The first WWE pay-per-view of 2014 is this Sunday when the Royal Rumble hits the airwaves live from the Consol Energy in Pittsburgh and as the final field for the Royal Rumble 30-man over-the-top-rope match with the winner getting a WWE World Heavyweight Championship shot at WrestleMania XXX is taking shape, five slots have still been left open.
According to the WWE's website, Bad News Barrett is no longer advertised for the Royal Rumble match and there is only a list of 25 superstars for the 30-man match, meaning that five slots are open for potential surprise entrants unless more names are revealed on tonight's SmackDown tapings.
According to WWE.com, this is the current list of wrestlers in the match:
CM Punk, Batista, Alberto Del Rio, Cody Rhodes, Goldust, Rey Mysterio, Big E Langston, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Erick Rowan, Luke Harper, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, The Miz, Kofi Kingston, R-Truth, Xavier Woods, Fandango, Damien Sandow, Ryback, Titus O'Neil, Darren Young, Jack Swagger and Antonio Cesaro.
With five spots open, that means that there could possibly be some surprise entrants this year as there have been in recent years. A few names that have been rumored but not confirmed are Chris Jericho--who has said on Twitter he won't be returning even though he's duped fans that way in the past, Hulk Hogan--who is expected to return for WrestleMania XXX but may not be able to wrestle and Jake "The Snake" Roberts--who has campaigned for a Rumble spot but may instead be held off since he appeared on Old School Monday Night RAW.
It was announced on RAW that CM Punk will be the No.1 entrant into the match. Wrestlingheadlines.com reports that the WWE may add a Divas Championship match that pits Naomi against A.J. Lee for the gold.
It was also announced on RAW that despite the fact that Daniel Bryan was suffering from a concussion, he'll be able to wrestle Sunday and he is going to take on Bray Wyatt in a singles match.
Other matches besides the Bryan and Wyatt match and 30-man match include the World Heavyweight Championship match between John Cena and Randy Orton, The Big Show vs. Brock Lesnar and the Royal Rumble kick-off match between The New Age Outlaws and Cody Rhodes and Goldust for the WWE Tag Team Championships.
It remains to be seen who will enter the Royal Rumble match, but with five slots open, once that buzzer goes down to zero there are sure to be a lot of surprises.
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