WWE Royal Rumble 2019: Full Confirmed Card and Match Predictions

Credit: WWE.com

SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match: The Bar (c) vs. The Miz & Shane McMahon

Perhaps the match no one saw coming going towards the Royal Rumble was this one. It could still be a great match telling an interesting story, but there’s one serious issue. This all stems from a terrible event.

I’ve described it to others as “fruit of the poisonous tree,” akin to the legal concept in which any evidence or knowledge gained from an illegal search becomes useless in court. No matter how incriminating or important things are afterwards, it’s that initial problem that taints everything that comes after.

This match is the product of the WWE World Cup. The tournament was held at WWE Crown Jewel, and featured eight superstars vying for the opportunity to be called “Best in the World.” The Miz made it to the finals, but was suddenly replaced by Shane McMahon due to an untimely injury.

The real issue was with Crown Jewel itself, which took place in Saudi Arabia only weeks after the alleged assassination of American resident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of the Saudi government. Despite a refusal to compete by both Daniel Bryan and John Cena and heavy public pressure to cancel the event which would be a financial and political boon for Saudi Arabia, WWE chose to go ahead with Crown Jewel.

Not only that, but Shane McMahon (whose wife had just produced a film about the assassination of a journalist) went on to win a tournament to be “Best in the World.” I think David Bixenspan of Deadspin put it best:

"On any WWE show, this would be weird for a number of reasons. At Crown Jewel, even as an audible, it felt like overt trolling, and not just because the concept of Shane McMahon, World Cup Champion is such an awkward one."

Since that night, we’ve seen The Miz proclaim them co-Best in the World and push for Shane to team with him and pursue the SmackDown Tag Team Titles. It’s not entirely clear where WWE is going with this. The comedy segments along the way have been fun, and the match itself should be fun, but this whole thing is fruit of the poisonous tree. The Bar should win, and this should end as soon as possible.

Prediction: The Bar