‘WWE Royal Rumble’ 2017 Predictions

The day is finally here! My single favorite event on the WWE calendar is mere minutes away, and we are officially on the road to Wrestlemania. The card tonight is stacked, and this could very well be the most unpredictable Rumble we’ve seen in years! Top to bottom, we could also see one of the greatest Rumble matches in history. Here’s my predictions for tonight’s card:

WWE Royal Rumble Kickoff Show:

Sheamus & Cesaro V Gallows & Anderson: The tag team of Sheamus and Cesaro have run their course already. After the bar room brawl vignette, things got a bit stale and the team became uninteresting. Gallows and Anderson however are finally starting to pick up steam, and are beginning to look like the destructive forces they were in NJPW. For that reason, and that reason alone, I’m saying they’ll pick up the win tonight.

Nia Jax V Sasha Banks: Nothing Flashy here. Nia Jax is being built as the next monster heel in the Women’s division, and Sasha will be fed to her tonight. Nia looks as if she’s being groomed to become a challenger for the Raw Women’s title, perhaps after Bayley gets a run with it. Nia Jax wins.

WWE Royal Rumble 2017:

6 Woman Tag Team Match; Nikki Bella, Becky Lynch & Naomi V Alexa Bliss, Mickey James & Natalya: Kind of a throwaway match here folks. I don’t really have a cat in this fight, but if I had to choose, I’d say Alexa Bliss and gang find a way to walk away with the victory tonight.

Cruiserweight Title Match; Neville V Rich Swann: I really like the dynamic between these two. They had some pretty classic clashes back in the day on the independent circuit, and tonight they will remind the world of why they belong on the big stage in WWE. Neville has been red-hot since his heel turn, and I think he’ll walk away as the new Champ tonight.

RAW Women’s Title Match; Bayley V Charlotte: Do we really think Charlotte’s perfect Pay Per View record will be blemished tonight? I certainly don’t. Tonight, we’ll see a great match between these two, but I think this rolls all the way to Wrestlemania. Charlotte retains.

WWE Universal Title Match; Roman Reigns V Kevin Owens: Sooooooooooo… I’m really torn about which way to call this one. I would really love to see Kevin Owens roll into Wrestlemania as champ, but everything in me says Reigns will leave with the title, setting up something big for him at Mania. I also think we’ll see the groundwork for Jericho V Owens at Mania being laid tonight. It’s a No DQ match though, so we could also see the best friends hatch a plan to keep the strap on Owens. All signs point to Reigns winning though.

WWE Title Match; John Cena V AJ Styles: These superstars have given us two classic encounters already, and I don’t expect tonight to be any different. This match could run close to an hour in length, with both men giving it their absolute all in order to be called the best. AJ Styles had arguably the best year in WWE in 2016, and put on great matches month after month. As is the case with Wrestlemania season, WWE has a tendency to put titles on their biggest stars, so I expect to see Cena come out on top in this one, moving on to set up one of the biggest conflicts in WWE history at Wrestlemania 33….

30 Man Royal Rumble Match: As I stated earlier, this will be the most unpredictable Rumble match we’ve seen in years. Even with mega-stars like Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, and The Undertaker all slated to participate, there’s still no clear-cut winner. I think Undertaker is the heaviest favorite to win, and he’ll go on to challenge John Cena at Wrestlemania 33 in a Career vs Title match. Goldberg and Lesnar are in this match solely to set up their eventual rematch and pose no real threat to becoming Royal Rumble winner. I believe that the loser from each World Title match will be entered into the Rumble as well, further randomizing the possibility of determining a clear favorite to win.

What are your predictions for the match? Who do you think will walk out as the winner of the 2017 Royal Rumble? Sound off in the comments below!