WWE Royal Rumble 2021 will take place on January 31, 2020, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT live on the WWE Network.
WWE Royal Rumble 2021! This PPV tends to be the most exciting PPV of the year not only because the fans enjoy seeing returning superstars make surprise entrances and hurl each other over the top rope but also because it has huge implications for WrestleMania 37. Indeed, the Royal Rumble’s goal is to give the fans a general idea of who will main event the show of shows. Without further ado, here are the full match card predictions.
Street Profits (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode [SmackDown Tag Team Championships]
On last week’s episode of SmackDown, Street Profits successfully retained the SmackDown Tag Team Championships against Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler when Montez Ford pinned Dolph Ziggler with a tugging of the tights as payback for Ziggler tugging his tights earlier in the match. It is unlikely for babyfaces to win matches in this manner, but it made sense since it was in retaliation to the heel’s prior underhanded tactics.
Ziggler and Roode were clearly upset with this finish, as can be indicated by their heated argument with the referee after the match. Since this was a nefariously executed finish, this will be used as an excuse to set up a rematch. Street Profits will retain once again because they need to solidify their spot as tag team of the year and move on to battling a more formidable tag team at WrestleMania 37. Since Jimmy Uso is due to return, the Usos would be their ultimate opponents.
Prediction: Street Profits
Hurt Business (c) vs. The New Day [Raw Tag Team Championships]
Since The New Day lost their Raw Tag Team Championships to Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin of the Hurt Business at TLC, it is very likely that they would have a rematch of sorts at this Royal Rumble event. The Raw Tag Team Division is way too minute to even consider any other options, per se. The only other tag teams in the division are Lucha House Party and Dirt Sheet’s Miz and Morrison, who have all been buried or absent this year.
There is one new tag team called The Hardy Bros, who have been involved in a mid card rivalry with The Hurt Business in the past few weeks. While it would make sense for Hardy Bros to battle Alexander and Benjamin here, it seems that Riddle is focused on getting a United States Championship opportunity against Bobby Lashley before battling for the Raw Tag Team Championships with Jeff Hardy.
While The Hardy Bros focus on that, these two teams might as well play ‘hot potato’ with the tag titles to stall this division all the way to WrestleMania 37. Henceforth, it is sensible for The New Day to win the titles back after Cedric Alexander’s new, conceited attitude costs Hurt Business the match. Woods has not won on PPV since returning from a year-long injury and he needs a big win here to cement a milestone of becoming 11-time tag team champions on the road to Mania 37.
Prediction: The New Day
Big E (c) vs. Sami Zayn [Intercontinental Championship]
According to the leaked results of the Christmas SmackDown episode, Big E dethroned Sami Zayn to become the new Intercontinental Champion in a lumberjack match. While it is nice to see Big E win his second Intercontinental Championship during the biggest singles push of his career, there was minimal build up to this title win and many fans expected Big E to focus on breaking into the main event scene and competing for the Universal Championship instead.
This victory also hurt Sami Zayn in the process, especially since he was making the championship more prestigious than most championships in the WWE. The mid card is intended for superstars like Sami Zayn, not Big E., at this point in time. Nonetheless, a rematch will very likely take place without distracting lumberjacks at this PPV to solidify Big E’s reign. Big E will inevitably retain the championship against Zayn because he will evidently not lose that championship anytime soon.
However, there is a silver lining to this title win. In a similar manner to how Seth Rollins built himself back up as a main event player with his memorable Intercontinental Championship run in 2018 before slaying Brock to win the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 35 in 2019, Big E can do the same here in his similar pursuit to win the Universal Championship at either WrestleMania 37 in 2020 or even WrestleMania 38 in 2021.
If this is the path WWE is willing to take with Big E, it would be neat to book Big E to retain the Intercontinental Championship against Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 37 and hold onto the championship all the way to WrestleMania 38 to challenge Rollins’ Shield brother, Roman Reigns, for the Universal Championship and finally put an end to Roman’s reign of terror. While this may be too good to be true, there’s nothing wrong with logical speculation.
It has been reported that Vince McMahon did not have plans for Big E to fight Reigns at WrestleMania 37, so this speculative year-long idea could be the alternative and probably be a blessing in disguise to give E more time to build himself up for a victory over Reigns rather than going straight at it prematurely and disappointedly losing to Reigns at WrestleMania 37. For now, it’s best to just enjoy Big E’s current reign and witness his journey to a well-deserved top spot.
