WWE Royal Rumble: 3 Early Picks For The 2019 Winner

Credit: WWE.com

2. Andrade “Cien” Almas

Andrade “Cien” Almas’ career with NXT was the success story of 2017. Even though Almas was scoring wins over names like Tye Dillinger and Bobby Roode, Almas never seemed to gain proper footing, that is until the arrival of his manager Zelina Vega. After that, Almas propelled up through the ranks of NXT and onto the SmackDown Live roster with such vigor that whenever he enters down the ramp, we still feel like we’re about to watch a championship match.

Almas’ star-power has never been higher, and the perfect way to capitalize on that would be to name Almas as the 2019 Royal Rumble Winner. Andrade has faced current WWE Champion AJ Styles a time or two before, but has yet to come out with the prize held high above his head.

WWE needs to strike while the iron is hot in terms of Almas, before he becomes swept under the rug in a series of lower-level feuds. The entity surrounding Andrade is strong on every front; his in-ring presence is strongly felt by all his opponents, and he has Zelina Vega backing him up on the mic.

A win for Almas at the Royal Rumble would prove that the future of WWE is certainly upon us; with former NXT Champions like Kevin Owens and Finn Balor having already held the World Championship titles, and former NXT Champion winning last year’s Royal Rumble, the flood gates are now open for WWE to rally around the success of NXT and for Andrade Almas to rise to the ranks of former NXT Champions before him.