5 wrestlers who could become first-time Royal Rumble winners
The Royal Rumble presents a unique opportunity for one WWE Superstar. The winner of the Rumble match has a guaranteed championship opportunity for their brand's world title at WrestleMania.
The Royal Rumble match was created by Pat Patterson, the first-ever WWE Intercontinental Champion, in 1988. "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan was the winner of that match which had 20 competitors.
With the exception of 2011, the Rumble match has had 30 participants ever since. Beginning in 1993, the winner of this match would be granted the opportunity at the WWE Championship at WrestleMania.
Yokozuna was the first person to gain that opportunity and cashed in on it by defeating Bret Hart at WrestleMania IX, only to be challenged by Hulk Hogan and lose the title minutes later.
The roster for 2018's Royal Rumble will likely be stacked with WWE Superstars from both Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live. This year will be the first ever Royal Rumble match for some of pro wrestling's greatest including Shinsuke Nakamura and Bobby Roode.
This article will take a look at five WWE Superstars that have a good chance of winning the Royal Rumble for the first time in their career. Continue on to see number five!
#5 #4 Samoa Joe
One of the most dangerous wrestlers that will probably in the Royal Rumble in 2018 is Samoa Joe. He made his debut on the main roster on January 30th this year after many speculated he'd make his debut in the 2017 Rumble match itself. There were reports that Joe was actually going to be #30 at Royal Rumble 2017.
The WWE booked Joe to be an absolute monster during his debut year on the main roster. He's come very close to winning the WWE Universal Championship on a couple of occasions this year, including a one-on-one match against Brock Lesnar at WWE Great Balls Of Fire this past July.
Joe has all of the tools to win the Royal Rumble match, the only thing going against him is the lack of experience with this type of match. The wrong draw or who's in the ring when he enters could go against him, but he's an assassin who can catch on quickly.