Prediction: Big E
Bobby Lashley (c) (w/MVP) vs. Riddle (w/Jeff Hardy) [United States Championship]
As mentioned earlier, Riddle is reportedly set to battle Bobby Lashley for the United States Championship at the Royal Rumble. Riddle has pitched ‘business’ ideas, such as ‘bro-like’ snow cones and doughnuts, to MVP to set up this rivalry. Ever since WWE Raw became the next episode of Shark Tank, Riddle has found his way into the U.S. title picture somehow with Hardy as his new tag partner in a team called ‘Hardy Bros’ with a finishing maneuver called ‘Broetry in Motion.’
This sounds like a blatant, petty shot at AEW’s ‘Matt’ Hardy, but that’s besides the point. Hardy should not be teaming up with Riddle since he has zero chemistry with Riddle and is clearly an impeccable singles superstar with years of experience who should be in matches with talent who are on the verge of being elevated to the main event scene. A tag team involving Riddle and Gulak in what was formerly called ‘Catch Point’ would have been even more suitable.
Nonetheless, it seems that Riddle will have Hardy at ringside to help him fend off any interferences from MVP whilst he battles Bobby Lashley for the United States Championship. As said earlier, Riddle won’t win because he is already being set up for a future tag team championship opportunity with Hardy. Meanwhile, Lashley can move on to a formidable opponent, such as Keith Lee (preferably) or Sheamus, on the road to WrestleMania 37.
Prediction: Bobby Lashley
Sasha Banks (c) vs. Bianca Belair [SmackDown Women’s Championship]
Since Sasha Banks decisively retained the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Carmella at TLC, she should have a new challenger. The only singles stars left in the SmackDown Women’s Division that have enough momentum to battle Banks for the SmackDown Women’s Championship are Bianca Belair and Bayley. Since the latter already lost twice to Banks since losing the title, Belair would be the ideal option here.
It is understandable that Belair may have squandered her title opportunity by losing to Bayley on last week’s go-home SmackDown episode. However, Bayley did rake Belair’s eyes to pick up her first victory sine August, so this victory was nefarious enough to protect Belair’s momentum and set her up for a rematch in what could be billed as a number one contender’s match for the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
This is where Belair would pick up her redemptive victory over Bayley. If Belair defeated Bayley last week, it would not have been as meaningful, especially since Bayley had recently lost to Natalya. Now that Bayley already got a victory over Belair, Belair will have to dig down deeper to defy Bayley’s underhanded tactics and punch her ticket to her first-ever championship match on the main roster in what would be a dream match in the making against Banks.
While many would want this match to wait until Mania, there’s no harm in striking while the iron is hot with Belair, a breakout star who has barely been used since getting called up to the main roster. They can always have a rematch at Mania, but a match at the Rumble would plant the seeds for that epic bout and elicit an even bigger fight feel for the grandest stage of them all, where moments are usually brought to fruition.
Although Banks is not losing her championship anytime soon after dethroning the longest-reigning SmackDown Women’s Champion in history, there’s no doubt that Belair will receive the ‘rub here with a strong showing on a proving ground that will showcase her capability of leading the women’s division in the future. Expect this match to steal the show, if the WWE is smart enough to book it for what is one of the big four PPVs.
Prediction: Sasha Banks
Asuka & Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax [Women’s Tag Team Championships]
Asuka and Charlotte Flair dethroned Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax to become the new Women’s Tag Team Champions at TLC, allowing Charlotte to reach grand slam status. However, this title reign won’t last for long since it is clear that Charlotte primarily wants to target Asuka’s Raw Women’s Championship. She will turn on Asuka to cost them the championships in what would be the spark to the build up of their WrestleMania 34 rematch at WrestleMania 37.
Indeed, Asuka lost her undefeated streak to Charlotte Flair in a SmackDown Women’s Championship match at WrestleMania 34. Asuka can now redeem herself against the superstar who ended her streak three years ago. Asuka has never won a match at WrestleMania, so a WrestleMania moment should be in store for her as she aims to retain the Raw Women’s Championship that Becky Lynch bestowed upon her against fellow Horsewoman, Charlotte Flair.
As for Baszler and Jax, many fans expected this makeshift tag team to break up since the tag team championships were the only championships that kept them together. However, that does not seem to be the case after they defeated Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke on Raw to regain their momentum. The fact that they are still together is a strong sign that they are winning back the Women’s Tag Team Championships at the Royal Rumble and going into Mania as champs.
