Brock Lesnar, one of the most absent WWE Champions in WWE history, is not yet booked for a match at WWE Royal Rumble 2020. The following will predict three possible opponents for the WWE Champion on a PPV where he is usually present.
On the Oct. 4 episode debut of Friday Night SmackDown on Fox, Brock Lesnar dethroned Kofi Kingston to become the new WWE Champion in a mere 10 seconds.
Shortly after that very short championship match, because Lesnar attacked his son Dominick on the Raw beforehand, Rey Mysterio called up Dominick’s godfather, Cain Velasquez, to put another scar on Brock’s face. At WWE Crown Jewel 2019, Lesnar retained the WWE Championship against Cain Velasquez.
Because Velasquez failed to get the job done, Mysterio decided to take matters into his own hands and attempt to take the WWE Championship away from Lesnar for his son, but failed to do so at Survivor Series the following November.
Out of the three championship matches Lesnar partook in, this match against Mysterio had the best in-ring psychology and the most emotional appeal to the WWE Universe.
As for this Sunday’s WWE TLC 2019, Lesnar does not have a title match set and likely will not even show up on the show, for he is known for having a habit of skipping PPVs that are not in Saudi Arabia or one of the big four PPVs. Considering that Royal Rumble 2020 is one of the big four PPVs, he is much more likely to show up and defend his championship at this event.
Now that we are on the road to WWE Royal Rumble 2020, there will be quite a few superstars eyeing the WWE Championship. The following will identify and pontificate three potential opponents for Brock Lesnar at WWE Royal Rumble 2020.
3.) Randy Orton
Randy Orton performed in a regular grudge match against Brock Lesnar at WWE SummerSlam 2016. Unfortunately, he lost the match due to TKO after getting bloodied up by Lesnar to the point where he was completely incapacitated and could not compete any further.
Considering that he recently turned babyface in his current feud with AJ Styles, there is a strong sign he turned babyface to eventually battle a heel Brock Lesnar at Royal Rumble 2020. This time, the stakes would be even higher between Lesnar and Orton since it would be for the WWE Championship.
This potential match at Royal Rumble 2020 would be 10 times better if AJ Styles was included in this match for a triple threat because Styles also had a show stealing match against Lesnar at WWE Survivor Series 2017. After losing the United States Championship, there must have been plans to put him back in the main event picture.
Like Orton, he did not defeat Lesnar in the past. However, he is in a feud with Orton at the moment and it would be sensible to book him into this match to prevent a repeat feud between Orton and Lesnar. There are lots of history amongst these three superstars, and it should be a barn burner.
2.) Rusev
Imagine a first time ever match up between Rusev and Brock Lesnar in Suplex City on a beloved Rusev Day? With Rusev’s revitalized babyface momentum in recent weeks, this could put the WWE Universe on the edge of their seats.
Rusev is currently involved in an infidelity storyline with Lana and Bobby Lashley. There has to be something good coming out of this infidelity storyline and a WWE Championship match could be a neat end goal.
If Lashley is included in this match, it would be very fitting. Lashley has wanted to battle Lesnar since returning to the WWE. A one-on-one match between Lashley and Lesnar would not be as exciting now that Lashley has been booked rather poorly since his return to the company.
However, a triple threat match would at least give the WWE Universe a taste of what that one-on-one match would look like. Unlike AJ Styles and Randy Orton, Rusev and Bobby Lashley have never battled Lesnar inside the squared circle and it would be exciting to see how their wrestling styles mesh for a very explosive and monstrous bout.
Despite the lack of history amongst these three superstars, there are some interesting dynamics that could be played out in this bout and it should be a sight to see.
1.) Kevin Owens
Preferably, Kevin Owens should win the Men’s Royal Rumble Match to earn a championship opportunity at WrestleMania 36 instead of immediately being in a WWE Championship match at the Royal Rumble. However, there is not much of a problem in doing both.
Indeed, the WWE Championship has eluded Owens’ career, but he has also never gone to war with Brock Lesnar on live television. That match up should be a treat at Royal Rumble 2020, and Owens very well could beat up Lesnar better than his current rival, Seth Rollins, ever did.
If this match occurs, it would kickstart a feud between Lesnar and Owens quite appropriately on the road to WrestleMania 36.
Owens has been booked as the top babyface on Monday Night Raw in recent weeks and his pep talk with Triple H before Survivor Series, as well as his current feud with Rollins, are strong signs he could be next in line for a WWE Championship match against the heel Brock Lesnar.
As with Styles and Orton and Rusev and Lashley mentioned earlier, including Rollins in this match with Lesnar and Owens would make this bout even more personal. In this case, Rollins has history with Lesnar while Owens does not.
Unlike the aforementioned triple threats, this triple threat has a solid mixture of history and exciting first time match-ups. Considering that Rollins and Owens are already in the main event scene for Raw, this would be an ideal triple threat to book.
If Lesnar were to retain the championship (which is very likely), this triple threat would be a neat way to protect Owens from getting pinned and save him for a Rumble victory later in the night while finally give Lesnar his first pinfall victory over Seth Rollins.