Three Superstars Who Could Win The Royal Rumble – The Royal Rumble is barely three months away, and attention is already turning toward the January showpiece. San Antonio’s 64,000-capacity Alamodome will host the event on January 28th, the same stadium which saw Randy Orton outlast Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker, and Goldberg to win his second Rumble back in 2017.
Oddschecker, which compares odds and provides a whole host of free offers, has made The Viper an outsider for January’s match, but if he could beat the odds once again, it would tie him with Stone Cold Steve Austin for the most Rumble wins of all time.
But Orton, despite having an impressive year prior to his back injury, isn’t one of our tips for the big match. The Master of the RKO did seem to be on a collision course with current Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns earlier in the year, but we can’t see the pair headlining Wrestlemania. These three below, however, are three superstars who we feel may steal the show in Texas.
Cody Rhodes
The American Nightmare has been everyone’s consensus pick for the Royal Rumble match ever since he suffered a gruesome pectoral muscle injury prior to the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view. Ever since his awe-inspiring return on night one of last year’s Show of Shows, many thought that Rhodes was on the fast track to a date with the Tribal Chief. These thoughts intensified on the Raw after Wrestlemania when the 2018 Sports Illustrated Wrestler of the Year announced his intentions to win the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in honor of his late father Dusty Rhodes.
As we all remember, after suffering his injury, he still went on to compete in his scheduled match a couple of days later, inside Hell in a Cell nonetheless. No one would have thought any less of him had he sat his main event match out, especially once they saw his chest and arms were black and blue. But not only did he compete, but he also beat Seth Rollins for the third consecutive time and earned WWE their first five-star match from Dave Meltzer in over a decade.
That performance alone may have been enough to convince WWE brass that Rhodes was worthy of a Rumble win. And what a story it would be. The prodigal son returning to claim the one championship his father never held. “From undesirable to undeniable” Cory Graves said the night of Rhodes’ return, and that may once again ring true on January 29th.
Bray Wyatt
The Eater of Worlds has taken the WWE by storm since his return at Extreme Rules. Wyatt was finally treated like the blockbuster star he always has been by the new head of creative Triple H, and one has to wonder where he would be today if Hunter had been in charge all along. Regardless, however, the three-time World Champion is back in the company now, and he plans on setting things right.
Bray Wyatt has come close to Royal Rumble victories in the past. In 2016, he reached the latter stages and – with the help of his Wyatt Family – eliminated Brock Lesnar. A year later, he reached the final three before being eliminated by Roman Reigns, who was then eliminated by then-Wyatt family member Orton. Indeed the Man of a Thousand Truths has unfinished business with the 30-man extravaganza, and he is currently one of the hottest properties in the company.
Many will argue that winning the Royal Rumble and feuding for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship with Roman Reigns is the last thing that he needs in the early days of his second spell with the company. One could look back at Reigns’ return at Summerslam 2020 as the beginning of the end of Bray Wyatt’s ‘Fiend’ persona. The Head of the Table first decimated the then Universal Champion following his victory over Braun Strowman in the main event of the summer spectacular, then took the title from him the following month. And it was all downhill from there.
But that’s exactly why Wyatt may be thrust into the main event scene. On an episode of the Firefly Fun House he once said “Friends forgive, but he, he never forgets.” Will that ring true for Roman Reigns in the coming months?
Sami Zayn
If we’re speaking of hot property, is there anyone hotter in the entirety of professional wrestling right now than Sami Zayn? It seems that everything the former three-time Intercontinental Champion touches turns to gold at the moment. His stint as a member of the Bloodline has turned out better than anything anyone could have expected, and it seems like the storyline is only just getting going.
The current tension between the Canadian and Jey Uso is currently the highlight of WWE TV. Current holder – along with brother Jimmy – of the undisputed Tag Team championship, Uso has taken issue with Zayn’s inclusion in his family’s faction for a number of months now, and things reached a fever pitch on the October 28th edition. Roman Reigns was demanding that the pair make peace, and the former NXT Champion led the way in the peace talks. Main event Jey Uso however, was in no mood to compromise, exclaiming “I don’t give a damn what the tribal chief says” much to the disbelief of everyone in attendance and the millions watching around the world.
The foundations for the family’s eventual turn on Sami Zayn have long been laid. But what better way for Reigns to lose the championship he has clung to for well over two years than from within? The Montreal native has never been more over with the WWE Universe, and their boisterous cheers every time he picks up the microphone have gotten louder week on week.
Perhaps once he vanquishes Uso, Zayn will have his sights firmly set on his Tribal Chief. And there would be no better way to put the target on the champion’s back than by winning the Royal Rumble.
Three Superstars Who Could Win The Royal Rumble
