The first main roster PPV of 2017 is a fan's favourite. Royal Rumble 2017 has a lot to be excited about. The Rumble itself seems to be wide open, with at large number of stars who are big enough to possibly win the match. If you're interested in what we think makes a good Rumble, don't forget to check out our feature when we watched through every televised Rumble.
Raw Tag Team Championship:
Cesaro & Sheamus (c) v Gallows & Anderson
The Club definitely deserve to get a title reign. They've been screwed over so many times, and they're great performers. Cesaro and Sheamus aren't really going anywhere and as they're both in the Rumble, I can see them dropping the belts and eliminating one another in the main event.
Prediction: Gallows & Anderson
Sasha Banks v Nia Jax
Nia has been tormenting Banks, who is a 3-time women's champion. Banks doesn't need to show that she can beat Jax here but Jax needs to show she can hang with the best. For this reason, I think Nia gets the victory.
Prediction: Nia Jax
6-Woman Tag Team Match:
Becky Lynch, Nikki Bella & Naomi v Alexa Bliss, Mickie James & Natalya
This match seems to have been thrown together to give these guys something to do. There's individual rivalries between the two sides and as such, it suggests that Naomi might be the next to challenge Alexa for the title. In order to get there, I'd book the face team to gain the victory with Naomi pinning Bliss.
Prediction: Becky Lynch, Nikki Bella and Naomi
WWE Cruiserweight Championship:
Rich Swann (c) v Neville
Neville has really helped to make the Cruiserweight division more interesting with his new attitude. His anger at constantly being passed over in favour of other superstars has really helped to revitalise him. The Cruiserweight title has had three holders in it's 4 month history and it would really help it's prestige to have one guy hold it for a more significant length of time. Rich Swann picking up a victory over Neville would also give increase his credibility and give Neville more of a reason to get angry (especially if the victory is perhaps slightly controversial) and prolong the rivalry.
Prediction: Rich Swann
WWE Women's Championship:
Charlotte Flair (c) v Bayley
Charlotte and Sasha have been trading the title back and forth between themselves until their final match at Roadblock. Bayley has stepped up as the only other viable face contender on the Raw roster. Charlotte has a perfect record of defending her title at PPVs which not even Sasha Banks was able to break.
Bayley has a couple of victories over Charlotte so we know she can do it, however for her to be the one to break Charlotte's PPV streak and to take the belt from her so soon after the end of the Sasha rivalry would be big shock. Which is why they might do it. But I somehow don't think they will.
Prediction: Charlotte Flair
WWE Universal Championship:
Kevin Owens (c) v Roman Reigns
We have a rematch of a fight that very few people wanted to see in the first place. Still, this is what we've got, unfortunately. This is a no DQ match with Chris Jericho suspended above the ring in a shark cage so that he can't interfere. Therefore, the one thing we can be sure about is that Chris Jericho will interfere in some way, and Kevin Owens won't be disqualified because of this interference.
What form that interference will take we don't know but he will possibly drop something from the cage to help Owens at a crucial moment. Whether on not this interference will backfire and benefit Reigns is what is in question. Reigns is more likely to win having dropped the US title to Jericho, but I really don't want him to and I'm fairly sure I share this opinion with the majority of the WWE universe. However, WWE creative have insisted on pushing Reigns and I think unfortunately for all concerned, including Reign's career, I think he will pick up the victory here.
Prediction: Roman Reigns
WWE Championship:
AJ Styles (c) v John Cena
This is the most difficult match to call. AJ Styles is now the face that runs place. He's a very believable and credible champion and has beaten Cena at every opportunity, something that doesn't often happen. He is clearly being pushed as the future of the WWE. And then on the other side is Cena. The guy who always wins the big matches. The guy who is one championship victory away from equalling Ric Flair's historic record, which he almost certainly will do at some point. Is that point now? Should that point be Wrestlemania?
Getting into the mind of WWE creative is a difficult and frightening thing to attempt to do. It could really go one way or another. Cena is the bookies' favourite but I'd have to give the edge to Styles, simply because it'd be a better story for them to make Cena really have to struggle to get that record-equalling title challenge.
Whichever way they go with this, it should be the best match on the card as these two guys are both incredible workers, even if you don't like Cena.
Prediction: AJ Styles
The Royal Rumble
I'm going to go in depth competitor by competitor offering my thoughts on everyone in this, as I would find that more interesting. There is a summary at the end of who I think are possible winners if you want to just skip to that. I will start with the officially announced competitors.
