders find themselves in the Royal Rumble more often than not just to get eliminated. Elias has been drawing heat nonstop in the midcard on Raw and would be a great addition to fill the void in the Rumble. He could even be the first one out there to perform a concert before 29 other Superstars come out to walk with Elias.
29. Samoa Joe
Fans were hoping and expecting Joe to debut on the main roster at last year’s Royal Rumble in the coveted #30 slot, but to the dismay of many (possibly all), it was Roman Reigns who stole the spotlight. Well, fans should not be let down this year as Samoa Joe has made his mark as one of the top guys on Raw. He has definitely earned his slot in the Rumble, and he could do some serious damage when he’s in the ring.
28. Roman Reigns
Speaking of Roman Reigns, there should be no doubt that he will once again be a participant in the annual Royal Rumble. Roman has been in the last four in each of the last four Rumbles and even won one. Don’t expect this year to be any different. The Big Dog has built a (terrible) reputation around the Rumble, and WWE is going to try to keep that going. They may even have him win the whole thing as a way to set up his WrestleMania match with Brock Lesnar. Lovely!
27. Braun Strowman
Braun Strowman, as long as he is still alive after being turned into compost, should be a definite for the Royal Rumble. He is a Monster Among Men, and that will be on display as he will probably eliminate several Superstars, possibly double digits, and it will take the efforts of everybody in the match just to get him out of the ring. Braun Strowman wants more competition? Well, I think 29 Superstars should suffice.
Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter
26. Apollo Crews
Apollo Crews has absolutely no chance of winning this thing, but he does have one thing to be proud of. He will be able to represent Titus Worldwide at the annual Royal Rumble! Crews will just be another expendable midcarder in this match, but hopefully he can bring some comedy to the ring in the form of Titus O’Neil.
25. The Miz
The Miz has been bringing prestige back to the Intercontinental Championship ever since he won it after WrestleMania 32 and began his career resurgence asa top guy in the WWE. However, despite his pride in holding the Intercontinental Championship, The Miz has not been given many opportunities to defend his belt lately.
At SummerSlam, he was apart of a pre show tag team match, at TLC he was apart of a 5-on-3 handicap match, and he is not defending his title in his match against Baron Corbin at Survivor Series either. So, I won’t be surprised if Miz and his championship are just doing Royal Rumble filler duties this year.
24. Jason Jordan
Being the son of an Olympic gold medalist, WWE HoF’er, and GM of Raw should have its perks. Some of those perks have been a singles push and even an opportunity at the Intercontinental Championship, and now his next perk will be as an entrant in the 2018 Royal Rumble.
Jordan should be able to show off his explosive offense in the match with some impressive suplexes and spears in the corner. While I’m certain he won’t win the whole thing, I’m still left wondering whether or not he will show up with a shopping cart filled with produce.
23. Matt Hardy
Whether it is as Broken Matt or as one half of Team X-Treme, Matt Hardy should be making an appearance at the Royal Rumble. If he goes as X-Treme Matt, he will provide a nice nostalgia pop from the crowd, and his signature Side Effect and Twist of Fate will surely energize the crowd. After that, Matt will probably be promptly tossed from the ring by a monster like Braun or Joe.
Now, if he comes as Broken Matt, it is a whole different story. The entire place would come unhinged, and Matt could have a lengthy run in the match to show off the revived Broken Universe to the WWE Universe.
The Shield is ready to reunite at WWE TLC 2017. Credit: WWE.com
22. Bray Wyatt
The Eater of Worlds has had a rough 2017 to say the least. From his horrid matches with Randy Orton that included the spooky House of Horrors match, to his feud with Seth Rollins that completely fell flat, to his hokey pokey feud with Finn that had people glad it did not have a conclusion.
Now, it looks like Bray is out with the mumps, and hopefully this is a blessing in disguise. This time off should allow Bray to reinvent his character (or booking of his character) a little so he can regain his credibility. Then, he will be a force to be reckoned with in the Rumble, and he could even be an outside pick to win the whole thing.
21. Curt Hawkins
Through some unknown way, Curt Hawkins, the man with a 100+ losing streak, is going to find his way into the Royal Rumble. He may be in the middle of making history right now with that streak of his, but at the Rumble, he has another opportunity to etch his name into the record books.