Prediction: Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax
Roman Reigns (c) vs. Daniel Bryan [Universal Championship]
According to the leaked results of the Christmas SmackDown episode, Roman Reigns retained the Universal Championship against Kevin Owens inside a Steel Cage while Daniel Bryan defeated Jey Uso in a grudge match. Ever since Jey Uso ‘injured’ Daniel Bryan in storyline, Bryan has made it an oath to defeat Jey Uso decisively beyond a small package to get his redemption before battling Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship.
Now that he has that decisive victory, he has the momentum to battle for the title. Clearly, these two superstars will have an impeccable feud, but Reigns will inevitably retain the Universal Championship against Bryan, who is merely trying to put the SmackDown stars over as much as possible. If Big E is not Roman’s opponent at WrestleMania 37, there’s hope that Bryan will win the Rumble or an Elimination Chamber match to have one more shot at Reigns for Mania.
There has been a proclivity to book Reigns against his challengers twice ever since he won the Universal Championship in August. Reigns defeated Jey Uso twice at Clash of Champions and Hell in a Cell to solidify his status as the Tribal Chief at the head of the table against his bloodline. Reigns defeated Kevin Owens twice at TLC and the Christmas SmackDown episode to solidify his Universal Championship reign against a former Universal Champion.
The same must be done against Daniel Bryan to solidify his spot as the ultimate WrestleMania main eventer against a fellow WrestleMania main eventer who made history seven years ago at Mania 30 before Reigns could even touch the WrestleMania main event. As the top heel, Reigns needs to topple a top babyface, and Bryan fits the bill. Bryan has been a popular babyface for a very long time and is probably only one of a few who can put Reigns over as a megastar.
While Goldberg also makes sense as a challenger to Reigns since he did not get the opportunity to face him at last year’s WrestleMania, he never main evented WrestleMania and is not a fan favorite, like Bryan, to be in that spot. Quite frankly, he could hurt Reigns’ momentum as a heel since so many fans would boo Goldberg, instead of Reigns, due to his burial of so many superstars, especially Bray Wyatt, upon his return.
Prediction: Roman Reigns
Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Sheamus [WWE Championship]
Drew McIntyre retained the WWE Championship against AJ Styles in their scheduled WWE Championship match at TLC. However, there was interference by The Miz, who cashed in his MITB contract during the TLC match to make it a triple threat match but failed due to clutch hindrances from Omos. While it would make sense for Styles to get a rematch for the WWE Championship against McIntyre since he did not get his one-on-one match entirely, MITB is part of the game.
Styles would have to deal with this and move on to other feuds. This cash-in was more of a way to protect Styles in defeat since he needs to look strong to elevate Omos while continuing to book Miz like a clown ever since he was absent from WrestleMania 36. Although that sounds too petty of a reason for Miz to lose week after week, there are not many other reasons for why a former WWE Champion and grand slam champion is being buried to this extent.
Miz has been bereft of any momentum for the past eight months. It was clear from the start that the MITB Briefcase was taken away from Otis and given to Miz because the WWE did not want Otis to look weak in a failed MITB cash-in even though losing the briefcase in the first place is ten times worse. Just ask Mr. Kennedy from Green Bay, Wisconsin. Anyways, now that The Miz is no longer a factor in these title matches as Mr. MITB, McIntyre can now focus on his next opponent.
His opponent will be Sheamus. During the Christmas Holiday Street Fight on WWE Raw this past week, McIntyre and Sheamus had another argument after weeks of teasing their friendship and inevitable dissension. Sheamus has absolutely no chance of dethroning Drew McIntyre at the Rumble, but it should be a hard-hitting slugfest because Sheamus has been reminding everyone why he was a former WWE Champion with some show-stealing matches as of late.
A victory over a former WWE Champion and Royal Rumble winner would do wonders for Drew McIntyre’s title reign as he kickstarts another momentous road to WrestleMania. During his long title reign, McIntyre had defeated many former world champions, including Brock Lesnar, Seth Rollins, Dolph Ziggler, Randy Orton, and more recently AJ Styles and The Miz. Sheamus is next on the bucket list and this victory will be even more meaningful since it’s against his best friend.
Prediction: Drew McIntyre
Women’s Royal Rumble [Over-The-Top-Rope Free-For-All]
Raw Prediction: Ronda Rousey
SmackDown Prediction: Bianca Belair
NXT Prediction: Rhea Ripley
If one of the Raw superstars wins the Royal Rumble, it will be Ronda Rousey. Her contract is reportedly expiring in April of 2021, which is right around WrestleMania season, and she could come back before that contract expires. She has been one of the most protected superstars in the Raw Women’s Division. It would not be surprising if she made her way back into the Raw Women’s Championship picture by winning her first Royal Rumble, where she debuted, and challenging Asuka or Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 37 for the Raw Women’s Championship she lost to Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 35 two years ago. However, it would be ill-advised to put Rousey back in the title picture, especially since the women’s division was never the same again after she ran through almost everyone in 2018.
