WWE Royal Rumble 2020: early match card predictions after TLC
By Mark Justice
WWE Royal Rumble 2020 will take place on Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT live on the WWE Network with the kickoff show beginning at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT. The following will address some early match card predictions almost one month away from a PPV that kickstarts the road to WrestleMania 36.
Who will main event WrestleMania? WWE Royal Rumble 2020 will hopefully give the WWE Universe the answer to that question as we approach that PPV in January. With WWE TLC 2019 out of the way, we are finally on the road to WrestleMania 36.
With that being said, it’s time to plunge into a plenitude of surprises for WWE’s very first PPV of 2020. Let’s now predict the WWE Royal Rumble 2020 card, starting with a Raw Tag Team Championship match between Viking Raiders and Authors of Pain.
Viking Raiders (c) vs. Authors of Pain [Raw Tag Team Championships]
At WWE TLC 2019, Erik and Ivar retained their Raw Tag Team Championships via double count out against Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson from The O.C. and later power-slammed them through an advertised KFC table. Due to the inconclusive finish, it is evident that this rivalry will be extended, but hopefully not all the way to the Royal Rumble.
Instead, that rivalry should be terminated at the Christmas or New Years episodes of Raw, with a retain for the Viking Raiders. That way, they can get their revenge from their BITW Tag Team Turmoil loss to the O.C. at Crown Jewel in October and move on to new, more imposing challengers, like Akam and Rezar from the Authors of Pain.
With the momentum they have gained from joining forces with Seth Rollins recently, the Authors of Pain should dethrone the Viking Raiders to become the new Raw Tag Team Champions. It’s a good booking decision to make them champions so that they are viewed on a comparable level to Rollins and not merely seen as pointless sidekicks.
Prediction: Authors of Pain