WWE Crown Jewel: 4 most likely winners of the World Cup
The eight participants for the WWE Crown Jewel World Cup have now been confirmed.
John Cena was the first to be announced for the tournament on last week's Raw, while Kurt Angle booked his place in the final eight after impersonating The Conquistador to win a Global Battle Royal.
Jeff Hardy was the next to qualify, defeating Samoa Joe on last week's SmackDown Live, and he was joined in the tournament by long-term rival Randy Orton, who defeated The Big Show later in the night.
This week's Raw saw Seth Rollins and Dolph Ziggler earn their spots in the tournament, courtesy of victories over Drew McIntyre and Dean Ambrose respectively, while The Miz picked up a quick victory over Rusev at SmackDown 1000 and Rey Mysterio won on his WWE return against Shinsuke Nakamura to qualify.
With all eight participants now announced, let's take a look at the four most likely winners of the World Cup – a tournament designed, in the words of WWE, "to determine the best in the world".
Honourable mentions
Before we run through the possible winners, here's the logic behind not including the remaining participants:
Kurt Angle: Given that WWE hasn't put Angle in a single one-on-one match since he returned to the company in early 2017, it seems extremely unlikely that he'll go all the way and compete in three one-on-one matches in the same show.
Jeff Hardy: Of all the Superstars in this World Cup, Hardy has the least momentum. He hadn't been on WWE television for a month before his surprising victory over Samoa Joe. The semi-final is probably his best bet.
The Miz: While it's not impossible that The Miz wins the tournament, it would seem a bit of a waste. He has already told AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan that he will be waiting to face the winner of their WWE Championship match at Crown Jewel, so he doesn't need a World Cup victory to solidify his status as the next #1 contender.
Dolph Ziggler: The "best in the world" nickname that will inevitably stick with the winner of this tournament would perfectly suit Ziggler and his arrogant persona. However, with higher-profile Superstars involved, the Raw tag champ will probably put on one or two contenders for Match of the Night before being eliminated.