The 2021 WWE Royal Rumble is days away, and that means the annual Road to WrestleMania is about to be in full swing. While the card is subject to change and there could be a few alterations in the coming days, it seems pretty clear what those would be.
As of now, there are five confirmed matches for the event. Looking at the last three Royal Rumble pay-per-views, which are the only others that included a Men’s and Women’s Royal Rumble, the show has featured six or seven matches on the main card, with two or three of them occurring on the Kickoff Show.
However, the company will likely schedule only one Kickoff match this year. In previous years, the Royal Rumble had a two-hour Kickoff Show, but WWE has been setting a standard of only one-hour Kickoff Shows — even for their Big Four pay-per-view events — since hosting without a live audience.
WrestleMania 36 (on both nights), SummerSlam 2020, and Survivor Series 2020 all had a one-hour Kickoff Show with a single match on it. As a result, we can likely expect one match on this year’s Royal Rumble Kickoff Show and one (maybe two) added to the main card of five that is already announced.
Here, we’re going to predict the full WWE Royal Rumble 2021 card and exactly who is most likely to win each match.
For clarity, the following matches are confirmed and announced by WWE to take place at the 2021 WWE Royal Rumble:
- Men’s Royal Rumble Match
- Women’s Royal Rumble Match
- Roman Reigns (c) vs. Kevin Owens (Last Man Standing for the Universal Title)
- Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Goldberg (WWE Title)
- Asuka & Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax (WWE Women’s Tag Titles)
Before diving into predictions, let’s first look at which matches WWE could likely add to the show in the coming days and who is poised to walk out with a win this Sunday.
United States Championship Match: Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Riddle (Royal Rumble Kickoff Show)
The most likely contest to end up on the Royal Rumble Kickoff Show would be Bobby Lashley defending his United States Championship against Riddle. We’ve seen the issues between Riddle and The Hurt Business for several weeks now, and this week on WWE Raw, it was Riddle’s opportunity to earn another United States Championship match.
In order to do so, Riddle had to run the gauntlet and defeating the three other members of The Hurt Business. With an assist from some in-fighting between the faction’s members, Riddle beat MVP, Shelton Benjamin, and Cedric Alexander in succession to earn himself a shot at Lashley.
While the match wasn’t announced on WWE Raw, the most likely and logical time for it to take place would be at the Royal Rumble. With this potential final card in mind, it would also find its way to the Kickoff Show, where we will hopefully see Bobby Lashley retain and move on from this rivalry.
Prediction: Bobby Lashley
Intercontinental Championship Triple Threat Match: Big E (c) vs. Sami Zayn vs. Apollo Crews
Since losing the Intercontinental Championship to Big E on 2020’s final episode of SmackDown, Sami Zayn has continued to insist he’s the true champion while interfering in Big E’s business. Lately, that’s included Big E forming a budding rivalry with Apollo Crews.
After a championship match technically saw Crews pin Big E, though Crews’ shoulders were also down and he eventually lost the restarted match, it was the words of Paul Heyman on Talking Smack after that which fired the former United States Champion up. When Crews got another shot at Big E last week on SmackDown, the match ended in a disqualification after Sami Zayn interfered in the contest.
Considering Zayn still hasn’t received a rematch since losing the title, and Apollo Crews hasn’t really received a full and fair shot, the only logical conclusion is a triple threat at the Royal Rumble. This could be a quiet match of the night contender if given some time, and look for Crews to pin Zayn to capture the Intercontinental Title for the first time in his career, if the match happens.
Prediction: Apollo Crews
SmackDown Women’s Championship Match: Sasha Banks (c) vs. Carmella
Just over a month ago at TLC 2020, Sasha Banks defended the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Carmella. It was a solid contest and Carmella put in a good effort, but ultimately “The Boss” left with the same title she walked in holding.
Several weeks later, Carmella has refused to let things end and continued to target Banks. Two weeks ago, Banks agreed to give Carmella another shot at the title, but only if she could first take on Carmella’s sommelier, Reginald, in a match. Banks delivered by defeating Reginald last Friday on SmackDown, and now the only question that remains is when Carmella gets her title shot.
There’s a chance it could happen this Friday on SmackDown, but even that might see a non-finish and get pushed to the Royal Rumble. In the end, it’ll all still have the same result with Sasha Banks leaving the Royal Rumble as the SmackDown Women’s Champion.
Prediction: Sasha Banks
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Match: Asuka & Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax
Now we’re on to matches that are already confirmed for the 2021 Royal Rumble, and we saw a preview of it this past Monday on WWE Raw. Initially, we got to see Charlotte Flair take on Shayna Baszler, but the match ended in a no contest.
After Dana Brooke, Mandy Rose, and Lacey Evans joined the mix, we had a six-woman tag team match. When the dust settled, Nia Jax had taken the win for her team by pinning Dana Brooke. This gives Jax and Baszler plenty of momentum headed into this Sunday, where they hope to recapture the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles.
