The Royal Rumble 2018 thread

The build up for the most wonderful time of the year - the Road to Wrestlemania!

On Raw, it's Lesnar vs Kane vs Strowman for the Universal title (which I'd wager ends with Lesnar pinning Kane)

On SD, no opponent for AJ yet, but maybe Owens is getting the nod.

There's the woman's rumble, with a possible debut and win for Ronda Rousey

There's the men's Rumble too, the only so far (I think!) to have declared are Nakamura and Orton. Nakamura must be one of the favourites to win, especially if AJ retains the WWE title.

I'm hoping there's space for a tag title match there too, the Usos vs Gable / Shelton would be good, but porbably on the pre-show, or maybe Hideo vs Enzo.

No Dean Ambrose though, as his torn bicep has him out for 9 months, reportedly.

Big Cass to return I'd guess. Probably to no reaction as no one will recognise the music. But I imagine they still want to use him because he can talk and act to a decent enough level. And he's a big guy... despite never looking imposing. If they focus on the character, not the size he will be a success. Will they do that? Not so sure, because he is 7 foot tall...

I'm looking for those being kept quiet so far though, Nakamura and Balor have to be important Rumble time, otherwise it's pointless having them. KO and Sami are the ones on the big push on SD, along with AJ.

Now Ambrose, and therefore the Shield is done it looks like they've pulled the trigger on a Joe push. The way he was presented on Raw made him the focus of the show. I'd like to see him win it to face Lesnar, but he might not need it. WWE was at its best when the biggest baddest dudes were all fighting though. And Lesnar still won't be there much. Joe winning the Rumble and the title at Wrestlemania would mean you don't need to rely on Lesnar anymore.

Would you see the Shield being off the card for a long period as the best time to go ahead with a Balor faction? It will be hard to replace their selling power. But with singles Roman now back doing his "I don't give a shit" thing (His strongest character by far) a cool looking Balor faction might be a worthy replacement for people that like a faction.

Cena and even Goldberg could be used to make someone via their eliminations and folliw up rivalry. Or even give Styles a huge title match and a legitimate solidifying defence at the Rumble. Cena might have some ring rust though, his match with Elias on Raw was turd, but Elias had a really good match with Roman recently. Cena did look exhausted before so maybe it was just his schedule killing him. KO and Sami probably more likely, but I'd like to see them winning more and not losing momentum and Styles is pretty much untouchable I'd say.

Nothing bigger than Rousey vs Flair. But Paige vs Asuka is pretty big too if one wins the Rumble, and it would free up the Horsewomen 4 v 4. I imagine Bliss who's not been that relevant for a month or two will move over for one of the Raw big draws. Carmella could cash in after a Shayna Bazler shock debut assault on Charlotte at some point to give the Horsewomen thing some opening traction.

It feels like there are a lot of good options for monumental women's matches and attractions. After Mania season I hope were not left with 5 vs 5 women's matches forever to fit everyone on the card though. Probably be a women's tag division next year to compensate for the numbers, while letting the real money talent have good one on one rivalries of substance.

I think the Rumble is either being won by Reigns (it's in Philly again, the venue for his last win when he got booed out of the place), or an SD guy. More likely an SD guy, I think, give Raw the Elimination Chamber PPV for Reigns to win to face Lesnar. If it's an SD guy , it's one of Orton (hopefully not), Cena (hopefully not, him vs AJ has been done) or Nakamura (hopefully so, let the two of them tear it up on the big stage).

I'm also hoping for strong showings from Rusev and Bray Wyatt (unless him vs Broken Matt is a singles match).

On Finn Balor, how about him reforming the Bullet Club with Gallows and Anderson, and setting them up vs The Shield when Ambrose is back? That could be special.

I prefer Reigns out of the Shield now. He went back to being corny and lame, but this week picked up his character where it should be. The Braun murdering bad ass feel is back. The Shield might even benefit from the weak return being fucked up by the Reigns illness and now Ambrose out. But if they revisit it properly without shit t shirts and a lot of singles matches where they aren't even coming out as a unit, then bullet club/NWO/Balor Club, or whatever they call it in WWE vs the Shield is must book. Now they can spend 6 months building Balor up as an enigmatic leader, have him recruit guys from scratch on WWE tv, even if they are former members or whatever. Then the Shield will have a reason to come back again.

