WWE Royal Rumble 2023 Predictions: Stone Cold Steve Austin Will NOT Show Up

WWE Royal Rumble 2023 is three days from now, and the WWE has made five matches official for this “premium live event”. Obviously, WWE will stick to tradition by hosting men’s and women’s Royal Rumble matches this year. They also made official the following matchups: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Kevin Owens for the Undisputed WWE Universal Title, Bianca Belair (c) vs. Alexa Bliss for the Raw Women’s Title, and Bray Wyatt vs. LA Knight in a Pitch Black Match.

The following will provide some match card predictions for what should be one of the most exciting PPVs of the year: WWE Royal Rumble 2023.

WWE Royal Rumble 2023 is scheduled to take place on January 28, 2023, live on Peacock. Here are some last minute match card predictions.

Men’s Royal Rumble [Battle Royal]

Seth Rollins will win the Royal Rumble because he never got his WrestleMania main event world title match against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 32 due to his MCL knee injury that year. He conveniently teased that same MCL knee injury after losing to Theory in their U.S. Title match on Raw three weeks ago. Rollins has never lost to Reigns in world title PPV matches, and he still never got his rematch after defeating him via disqualification at last year’s Royal Rumble PPV. There’s no way Reigns can end his reign without Rollins getting that well-deserved rematch.

Now that Rollins is on this massive babyface run, he can capitalize on his turn with a second Royal Rumble victory that leads him to crushing Cody Rhodes’ WrestleMania dreams and redesigning, rebuilding, and reclaiming his first WrestleMania main event in his career.

Prediction: Seth Rollins

Women’s Royal Rumble [Battle Royal]

Rhea Ripley will win the Royal Rumble because she is the only top heel on Raw who never got her earned title shot from WWE MITB 2022, and she already planted the seeds for her inevitable WrestleMania feud against Bianca Belair when she and Belair were the final two in the Women’s Rumble in 2021. The recent stare-down between Ripley and Lynch indicated that they will be the final two in the Rumble and Ripley will eliminate a former Rumble winner to win the Rumble. As for the stare-down between Ripley and Belair, that indicated the WrestleMania title match.

Prediction: Rhea Ripley

Bray Wyatt vs. LA Knight [Pitch Black Match]

Bray Wyatt will defeat LA Knight in this special Pitch Black Match because it is his first PPV match since returning to the WWE and he needs the momentum to solidify his new gimmick. Uncle Howdy may be fully introduced in this match. It has been rumored to be Bo Dallas, which would make a lot of sense since he is Wyatt’s real-life brother. LA Knight was clearly put in this spot as a utility guy who can put over the storyline with his mic abilities, but this feud has still been underwhelming as a whole. Hopefully, the storyline picks up on the road to WrestleMania.

Prediction: Bray Wyatt

Bianca Belair (c) vs. Alexa Bliss [Raw Women’s Championship]

Bianca Belair will retain the title against Alexa Bliss because Belair merely needs a filler feud before she goes to ‘Mania to defend her title and Alexa Bliss is in this spot to kickstart her heel turn against a top babyface. Unlike Bayley and Ripley, Bliss is the only other prospective heel who can afford a loss to Belair. Bliss just needs a strong showing that showcases her heel-like tactics and makes clear to the fans that her character transformation is forthcoming. Bliss will battle her tag partner, Asuka, at Mania to redeem herself with a victory that solidifies her heel turn.

Prediction: Bianca Belair

Roman Reigns (c) vs. Kevin Owens [Undisputed WWE Universal Title]

Roman Reigns will retain the Undisputed WWE Universal Title against Kevin Owens with Sami Zayn on a special final test because Reigns will want to see where Zayn’s loyalty lies and somehow manipulate Zayn into ruining Owens’ chances of winning the title match here. Reigns will only lose that prestigious title at WrestleMania, not here. Kevin Owens has not only lost too many times to Reigns to regain any credibility as the one to dethrone him but he is also already rumored to eventually reunite with Sami Zayn to dethrone the Usos at WrestleMania 39.

Prediction: Roman Reigns

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