From the WWE Rumor Mill: Expected winner of the men's Royal Rumble match
What’s the story?
Many fans are speculating who will win the Men’s Royal Rumble match and while a specific Superstar has not been named, the brand they represent may have been revealed.
Cageside Seats reports that a WWE SmackDown Superstar is expected to win the Men’s Royal Rumble match.
In case you didn’t know...
The Royal Rumble match has been around since the 80s, but the Royal Rumble after the Brand Split has primarily produced SmackDown winners.
There have been 10 Royal Rumble matches under both incarnations of the Brand Split and with seven SmackDown winners and only three Raw winners.
The heart of the matter
If this report is true, then it would suggest that Cena and Roman Reigns would not be winning the 2018 Royal Rumble due to Reigns being a star from Monday Night Raw and Cena being a free agent.
Many have speculated that Roman Reigns would be winning the Royal Rumble to cement the rematch against Brock Lesnar that has been rumoured since WrestleMania 33 concluded.
However, the next pay-per-view after the Royal Rumble is the Elimination Chamber which is a Raw-exclusive event and could be the show where Reigns becomes the No. 1 contender for the Universal Championship if that is still the plan.
Cena was another Superstar who was heavily rumoured to be a potential Royal Rumble winner. Many fans expected Cena to win the Royal Rumble on the 10-year anniversary of his first win in 2008 and go on to face AJ Styles for the WWE Championship in order to surpass Ric Flair’s record and become a 17-time World Champion.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that Cena’s WrestleMania plans might be bigger than a championship match, which would take him out the running as s possible Royal Rumble Winner.
What’s next?
If this report is true, then the only two names from SmackDown that seem like plausible winners are Corbin and Nakamura.
Other SmackDown Superstars who could win the match, but aren’t as likely to win are Sami Zayn or Kevin Owens (assuming the other wins the WWE Championship), Bobby Roode or a returning Dolph Ziggler.
Author’s Take
Considering all the things we saw from WWE in 2017, they might truly be capable of anything at this point.