Oh yeah Rusev. I'd genuinely love to see him win out of nowhere. He isn't being booked like he might win, so they could give in to the fans reactions and shock people with him and it would be a solid choice with no real downside. At some point they need to use these big event wins to push people on to the next level.

I'd not hate Reigns winning, but it would be WWE admitting they suck at booking other guys anywhere near as strong as Reigns. If he's in the match, he can lose without WWE going out of business lol. Undertaker could eliminate him, actually...

As soon as Dolph walked out last week I thought, that's suspicious at this time of year too. Then forgot about him. Dolph vs AJ would be good. Not sure fans would buy it now though.

Here's a thought too. Wrestle Kingdom is January 4th. Rumble is 28th or something? Jericho will only have signed a one match deal, I'd guess. Not that he'd win, but he'll be sought after.

No Braun, no Lesnar, no Kane, no big show, Cass isn't a giant. Lars Sullivan will probably come in but he's not that tall just looks freaky big and a bit like Snitsky. No better time for a non big guy to win in a strong fashion though.

Any one from: Joe, Reigns, Nakamura, Balor, Rusev I'd not mind. Even Ziggler, weirdly. Cena and Orton would be pointless for me, they have to be the special attractions now like Goldberg and Taker. Because there aren't many special attractions left. Load of good it did for the WWE having Orton win last year lol. When a 13 time champ wins the Rumble and has a really shit year beyond that, there has to be alarm bells

I’m struggling to se past Cena winning the rumble and going on to claim his 17th title at wrestlemania

I'm wondering if this will finally be the year for Cena vs Undertaker. Although I really, really hope Taker has called it a day - or does an easy tag match with Kane for one last Brothers of Destruction reunion and both of them retire.

There are also reports today that Rusev is currently the top merch seller on WWE Shop, so you never know, he could be a crazy dark horse winner!

Nakamura is the winner to give the iwc a wee jizz moment with AJ.

feяgie22 wrote:

Nakamura is the winner to give the iwc a wee jizz moment with AJ.

And then it'll open the show, and AJ wins with a cheap roll-up after 30 seconds. Because Vince!

Random thought popped jntp my head... Where the fuck is Neville?

Vince crowning a cruiserweight who pisses him off king of all the WWE's heavyweights "that'd confuse Those damn internet trolls"

Grecian wrote:

feяgie22 wrote:

Nakamura is the winner to give the iwc a wee jizz moment with AJ.

And then it'll open the show, and AJ wins with a cheap roll-up after 30 seconds. Because Vince!

Then Carmella cashes in on AJ hahahaha

Cena, Elias and Finn Balor all now in the Rumble, my shout is Balor goes in early and is in for a while.

Women's Rumble will have 30 entrants. I guess there will be quite a few legends to make the numbers.

The 6 new girls including Paige plus what the rosters were before? about 7 on each without champions? Yeah there could be about 10 spots? 4 Horsewomen of MMA? couple of NXT girls and some names from the past I guess. They might frame the royal rumble as an open tournement to any female wrestler for it to work, which would freshen it up. With the male one it's pretty much nailed on to be mostly current WWE wrestlers from tv, but if there was a way to use more of those guys in something else, like a big us title match, it would be cool to keep the element of anyone can compete going.

With undeclared entries on roster I think Neville would get a nice reaction if he's involved. It goes along with the theme that anyone can turn up without needing to go the corny route. They can use Undertaker without even giving him a spot, just interfere. If they have any sense Jericho will be given a huge fee to show up on his wave of momentum. They need to make people talk about the show for reasons other than legends though, Balor or Nakamura have to be MADE in wwe. Joe needs a huge moment, and maybe Rusev too. Build the future on a strong foundation

It could be great, but Jason Jordan might also win. Which would only be great If he could deliver a game changing character performance and do a really cunty post Rumble win promo, or Raw opener. Even saying "You know, you all said I got this shot because i'm Kurts son, and the funny thing is, im not even Kurts real son, I made it all up you marks" but then the match at WM would have to be Jordan vs an angry Cyborg who will have to find a new number one contender, and you've devalued the Rumble a bit. And you can't re do the match all over on Raw, can you? Be some ratings draw. I probably would pitch that as one possible way to go haha

Im sure the horsewomen of MMA idea is out as the other 2, have stopped training, only Rousey and the man one are still training (or heading to NXT)

I i think Jericho has signed up for a couple of matches with NJPW, plus he's got his rock n wrestling cruise thing.