All odds are from Paddy Power as at 25/1/17
GOLDBERG (7/2) - The first guy to announce his entry. Based on the fact that his match with Lesnar was only short, I would imagine he will either come in towards the end of the entrants or he won't be in the match for too long having been eliminated by Brock. If it is the first, then there is a chance that he will come out victorious. He needs to be made to look strong, otherwise the Lesnar squash match was pointless. He might be the last man to be eliminated, in order to put a newer guy over. A victory would instantly put him in the Wrestlemania main event, which will mean sales. If they want to get him there, this is the way to do it. Having said that, with a part-timer winning last year, they should really let a full-timer have the victory this time.
BROCK LESNAR (14/1) - He won't win. He doesn't need to win. He can easily main event a PPV if required. He is always going to draw fans.
THE NEW DAY (Big E 50/1, Kofi 50/1, Woods no odds) - None of this guys are Wrestlemania main-event ready yet. They might be soon. It's possible that as all of them are in here, one of them - I would imagine Big E - might eliminate the others leading to a break up of the group. They've beaten the record for the longest reign as a tag team, so there is not much more for them to accomplish as a group. The Titus O'Neill story might lead to one of them teaming up with him to feud against the other two, potentially.
CHRIS JERICHO (8/1) - I would love for him to win. The storyline with him and Owens needs to explode at some point however the fact that he's been given the US title suggests that they won't them put him in the Universal title picture at Wrestlemania, which is another reason to suggest that Reigns will take the belt from Owens. There have been rumours for a while that Jericho is in his final stretch with WWE before going off with Fozzy, although he has said that he has recently signed a new contract. If he is in his final stretch, they might be giving him all the honours that he hasn't yet earned in his time in the WWE. However, I don't think this is so, but he should still have a good standing in the match as he has had good performances previously. In a side note, he looks set to take Triple H's record of the longest total time in Rumbles, assuming he can last four minutes.
BRAUN STROWMAN (7/2) - It is too early for Strowman to headline Wrestlemania, so he won't win. They have been making him out to be a beast, so assume that he will either get a large number of eliminations or be eliminated by someone they really want to get over. Big guys have historically been booked pretty poorly in Rumbles (ask The Great Khali) so don't be surprised if he is eliminated what seems far too easily.
THE UNDERTAKER (4/1) - The story would be too good to be true. The Phenom winning the Rumble and then beating the champ at Wrestlemania to then retire as champion and vacate the belt. The fact that the Dead Man's streak was protected for so long shows how important he is to the company despite the fact that he wrestles one match every year. A Phenom v Phenomenal One or 'Taker v Cena match is one that would easily be a viable Wrestlemania headline match. He definitely stands a chance at getting his second Rumble victory.
SAMI ZAYN (10/1) - Sami beat Rollins to get into the match. He deserves to be in there, he's a good worker. He won't win it but I can see him potentially doing so in the next year or so, depending on how he is pushed.
BARON CORBIN (16/1) - Corbin seems like he might be a legitimate threat. His promos on Talking Smack are great, he's got a kick ass finisher. He has a great look. He's going to be a champion some day. I don't think he's done enough to earn a Rumble victory yet, but he should be made to look strong and is a good choice for most eliminations.
DEAN AMBROSE (20/1) - As the current Intercontinental Champion, he shouldn't get a victory. It's as simple as that. We are way past the days when stars were so few and far between that they had to have champion v champion matches. However, they can't afford for him to look weak, so he might make it to the final four.
THE MIZ (16/1) - The Miz is my outside tip to take the victory. He's won me over completely since the brand split as he has really upped his game. He has been in the Intercontinental Championship scene for the last year and needs to move away from that now. Whether this becomes him moving into the main title picture or not is unclear, but he deserves a feud with a big name.
DOLPH ZIGGLER (40/1) - Ziggler should have a bit of a push but it looks like he's headed into a feud with Apollo Crews so he's definitely not going to be looking at the title picture any time soon.
CESARO (50/1) & SHEAMUS (66/1) - I reckon they will drop the belts to The Club earlier in the night and one of them will eliminate the other in this match in anger.
THE WYATT FAMILY (Bray 25/1, Orton 4/1, Harper 150/1) - These guys are feuding internally so it doesn't make sense for any of them to take the victory. I had thought that Bray might have been a wild card winner until this has happened.
BIG CASS (66/1) - I'm not sure why Enzo isn't in the match but Cass is. They've tried to give Cass a bit of a singles push at times but he really struggles without Enzo to be his mouthpiece. He might get a couple of eliminations but he could be a big scalp to give to one of the big guys to get them more over.