It’s important to note that Asuka is also fresh off a chaotic contest with Alexa Bliss, and Evans may make her presence felt during this match with Ric Flair at her side. With so many additional factors, it looks like Asuka and Charlotte’s unlikely championship reign will come to an end this Sunday.
Prediction: Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax
WWE Championship Match: Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Goldberg
There likely isn’t a match currently confirmed for the 2021 Royal Rumble that people are less excited about. WWE continues to insist on pushing Goldberg, who is well over 15 years past his prime, and now we have to sit through it once again as this 54-year-old competes in only his ninth match in the past decade and a half.
If we’re lucky, the match won’t last long and the pain ends quickly. As much as I’d like to see Drew McIntyre destroy Goldberg and end this once and for all, that’s not what I’m expecting. Instead, The Miz will likely cash in during the match and ruin everything.
Should The Miz cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase, he’d be looking to capitalize on Goldberg’s damage and pin McIntyre. Of course, that’ll probably backfire and instead see Goldberg hit The Miz with a Spear and a Jackhammer (the latter which I doubt he could do on McIntyre) to pin him and capture the WWE Championship. I’m sorry.
Prediction: Goldberg
Universal Championship Last Man Standing Match: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Kevin Owens
Despite the efforts of Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman, we will not see “The Tribal Chief” taking on 5-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion “Scrap Daddy” Adam Pearce at the Royal Rumble. I have to admit I’m a little disappointed, but that disappointment is easily washed away by the prospect of this match.
Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens compete for the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view. Back in 2017, the roles were fully reversed, as then-champion Kevin Owens defended in a No Disqualification Match against Roman Reigns with Chris Jericho suspended above the ring in a Shark Cage.
Four years later, we’re now looking at a very different Roman Reigns and a very different Kevin Owens. This is likely the favorite to steal the show in a delightfully violent contest, and the outcome will probably change from four years ago as well to see Roman Reigns leave with the Universal Championship still over his shoulder.
Prediction: Roman Reigns
2021 Men’s Royal Rumble Match
Finally, we reach the match for which this event was named. Due to the nature of a 30-man chaos fight, it’s notoriously difficult to predict exactly how a Royal Rumble will go. It’s also worth noting that it isn’t uncommon for superstars to work another match on the show in addition to the Royal Rumble itself.
As of now, there are 17 confirmed entrants in the 2021 Men’s Royal Rumble:
- Daniel Bryan
- Bobby Lashley
- AJ Styles
- Randy Orton
- Otis
- The Miz
- Jey Uso
- Cesaro
- Jeff Hardy
- Sami Zayn
- Dolph Ziggler
- Shinsuke Nakamura
- Big E
- John Morrison
- Sheamus
- Mustafa Ali
- Edge
That leaves 13 currently unclaimed spots, which hopefully means we get a few surprises and some faces from WWE NXT. While many winners seem possible, there’s been hope since the beginning of his recent singles run that we could see Big E take the win at this year’s Royal Rumble.
Taking the Intercontinental Championship off of him (as I predicted earlier) without him getting pinned would be a great way to set this up, and Big E just might score a huge win and punch his ticket to WrestleMania 37. There’s no doubt Big E vs. Roman Reigns is worthy of a WrestleMania main event, so here’s hoping we get to see it happen.
Prediction: Big E
2021 Women’s Royal Rumble Match
This will be only the fourth year that we get to see the women of WWE join the fray at the Royal Rumble and compete in their own version of the 30-competitor fight. Again, as noted above, it’s not uncommon for superstars to compete in a match somewhere else on the card and later enter the Royal Rumble itself. Every competitor in the announced WWE Women’s Tag Team Title Match, except Asuka, is also an announced entrant in this contest.
As of now, there are 12 confirmed entrants in the 2021 Women’s Royal Rumble:
- Nia Jax
- Charlotte Flair
- Bianca Belair
- Bayley
- Mandy Rose
- Dana Brooke
- Peyton Royce
- Alexa Bliss
- Shayna Baszler
- Liv Morgan
- Ruby Riott
- Tamina
Like the Men’s Royal Rumble, it is always difficult to predict how the Women’s Royal Rumble will go down. With less than half of the field confirmed as of now, we’ll surely see some entrants from NXT, perhaps NXT UK, and maybe even some legends like Beth Phoenix will continue to be a mainstay in the Women’s Royal Rumble.
Since being drafted to SmackDown, we’ve actually seen some relative care from WWE to protect Bianca Belair and make her a viable threat. We’ll probably see her clash with Bayley at some point during the match, but this could be a career-making moment if Belair can beat the odds and win the Women’s Royal Rumble to punch her ticket to WrestleMania 37.
Prediction: Bianca Belair