For nearly three decades, the WWE has presented the Royal Rumble annually in January and this Sunday one of the most exciting pay-per-views of the year is finally here as the 2015 installment goes live from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Looking at Interesting Royal Rumble Stats From The Last 28 Years Of The Rumble Match
The 30-man match remains one of the best match concepts the WWE has ever come up with and has led to highly entertaining moments and memories through the years. Filled with surprises and great storylines, the Rumble Match is one of the most highly anticipated bouts of the year.
This Sunday will be no different as the 28th annual Royal Rumble brings a lot of intrigue as the WWE Universe waits to find out who will face the WWE World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania 31.
Ranking Every Royal Rumble Match Winner From Worst-to-First
The most likely options appear to be Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan while the likely entrances of Randy Orton and Sheamus make them two possible dark horses.
While it seems as though Reigns or Bryans will leave Philadelphia victorious, the WWE has used the Rumble Match to swerve fans in the past and the WWE Universe never knows who is lurking behind the curtain until the buzzer sounds.
Perhaps equally or even more intriguing, is who will be the WWE World Heavyweight Champion at the end of the night.
It appeared a Brock Lesnar vs. Reigns match was penciled in for WrestleMania 31, but there is a lot of intrigue surrounding "The Beast's" Triple Threat Match with John Cena and Seth Rollins.
The WWE could pull an audible and go to old reliable by putting the belt on Cena, or the world could be shocked to see young and new top heel Rollins win the belt. Or, of course, Lesnar could continue his torrid run through the WWE roster en route to the main event of the "Show of Shows."
The possibilities are endless come Sunday, and here is the latest news, rumors and buzz surrounding the event along with some predictions and a trip down memory lane.
Pre-Show Six-Man Elimination Tag Team Match: The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E and Xavier Woods) vs. The Masters of the WWE Universe (Cesaro and Tyson Kidd) and Adam Rose
While I'm not happy about seeing Cesaro continuously lose momentum from when he was a "Paul Heyman Guy" and won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal last year at WrestleMania, this should still be a pretty entertaining match to heat up the crowd.
The New Day is too new to suffer a big high-profile loss at this event, and thus they'll walk out victorious -- likely with a clean sweep.
The Pick: The New Day (clean sweep).
Kofi Kingston made his Rumble Match debut in 2009:
Onto the show in the predicted order of the matches occurring.
WWE Tag Team Championships: The Usos (Jimmy and Jey) (c) vs. The Miz and Damien Sandow (Mizdow)
The WWE has made this into a feud about more than the belts with the involvement of Naomi and has gotten some good length out of the struggle. This would be a pretty good choice as an opener of this card, which contains a lot of tag team bouts.
It seems like the WWE is building toward a Miz and Sandow feud as there has been a lot of dissention between the two in recent weeks. The WWE is also pushing a heel team in The Ascension, so it would make sense to keep the tag belts on a babyface squad.
It seems the entertaining stunt double gimmick may finally come to an end either here or during the Rumble Match, and when the smoke clears, The Usos will stand tall.
The Pick: The Usos.
The Hart Brothers battled The Quebecers in 1994 for the WWE Tag Team Championships in a match that led to Owen Hart's heel turn:
Tag Team Match: The New Age Outlaws ("Road Dogg" Jessie James and Billy Gunn) vs. The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor)
This has a chance to be a decent match like when the Outlaws came out of retirement to battle Cody Rhodes and Goldust last year. This will be a bout between six-time WWE Tag Team Champions and the up-and-coming highly touted rookies.
The WWE has tried a little too hard to have The Ascension put down past teams like the Legion of Doom and Demolition, though I mostly get a Powers of Pain vibe from the duo.
With the way The Ascension was bullied by The Outlaws, the nWo and the APA on RAW, it appears they must win to get their heat back otherwise they look like jobbers again. The Outlaws are here to put the young guys over.
The Pick: The Ascension.
The New Age Outlaws faced Cody Rhodes and Goldust last year:
Divas Tag Team Match: The Bella Twins (Nikki and Brie) vs. Natalya and Paige
The WWE sure gave up on the Bellas split pretty quickly without much explanation as to how the two mended fences, but that storyline wasn't good anyway so no harm done.
This match could have potential, but it doesn't seem like it will be too much of a classic or anything. As for a winner, it seems as though one of the babyfaces should go over Nikki Bella in order to emerge as the next threat to her title, but there could also be a disagreement between the faces as well.
It'll be interesting to see if AJ Lee gets involved and marks her comeback, though she was just pulled from weekend house shows.
The Pick: Natalya and Paige.
Chyna became the first woman to enter the Rumble Match in 1999:
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Triple Threat Match: Brock Lesnar (c) w/ Paul Heyman vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins:
This match was originally supposed to be just Cena vs. Lesnar as the two are 1-1-1 against each other dating back to 2012, but I love the addition of Rollins to make it fresh.
Rollins is deserving of this spotlight after carrying the WWE through the latter part of 2014 as its top heel while its champion sat on the sidelines. Rollins will, unfortunately, likely be the one taking the pinfall if he doesn't win so that the WWE can protect Cena and Lesnar going into 'Mania.
There is a chance that "Mr. Money in the Bank" could pull out a victory and potentially set up a 'Mania main event between him and former stablemate Roman Reigns, but the WWE may not be ready to risk the biggest match of the year on the two young stars.
Adding Dean Ambrose to the mix has also been rumored in the past, but again the WWE may not be ready for that commitment.
