5 wild predictions for the 2023 Men's Royal Rumble match

The 2023 Royal Rumble is just a couple of months away and marks the start of the road to WrestleMania.

This year's Royal Rumble airs live from a familiar venue, the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The winner of the battle royal will earn a shot at the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 39 in Hollywood.

Listed below are five predictions for the 2023 Men's Royal Rumble match that likely will not happen but would be wild if they did.

#5. Cody Rhodes is the first superstar eliminated

Cody Rhodes returning at the Royal Rumble like… https://t.co/TETXbzrlr4

The WWE Universe has been anxiously awaiting the return of the American Nightmare. Cody Rhodes tore his pectoral muscle training for his Hell in a Cell match against Seth Rollins earlier this year. He showed the fans that he was a warrior and still competed in the match.

Rhodes defeated Seth at WWE Hell in a Cell 2022 but was written off the TV the following RAW as he recovered from his injury. Many fans are not only expecting Cody to return to Royal Rumble, but they are also expecting him to win the match.

Seeing the American Nightmare return with a whimper this January would be shocking.

#4. Roman Reigns wins the Royal Rumble as champion

Check the analytics. 🐐

@tiktok_us @WWERomanReigns @HeymanHustle https://t.co/ln6fdwSGZN

To prove a point, Roman Reigns may decide to show his dominance over the entire roster and enter the Royal Rumble match. The Tribal Chief would rely on his Bloodline members as allies and would be the favorite to win if he entered the battle royal.

He could then claim that there is nobody on the roster at his level, which would be the truth. It could lead to a legend like The Rock or John Cena trying to put an end to his dominant reign at WrestleMania 39.

#3. Bad Bunny eliminates Logan Paul to win the Royal Rumble

2️⃣7️⃣ BAD BUNNY HAS ENTERED THE #RoyalRumble MATCH! @sanbenito https://t.co/sG9HXRLLBZ

Logan Paul already had his shot at Roman Reigns and came up short at Crown Jewel. The 27-year-old was impressive in the third match of his career but wound up leaving the premium live event injured.

Bad Bunny had an electric run as a WWE Superstar but has been overshadowed by Logan as the best celebrity turned wrestler in the company. He and Logan Paul may be the final two stars left in the match, much to the chagrin of wrestling fans around the world.

The rapper could then eliminate the YouTuber to earn a title shot at WWE's biggest show of the year.

#2. Kofi Kingston simply gets thrown over the top rope

Did Kofi Kingston botch at the Royal Rumble???

#RoyalRumble #RoyalRumble2022 https://t.co/eTcEFoI6de

Kofi Kingston has consistently been one of the more entertaining stars of the Royal Rumble in recent years. However, things went badly earlier this year, and the former WWE Champion was eliminated embarrassingly.

The 41-year-old attempted to create a moment for fans and used his athleticism to leap to the barricade. Unfortunately, his jump to the barricade came up just short, and both his feet touched the ground.

The camera caught it, so they had to announce Kofi was eliminated, and perhaps the walk of shame backstage has made him decide not to go for the viral spot of the match this time around.

#1. Shane McMahon sets the fastest elimination record

SHANE-O-MAC = BACK.

#RoyalRumble @shanemcmahon https://t.co/zhqSze9Cgu

Shane McMahon was essentially asked to leave following his antics at the 2022 Royal Rumble. He wanted to get himself over in the match and turned people against him.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer noted that Shane had a lot of heat backstage after the premium live event in January:

“There was a lot of heat on Shane [McMahon] because Shane was one of the producers, in fact, he was kinda the head producer of the Rumble. And then he had an idea of what the Rumble was gonna be and then a lot of that ended up being changed. I don’t know all of everything but I do know there were several people who kinda made off-handed remarks to me about Shane.” [H/T: ITR Wrestling]

However, the regime has changed, and perhaps his sister and brother-in-law will give him another chance. Shane will likely have to make matters right backstage and set the record for the fastest elimination. Santino Marella currently holds that honor with 1.9 seconds before elimination in the 2009 Royal Rumble match.