Hawkins is a strong contender to beat Santino’s record of shortest amount of time in the Royal Rumble match, which is 0.8 seconds long. It’s going to be tough, but if there’s one man that can break it, it’s Curt Hawkins. Face the facts!
20. & 19. Sheamus & Cesaro
While tag teams are not typically represented in the Royal Rumble. There have been exceptions. The New Day have managed to be in past Rumbles because they are still great performers outside of their team, and the same goes for Sheamus and Cesaro.
Sheamus is a hard hitting force that could definitely pick up some eliminations, and with Cesaro’s arsenal of moves, we could see anything happen in the ring while he’s in there. There will be plenty of uppercuts and Brogue Kicks to go around for everybody!
18. & 17. Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose
As long as Seth and Dean are not defending their titles at the Royal Rumble, they will definitely be apart of the actual Royal Rumble match. In fact, I would not be surprised if they pulled double duty and took part in both matches. Both men are so valuable that they are needed in any spot they can get fit into.
Plus, with Roman in the Royal Rumble, there is the opportunity for The Shield to absolutely take over and run the match. Then, we can start to see some dissonance. A slip up from Dean or Seth in the match that causes them to get eliminated could spark their inevitable break up and WrestleMania feud.
Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter
16. Drew Gulak
Last year, the cruiserweight division was represented in the Royal Rumble by Jack Gallagher. He was playing an eccentric character, and he was able to provide some humorous spots by using his umbrella. This year, the most comedic cruiserweight that could represent the division would be Drew Gulak. His political gimmick has been an absolute riot, and he could potentially have some fun spots with his no flying/chants signs, megaphone, and PowerPoint.
15. Kevin Owens
Ever since the Superstar Shakeup, Kevin Owens has been the MVP of SmackDown Live. He made the US Championship relevant again with his New Face of America gimmick, became bigger than the WWE Championship with his feud with Shane, and he is now apart of one of the hottest angles in WWE as Sami Zayn’s best friend.
It is hard to imagine that SmackDown’s hottest commodity wouldn’t be represented at the Royal Rumble this year, so expect the Prizefighter to make a mark at the Rumble and even contend to win it all.
14. Sami Zayn
Fans have been complaining about the misuse of Sami Zayn for so long, but now they have very little to complain about. Sami, with no direction as a face, turned heel and saved his best friend, Kevin Owens, from a patented Shane O’Mac dive from the top of a cell.
Since then, Sami has been an obnoxious and entitled heel that has been on the absolute top of his game. If he ends up in the ring at the Rumble with Kevin Owens, we should expect some pretty entertaining antics from Team Kevin and Sami…wait, I mean Team Sami and Kevin.
13. Bobby Roode
Bobby Roode came onto SmackDown in 2017 to try to fill the void of John Cena. He is being propped up as a main event face, and aside from a slight mishap on the mic, Roode has proved that he can handle the spotlight.
The Royal Rumble should provide an opportunity for the glorious one to shine. His entrance, catchphrase, and music is over with the audience, so he could use the Royal Rumble as a platform to get his wrestling over, too. Bobby Roode could be one of the last eliminated from the Rumble, and if WWE is ready to pull the trigger on him as a top face, he could actually win it all.
Dolph Ziggler is showing off his great mane on WWE SmackDown. Credit: WWE.com
12. Dolph Ziggler
Dolph Ziggler has always had a stigma about him as being a Superstar filled with potential but never being able to amount to that main event success. With his recent feuds and struggles, this has been more evident than ever. Ziggler is struggling to stay relevant in the upper half of SmackDown’s midcard with his gimmick of bashing other people’s gimmicks.
Ziggler should just be a filler position in this year’s Rumble, but hopefully he can tease the crowd by doing the entrance of a popular legend. It would be pretty dastardly for him to come out to Daniel Bryan’s music.
11. Randy Orton
Randy Orton was shockingly last year’s winner of the Royal Rumble. He is now a two time winner and will be, once again, a cornerstone of this year’s Rumble. Could Orton surprise us again this year with another win? I would at least consider it possible since Orton is still once of WWE’s biggest and most protected Superstars. At the very least, he’ll be in there to deliver some deadly RKO’s out of nowhere before getting eliminated late in the match.