If one of the SmackDown superstars wins the Royal Rumble, it will be Bianca Belair. As mentioned earlier, she is the ideal opponent for Sasha Banks at WrestleMania 37. On top of that, she has Royal Rumble experience from last year’s Royal Rumble after eliminating a record number of opponents in what was an impeccable showcase of her strength, agility, and athleticism. She can use that experience and her abilities to win the Rumble this year and challenge Banks at Mania. However, if she is the opponent for Banks at the Rumble, she will either not be in the Rumble match or be too fatigued to go all the way in the Rumble. The Elimination Chamber could always be a Plan B for Belair to earn her title opportunity against Banks at Mania. Seeing her eliminate everyone in a Chamber would be a sight to see from the EST of WWE.
If one of the NXT superstars wins the Royal Rumble, it will be Rhea Ripley. Her momentum has suffered ever since she lost the NXT Women’s Championship to Charlotte Flair, who unnecessarily won the Royal Rumble against up-and-comer Shayna Baszler and did little to nothing to elevate the NXT Women’s Division in the ring and on the mic. She did not even eat the pinfall to lose the NXT Women’s Championship to Io Shirai, who pinned Ripley to win that title in a triple threat match at NXT Takeover: In Your House. Ripley lost most of her momentum (and her confidence, according to her) because of this booked interaction with Charlotte Flair, and winning the Rumble could help her redeem herself with two choices: a rematch against Io Shirai for the NXT Women’s Title or a rematch against Charlotte Flair but for the Raw Women’s Title at WrestleMania 37.
Ultimate Prediction: Rhea Ripley
Men’s Royal Rumble [Over-The-Top-Rope Free-For-All]
Raw Prediction: Keith Lee
SmackDown Prediction: Daniel Bryan
NXT Prediction: Adam Cole
If one of the Raw superstars wins the Royal Rumble, it will be Keith Lee. He has reasons to battle both WWE Champion Drew McIntyre and Universal Champion Roman Reigns. Lee and Reigns had a memorable moment at Survivor Series 2019, where Lee got the ‘rub’ from Reigns after Reigns eliminated him last to become the sole survivor for Team SmackDown. It was also no coincidence that Lee eliminated Jey Uso, Roman’s cousin, last at this year’s Survivor Series. The signs point to a championship match between them at Mania. While this can be teased, it could be more likely that Lee remains on Raw to battle McIntyre for the WWE Championship. Every time McIntyre has a rivalry for his championship, Lee was continually involved in the background. This was the case for both McIntyre’s feud with Orton and now with Sheamus. The seeds are planted. Book it.
If one of the SmackDown superstars wins the Royal Rumble, it will be Daniel Bryan. As mentioned earlier, he is the ideal opponent for Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 37. On top of that, he has Royal Rumble experience as a notable Iron Man who can endure this match better than most superstars on the roster. He can use that experience and his technical professional wrestling skills to win the Rumble this year and challenge Reigns at Mania. However, if he is the opponent for Reigns at the Rumble, he will either not be in the Rumble match or be too fatigued to go all the way in the Rumble. The Elimination Chamber could always be a Plan B for Bryan to earn his title opportunity against Reigns at Mania. Seeing Bryan eliminate everyone in a Chamber would be a good way to help him regain his momentum so that his inevitable loss to Reigns means more.
If one of the NXT superstars wins the Royal Rumble, it will be Adam Cole. He has done it all in NXT and should have been called up a long time ago. He has feuded with almost everyone in NXT, and those feuds are now going stale. The Rumble could be his gateway to going to the main roster and challenging for the WWE or Universal Championship. Challenging Drew McIntyre would be ideal since his NXT debut involved attacking Drew McIntyre with the Undisputed Era. It would be neat to revisit that in what could be a memorable WrestleMania storyline. However, it would be too soon of a push for Cole to win the Rumble and main event Mania after getting called up. Although he is one of the best wrestlers in the WWE, it would not be smart to push him down anyone’s throats or else that could unfortunately be his ‘last shot’ at the main event scene on the main roster.
Ultimate Prediction: Keith Lee