One of the best things about any Royal Rumble match in the WWE are the surprise entrants that no-one in the WWE Universe sees coming, with that in mind I foolishly attempt to predict five possible surprise entrants for the men’s 2018 Royal Rumble Match.
Currently there are 17 WWE Superstars announced for the men’s Royal Rumble match. For Monday Night RAW we have – The Miz, Elias, Finn Balor, ‘Woken’ Matt Hardy, Bray Wyatt, Titus O’Neil and Apollo Crews.
Meanwhile the Superstars from SmackDown LIVE in the match are – All three members of The New Day, Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura, Baron Corbin, Aiden English and Rusev, Tye Dillinger and, of course, free agent John Cena.
Bizarrely however, several big names have yet to be announced for the match and currently aren’t scheduled to appear, with Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman, Seth Rollins, Jason Jordan, Sheamus, Cesaro, Kevin Owens, AJ Styles and Sami Zayn are absent from the match
As a result there are thirteen empty spots that the WWE has to fill to complete their 30-man Royal Rumble match. This means that the chances of the WWE having a few surprises in store for its fans are incredibly high. But who can we expect to surprise us?
Ethan Carter III
Ethan Carter III is currently a free agent having left Impact Wrestling during their most recent set of television tapings, and there are many signs pointing towards him potentially appearing at the Royal Rumble.
Under new ownership Impact Wrestling were looking to make some budget cuts so granted wrestlers with big money contracts like Ethan Carter III, Bobby Lashley and James Storm their release from the company.
In storyline, Ethan Carter III took part in a ‘Feast or Fired’ match and managed to pick up the ‘fired’ briefcase with the pink slip in, resulting in EC3 being released from the company. But why do we think we’ll be in the Royal Rumble?
Firstly, the former Impact World Champion pulled out of an independent date that was due to take place on the same day as the WWE PPV. Secondly, EC3 was recently spotted at the WWE Performance Center and the NXT Twitter page started following him on Twitter.
Of course, this is all just speculation at this point, but AJ Styles proves that the WWE aren’t averse to debuting former Impact talent during their big event and in EC3’s case, this would be somewhat of a triumphant return to the company, as man fans will remember he used to be Derrick Bateman.
Credit: WWE.com
MVP
Montel Vontavious Porter enjoyed a lengthy and memorable run with the WWE appearing for the company for five years as one of its better mid-card champions before his eventual departure in 2010.
MVP’s WWE run will perhaps most likely be remembered for a great rivalry with Matt Hardy and an excellent United States Championship stint. Many predicted great things for MVP but he never quite reached the world title picture and left the company.
However he recently made his surprise return to the company after eight years away at the RAW 25th anniversary show. He didn’t wrestle at the show, but he did take part in the APA’s backstage poker game with many other returning WWE legends like Ted Dibiase and current members of the roster such as The New Day, Titus Worldwide, Heath Slater and Rhyno and Natalya.
So, if MVP has already made one surprise return to the WWE in January 2018 why do I think that he’ll make another one so soon? Well, it’s pure speculation on my part but what if MVP’s appearance in that backstage segment was a precursor of things to come? Especially as the Ballin’ Superstar can still wrestle, having plied his trade on the independent circuit since leaving WWE.
Credit: WWE.com
Pete Dunne
The WWE UK Tournament brought us many great things, Tyler Bate, Trent Seven but perhaps the best thing it’s given us is ‘The Bruiserweight’ Pete Dunne who surely must be earmarked for big things within the WWE as he’s still incredibly young but already has a string of incredible in-ring performances under his belt.
Pete Dunne is undoubtedly a rising star in the WWE and has represented the UK to the best of his ability as their current WWE UK Champion. He tore up 2017 with a great series of matches against former UK Champion Tyler Bate, Johnny Gargano and Mark Andrews and has and a main roster debut victory over Enzo Amore during the Monday Night RAW tapings in England.
Despite this, Pete Dunne still doesn’t really have a platform in the WWE until some headway is made with the planned WWE UK television show, making sporadic appearances for NXT. This is a shame as Dunne is absolutely a future world champion in the making.
As a current WWE title holder it would make sense for Pete Dunne to enter the Royal Rumble match and given that he has also pulled out of an independent show on WrestleMania weekend, just like EC3, there’s every chance that the Superstar could be one of the pleasant Rumble match surprises.
Credit: WWE.com
Ricochet
Trevor Mann is one of the WWE’s latest exciting recruits, joining the performance centre alongside big Indy tag-team War Machine and the wife of Johnny Gargano and Mae Young Classic competitor Candice LeRae.
He’s a man with many names appearing as Prince Puma for Lucha Underground and Ricochet or King Ricochet for Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. He’s an experienced wrestler and is thought to be one of the most exciting wrestling prospects in the world.
Mann is best known for his high-flying spot-fest style of wrestling that recently saw him hit the headlines when a match between him and Will Ospreay in the final of the New Japan Pro Wrestling Super Juniors tournament drew criticism for the athletic display both men put on.
Ricochet is expected to debut on NXT and work on that brand before getting called up to the main roster. But, the man is so talented that he deserves the same kind of Rumble moment that was given to AJ Styles in 2016.
Not to mention that Ricochet’s athletic ability will undoubtedly lead to some incredible Rumble moments during his time with the company, so why not start as soon as possible and properly introduce this newly signed star to the WWE Universe!
Credit: WWE.com
Daniel Bryan
I know what you’re thinking. Daniel Bryan is not cleared to compete for the WWE so why on earth would the current SmackDown Live General Manager be a surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble match? And you’d be right for questioning my judgement there, however, there is some method to my madness.
Daniel Bryan has been the subject of continuous and intense speculation regarding whether or not he’ll ever wrestle for the WWE again. During this period of time Daniel Bryan has made several public allusions to leaving the company, even using the WWE Twitter page. I don’t think he’d be allowed to do this if he was actually going to leave
He has also been in a storyline where there’s conflict between him and his boss Shane McMahon which seems to be building towards something. There’s a chance that something is a surprise ring-return for Bryan, and what better place to do that than the Rumble?
Next: 3 Reasons Brock Lesnar Should Win At The Rumble
Plus, for some unknown reason, Daniel Bryan randomly shot up in the betting odds for the event, going from as likely to win it as CM Punk, to the third favourite to win it behind Roman Reigns and Shinsuke Nakamura, so perhaps the betting sites know something we don’t!