RUSEV (50/1) - Rusev took a couple of bumps from Goldberg on Raw previously. I can see them making him take another couple and perhaps being Goldberg's first elimination.
MOJO RAWLEY (50/1) - Mojo won a battle royal on Smackdown to get into the match and so will probably get a small push, but is likely just in the match to remind us about the Hype Bros while Zack Ryder is injured.
THE BIG SHOW (80/1) - Wow, does Show look good these days! He's really put in the work to get in shape. He's got a match with Shaq planned at Wrestlemania, though, so he won't also be in the main event. They'll probably let him have a good few eliminations though as a reward for getting in such good shape.
There are 22 declared entrants, leaving room for one or two surprises. There have been lots of rumoured entrants:
KENNY OMEGA (66/1) - I really hope this rumour is true. AJ Styles' entrance was perfect at last year's Rumble and a similar entrance for Omega would really elevate the event and be a great signing for WWE. Read our recent feature on Omega.
FINN BALOR (5/1) - Balor is due to be back by Wrestlemania although has been quiet on the exact date of his return. He was on WWE programming for the first time a couple of weeks ago at the UK Championship and looked good making his entrance. A Balor victory would go over really well with the fans if he is fit enough. If he's not then they should make sure we know in advance so that there's no disappointment that he is missing. As there has been no announcement, I think that he may be fit enough. If he's a no show, he has promised to go straight for the Universal title upon his return, so could justifiably slot into the title picture against either Reigns or Owens at Wrestlemania without a Rumble victory.
SAMOA JOE (11/2) - Joe should be on the main roster soon. He's not got anywhere to go in NXT having dropped the title and lost the rematch. To put him in a feud with anyone else in NXT now would be a step down. He wouldn't be any normal NXT debutant as he's got a lot of experience across the world and so could actually make a bit of an impact in the match but the casual fans probably wouldn't accept him as a victor.
TYE DILLINGER (80/1) - Everyone is expecting him to debut at number 10. It'd be stupid and cheesy and would please the fans. If they don't do it, it's definitely a wasted opportunity. Dillinger hasn't really got anywhere to go at the moment as he's out of the NXT title picture, so it would be a good time to give him a call up to the big leagues.
SHINSUKE NAKAMURA (40/1) - Nakamura is the current NXT champ. Obviously he might drop the belt the night before but with Joe ready for a call up and the perfectness of Dillinger debuting at number 10 makes it seem unlikely that there would be space for a third NXT call up.
SHAWN MICHAELS (50/1) - The Heartbreak kid has said that he won't be swayed by peer pressure so for him to go back on that would make him look weak. He's also hosting the pre-show so I don't expect to see him in the ring.
SETH ROLLINS (25/1) - Seth lost his place to Sami Zayn on this week's Raw leaving him without anything to do during the Rumble. They'll probably find some way to fit him back in somehow. He was the number 1 draft pick and I can't see them leaving him out completely. However, if he's in the Rumble then the likelihood is that Triple H will find some way to stop him winning.
TRIPLE H (40/1) - Hunter will only be in the match if they need a way to stop Rollins winning. There's no point giving him another victory, and it would just be a repeat of 2015 which at least had a vague point.
KURT ANGLE (33/1) - Kurt is being inducted into the Hall of Fame but has said he won't be in the Rumble. Fans will be disappointed that he's not in it as he has re-established links with WWE. If he is in it, he won't be winning it, though. There's no need. Fans want him back so much that they could easily justify throwing him straight into the title picture. If they do have him as a surprise entrant, it should be right towards the end to get the biggest pop. I'd give him the coveted number 30 spot if I was doing the booking.
TITUS O'NEILL (100/1) - Titus won't win but he should be in the event and have something to do with The New Day. No idea what, but it could potentially lead to a New Day split.
KANE (100/1) - Kane has been in a ridiculous number of consecutive Rumbles. He will definitely be in this one. His star is really fading though, so he won't do anything significant. He could do a job to Lesnar, Goldberg or Strowman to sell their threat.
SHAQUILLE O'NEAL (150/1) - He might turn up to square off against The Big Show. It would be a waste of a spot in the match which could be used to show off an actual wrestler. It would make more sense for him to be in the crowd.
My prediction of most likely winners:
1. Undertaker (7/2)
2. Finn Balor (5/1)
3. Chris Jericho (8/1)
4. The Miz (16/1)
5. Seth Rollins (25/1)
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