10. Baron Corbin
Baron Corbin’s 2017 started off promising. He got a big nudge from WWE higher ups when he was selected to be the guy to eliminate Braun Strowman from the Royal Rumble. Then, he went into a feud for the Intercontinental Championship with Dean Ambrose. After that, he won the Money in the Bank contract, and he was on his way to the main event scene…
Then, he failed on his cash in against none other than Jinder Mahal. Despite that set back, Baron Corbin is getting back on track after winning the United States Championship from AJ Styles. A strong showing in this year’s Rumble should help Corbin’s second attempt of cracking the main event scene.
Credit: WWE.com
9. & 8. Mojo Rawley & Zack Ryder
When will the Hype Bros get on track? Answer: never. Rawley and Ryder have been teasing a break up for months now by yelling at each other before, during, and after matches, and they even come out wearing their singles ring gear.
Fans are getting pretty tired of seeing the same Hype Bros fight and lose without progressing their storyline, so hopefully the Royal Rumble will be a big enough stage to see them finally implode. Then, we can finally see a heel Zack Ryder. WWWYKI.
7. Rusev
Rusev still has not found his place in his new home of SmackDown Live. After coming back from his injury, the Bulgarian Brute lost to John Cena and went on to lose two out of three matches to Randy Orton.
Hope is not lost for RuRu, though. Handsome Rusev is sporting a new look with his beanie cap, and he has been feuding with main eventers while forming an alliance with Aiden English. There are a lot of directions Rusev could go in like a face turn, tagging with English, or WWE title contender, and the Royal Rumble could help spark any of those options.
6. Tye Dillinger
The Perfect 10 came out as entrant #10 last year to the delight of everyone in the crowd and at home. Will WWE repeat the successful move? Probably not. However, Tye should still find himself in the Royal Rumble as a midcard filler. He can get some offense in to try to energize the crowd before getting taken out by a heel like Corbin, Rusev, Kevin Owens, or someone from the Raw side.
5, 4, & 3. The New Day
The New Day should once again be apart of the Royal Rumble. They are still incredibly over with the crowd, and it would be a shame and odd decision to keep them off the card, especially with how good their merch sales are.
Big E will get to show off his explosive offense, Xavier Woods will get to show off his exquisite trombone playing, and Kofi should be giving us his annual jaw dropping save from elimination.
He’s done some pretty crazy stuff, so it’s tough to think of what he will do to top himself this year. Maybe he lands on the ice cream cart and drives it back to the ring? Who knows? Who?
Shinsuke Nakamura on WWE SmackDown’s PPV Hell in a Cell. Credit: WWE.com
2. Kassius Ohno
Despite fans anxiously awaiting the arrivals of Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura to the main roster, there was only one NXT Superstar in last year’s Royal Rumble, and it was Tye Dillinger.
This year, I think the one NXT Superstar that has the best chance of debuting at the Rumble is Kassius Ohno. Now that NXT is overflowing with talent like Cole, McIntyre, Fish, O’Reily, Strong, Velveteen Dream, and Aleister Black, there really isn’t room for Ohno to get back into the main event scene.
So, with nothing left for him in NXT, it would probably be best to promote him to the main roster sooner rather than later, since he can always head back to the indies as Chris Hero and achieve tremendous amounts of success.
1. Shinsuke Nakamura
Nakamura made his debut on SmackDown Live after WrestleMania with a lot of hype surrounding him. His debut feud with Dolph Ziggler was a bit of a let down, but he still remained over with the WWE Universe.
Then, he met Jinder Mahal. Shinsuke, the man who beat Cena, Orton, Ziggler, and was undefeated on the main roster, lost to Jinder Mahal TWICE. That really hurt his momentum, but he can bounce back at the Royal Rumble.
In a dream scenario, after seeing the magic he and AJ Styles were capable of at Money in The Bank, Shinsuke would win the Royal Rumble while AJ Styles wins the WWE Championship from Mahal to set up the Styles vs. Nakamura match everyone has been waiting for. Sadly, it just may be too good to be true.
Next: Royal Rumble Final Four Predictions
Who do you think I left out of this list (besides AJ Styles and Finn Bálor because I made this list assuming they would take part in title matches)? Who do you think should win the Royal Rumble? Sound off in the comments below!