Early predictions for WWE Royal Rumble 2024 winners

It is a long way away, but looking forward in professional wrestling and making predictions for the winners of the 2024 Royal Rumble.

Cody Rhodes won the Royal Rumble but lost in his shot to take the world championship from Roman Reigns. With that main event match still fresh in fans’ minds, it may be time for some early 2024 Royal Rumble predictions. Of course, with about nine months before the match, a ton can change, but given how things are panning out this WrestleMania season, there are a few early favorites to consider watching.

Honorable Mention: Cody Rhodes

There are a lot of signs that Cody Rhodes will win the next Royal Rumble and main event WrestleMania 40 against Roman Reigns. However, the backlash from many to Cody’s loss at WrestleMania 39 was severe enough that even if he was not set to win it all, WWE might need to course correct. Suppose they plan on stretching the Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns story until WrestleMania without any fundamental changes to their positions on the card. In that case, his second Royal Rumble win will need to look quite different.

Cody would be deep into his “hard times” redemption tour, so a number 1 entrance is all but guaranteed. Secondly, he will probably go bell to bell with the talented Solo Sikoa. Solo and Cody have developed an exciting chemistry on screen, and Solo going the entire match alongside Rhodes, trying to take him out for Roman and the Bloodline, would make both men look great and wrap their mini-feud up. Their fighting would also give the match a throughline to build around, like all of the best Rumbles. However, if Cody is not destined to win the big one at WrestleMania 40, or perhaps if he is already champion, who else might win the match?

Jey Uso

Maybe Cody Rhodes is not the guy to beat Roman Reigns. In that case, the only person left is Jey Uso. Jey Uso and Roman Reigns’ rivalry started the Bloodline, and their relationship has been the story’s center. Even the Sami Zayn saga, regarded as the most exciting part by some, relied heavily on interactions between Jey and Roman. Their relationship has always been volatile, and beating Roman Reigns might be the most intriguing match for a main event Jey Uso. However, even with his stellar performances since the Bloodline story started, he is still very much a tag team wrestler.

WWE would need to make some significant moves even to make Jey and Roman facing off feel like a main event, let alone have Jey Uso win the world titles. A surprise Royal Rumble entrance after losing to Roman and the rest of the Bloodline earlier in the night could supercharge the feud end and get fans excited about “Main Event” Jey Uso once again. A run at the top for Jey likely wouldn’t be long once Roman takes off. Still, winning the Royal Rumble would be a tremendous accomplishment for the second-generation superstar.

Asuka

WrestleMania 39 was a stellar show, and Asuka vs. Bianca Belair was a big part of that. Fans felt terrible for Asuka, who has never won at WrestleMania, while Bianca is now 3-0. However, leading any early 2024 royal rumble predictions has got to be Asuka, and nobody deserves a WrestleMania victory more before she leaves wrestling. An easy way to get to that match is with a second Royal Rumble victory. The reaction was fantastic when Asuka won the first women’s, Royal Rumble. Doing so again would give her instant credibility as a challenger despite the frequent losses, and WWE can play into the story of whether or not Asuka can seal the deal at WrestleMania.

While it is impossible to tell who will be the champions going into WrestleMania 40, one is usually kept strong, and another is ready to take a loss to crown a new champion. As the Rumble winner, Asuka would be eligible for either title and could shift to the opposite brand to win the title and give fans a chance to see her win. No matter who the champions are next year, Asuka is a top-notch performer who will deliver a solid match with them. She can get plugged into any story and comes with one of her own if they choose to tell it. Ultimately, whether she wins or not is harder to tell, but her getting the spot is an easy choice. Also, suppose she is not set to win a Mania. In that case, Asuka being the first two-time women’s Rumble winner might be a nice consolation for her hard work making WrestleMania memorable each year.

Roman Reigns

Regardless of how you feel about it, most WWE fans are expecting another year of Roman Reigns on top as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. However, the moments that stand out to fans are often ones that we don’t see coming. If WWE wanted to shock fans, they could have Cody win the title quicker than anyone expected, perhaps even at SummerSlam. Roman’s loss would start the decline of the Bloodline, but it wouldn’t mean that Roman was out of the main event for good. Instead, it could open the door for Roman to get a rematch by winning the Royal Rumble in 2024.

If Roman loses to Cody before WrestleMania 40, he has to be one of the top choices to win that match. The chances of a Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes WrestleMania rematch are high, given they are the two leading stars in the company right now.

Flipping the script and having Roman challenge for the first time in years would be an excellent way to keep it fresh. Roman would look strong winning the Royal Rumble and can even enter early to reestablish that he doesn’t need his cousins to be dominant or perhaps toss them out himself. There is so much they can do with a Rumble match because the entire roster gets involved. Giving everyone time with Roman before his Bloodline days are gone forever maximizes its impact and still gets us a massive rematch at WrestleMania 40.