Don't forget, Ambrose and Randy Orton have unfinished business with Rollins and could very well cost him the bout here.
While he could potentially lose and cash in the briefcase or enter the Rumble as a way of getting to WrestleMania, the WWE may save the cash in for its down period following WrestleMania.
As for Cena, he is somewhat of a wild-card as there are rumors he could battle Rusev at WrestleMania 31, but there have also been reports that the WWE may have cold feet regarding its main event for the show.
If the WWE gets too worried, it could always opt to put the title on their golden boy in face of the franchise Cena in order to ensure stability. Rusev could very well win the Rumble and face Cena, but the WWE likely isn't ready to push the mighty Russian that far just yet.
This brings us back to Lesnar, who the WWE has built as an unstoppable monster. "The Beast" ended The Streak of The Undertaker last year and then dismantled Cena at SummerSlam to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and looks unstoppable.
While a title change could still be likely, I have a hard time believing that the WWE built up Lesnar as an unstoppable monster to have him drop the belt at the Rumble. They did it so that he could put over their next star when the lights shine brightest at WrestleMania.
Whether that's Roman Reigns or not, Lesnar is likely dropping the belt where everyone can see it at WrestleMania 31 as a way to make whoever knocks him off look like a beast in their own right and in order to assure WWE's big money player wasn't brought in for nothing.
The Pick: Brock Lesnar.
Lesnar won the Rumble Match in 2003:
Cena won the Rumble Match for the first time as a surprise in 2008:
One of the best WWE Championship bouts in Rumble history saw Cactus Jack battle Triple H in a Street Fight in 2000:
30-Man over-the-top-rope Royal Rumble Match to determine the No. 1 contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 31
Participants: Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan, Rusev, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, Bad News Barrett, Goldust, Stardust, Kane, The Big Show, Justin Gabriel, R-Truth, Fandango, Diego, Fernando, Big E, Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, Tyson Kidd, Cesaro, The Miz, Damien Mizdow, R-Truth, Dolph Ziggler, Ryback and five others.
The WWE has left open a few spaces for surprise entrants and there have been rumors that the Dudley Boys, some NXT stars and possibly Rey Mysterio could fill some of the slots.
The heavy favorite to win this match for six months has been Roman Reigns and it is highly likely that despite his shortcomings on the microphone and his lack of in-ring skills when it comes to lengthy matches, he will win.
Vince McMahon seems high on Reigns and he has the look that the WWE is going for so while there have been some talks of wavering on the plans backstage, Reigns still seems to be the favorite to win.
The former Shield member is a horse and the WWE has pushed him to the moon since the split of The Shield in June to try and ready him for this moment, despite an injury derailing him from September-December.
The other favorite -- and the guy who I personally want to see win -- is Daniel Bryan. Bryan single-handedly saved WrestleMania XXX from the utter disaster of a Batista vs. Randy Orton main event by winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and providing a great story for a milestone 'Mania.
Bryan's injury means he never really lost the title, so he should definitely be awarded another match without having to enter the Rumble, but it appears the WWE has dropped that thinking altogether.
Bryan poses the greatest threat to Reigns to win the Rumble as he is more over and is better all-around in the ring and on the microphone.
The WWE has another opportunity for a great story in Bryan after he came back from a career-threatening neck injury, but with people backstage reportedly being down on him and the WWE possibly not wanting to hitch their wagon to a health risk, it's uncertain if they'd pull the trigger on his win.
The WWE should just roll Bryan and Reigns out at No. 1 and No. 2 in order to really troll the fans and get them into it from the get-go. My predictions for actual No. 1 and 2 are Bryan and Ziggler, two guys fans love, but the WWE doesn't push.
Randy Orton is a dark horse as it's almost certain he'll return at this show and he is a veteran that could match up well with either one of the trio in the WWE Championship match.
Orton has the build to go toe-to-toe with Lesnar, has been feuding with Rollins and has a history with Cena -- though if they go with that third option it would be the millionth time they squared off.
It's possible Orton will win his second Rumble Match this year, though Reigns and Bryan are still more likely.
Sheamus is another dark horse to appear and win the match, but it's hard to see the WWE giving him another Rumble win now that it seems they've given up on his push as a main eventer. Sheamus is also expected to be a heel upon his return.
Guys that will look strong in this match are Bray Wyatt and Rusev as the WWE reportedly has big plans for them at 'Mania with Wyatt facing The Undertaker, if he's willing, and Rusev battling John Cena.
Dean Ambrose, Rollins, Bryan, Reigns and Ryback will also likely have big roles on the show.
My prediction is that Rusev or Wyatt will be in the Final Four and it will boil down to Rusev, Wyatt, Reigns and Bryan.
From there, it's anyone's guess, but like I said the WWE built Lesnar up to make the next big star and that big star seems like it's going to be Reigns. Vince McMahon has the final say in everything and it appears as though Reigns is his guy no matter what, and the 'Mania main event seems etched in stone, despite the rumors otherwise.
The Pick: Roman Reigns.
The Royal Rumble is a hard event to screw up and while I would love to see Bryan win and march on to WrestleMania 31 to battle Lesnar -- a match he himself said he wanted -- it's hard to see the WWE going against Reigns.
Arguably the best Rumble Match in history occurred in 1992 when Ric Flair captured the WWE Championship:
It's one of the most exciting nights of the year as the WWE presents the 28th annual Royal Rumble at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia this Sunday night.
The WWE has set it up to seem unpredictable and has a huge chance to build up some of its young stars.
The only question that remains is this: Which young star will be standing at the end of the Royal Rumble?
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