5 surprises that could happen at the Royal Rumble
The Royal Rumble pay-per-view is just a week away, and it will take place on January 27, 2019 at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. Next week, the go-home shows for both Raw and SmackDown will be taking place.
Nine matches have been announced for this year's event, as Brock Lesnar will defend his Universal Title against a new challenger named Finn Bálor, "The New" Daniel Bryan will collide with "The Real" AJ Styles for the WWE Championship, Ronda Rousey will face Sasha Banks for the Raw Women's Title, Asuka will face Becky Lynch for the SmackDown Women's Title.
Meanwhile, The Bar will defend their SmackDown Tag Team Titles against the new team of Shane McMahon and The Miz, the New United States Champion Rusev will face Shinsuke Nakamura in a rematch, Buddy Murphy defends his Cruiserweight Championship in a Fatal 4-Way match against Akira Tozawa, Kalisto and Hideo Itami. There are also the Men's and Women's Royal Rumble Matches.
The card is already loaded up and more matches could be added, but there will also be many surprising elements in these matches that fans could never expect. So here are some of the surprises that WWE could do at the Royal Rumble...
#5 Shane McMahon and The Miz become the new SmackDown Tag Team Champions
The ongoing drama between Shane McMahon and The Miz about becoming "The Best Tag Team of the World" has kind of been an odd move from WWE's side. Ever since Shane McMahon won the "World Cup" in Saudi Arabia by replacing an injured Miz, the latter has been constantly begging McMahon to team with him.
The Miz who was one of the hottest stars of 2017, with everyone believing he would re-enter the main event picture in 2018, is now teaming with Shane McMahon of all people. Just a reminder, Shane McMahon is the commissioner of SmackDown and is one of the authority members of WWE.
WWE could have easily gave an opportunity to any other full-time WWE Superstar who is talented enough but haven't been doing anything on SmackDown. Getting an unearned chance to compete for SmackDown Tag Team Titles also didn't make any sense.
But since this match is taking place at Royal Rumble pay-per-view, that means WWE could be planning a feud between the duo at WrestleMania 35. In case, they become SmackDown Tag Team Champions, it would definitely be really surprising.