Personally i'd have Rusev win it, remember the reaction he got a couple years ago when he nearly won.

feяgie22 wrote:

Personally i'd have Rusev win it, remember the reaction he got a couple years ago when he nearly won.

I think that was more that the other guy was Roman Reigns, and not for Rusev. Anyone would have got a reaction if it meant Reigns wasn't going to win.

I'd also love Neville to make his big comeback in the Rumble, and have a really good showing. It could potentially be an awesome rumble with the names involved - the guys already declared, plus Reigns / Rollins / KO / Zayn / Strowman doing two matches / Joe, maybe Trips, Taker, Kurt all going for it, Shane O'Mac... it could be pretty much impossible to pick a winner.

Ah I dont check much wrestling news so there's even more women's spots up for grabs. It does look like they are getting the title off Alexa, it felt like they might. Asuka has a submission win, and Kurt hinted a title match was coming. Good way to keep Asuka undefeated and have Paige, or Rousey or another big name win the Rumble.

Yeah last time the Rusev reaction was boosted by Reigns, this time he's got over without being pushed and has that feeling of a natural fan favourite. He's one of the most genuinely likeable guys they have so if they pulled the trigger on him fans would accept him as top level talent. Kevin Owens getting Rusev's push (the McMahon rivalry) could work out great for him as he can move away from his heel status.

I know it won't happen, but Neville is a guy who could be an insanely hot heel, and he could legitimately compete against AJ, or Brock. Character wise, if Vince wants a one on one face vs heel at WM for the WWE title, Neville could be the guy. I still can't imagine Vince booking Nakamura vs AJ yet. AJ is in serious babyface mode right now.

Joe was immense on Raw, I can imagine Vince was loving his performance all round. If Joe doesn't get another IC match (It doesn't look like he will after the finality of the ending) then a Rumble win would be amazing. But the hype on him makes me think he'll just miss out and do something else pretty big. A good swerve could be everyone expecting a Joe Lesnar rematch before he challenges AJ instead though. Pretty sure they said the winner chooses who to challenge quietly on commentary one week.

feяgie22 wrote:

I i think Jericho has signed up for a couple of matches with NJPW, plus he's got his rock n wrestling cruise thing.

Honestly, I'd just throw money at him for one appearance to set up a future match. Just have him show up and do this



Give people the feeling that actually he can just show up any time again with no warning. And for him it adds to his own mystique and uncertainty of where he will wrestle next.

Joe has ruptured something in his foot might not be too bad, but the timing is poopy. Out of the mixed match gimmick in hope that wearing a boot and injections will see him recover by the Rumble.

Paige doubtful for the women’s rumble

My two picks are probably out injured then although If you've heard the official theme song by little mix! I can't imagine anyone but Cena or Roman winning with that playing over the highlights lol

Mackem wrote:

Paige doubtful for the women’s rumble

Reports this morning that she may never wrestle again, that boot to the head from Sasha Banks has caused the same injury that made Edge retire. If it's true, absolutely gutting for her, after the past couple of years, all the crap she's had to put with and now this.

As a complete long-shot, I've read a theory that Dolph Ziggler may win. There's even some logic to it...

A SD guy is winning, as Raw has the last PPV before the Rumble for Roman to be No 1 contender to face Brock.
AJ is likely to be champ, so needs a heel.
The two main SD heels, Zayn and Owens, are involved in the Shane O'Mac storyline, which probably carries on until Mania
Nakamura won't win the Rumble as Vince would want to piss off the internet
Orton is taking time off, so won't be around to promote the match
SD has no other heels - Baron Corbin isn't ready for a huge push like that

Leaving Dolph...

I seem to remember Paige saying on the Austin network show that she had a deformity or some spinal issue that meant she might not compete after age 25 or something. If a kick has fucked her up it's pretty bad, she's had scum mislead her and waste her career enough as it is, and her last run is over before it's begun.But  I feel like she was always a hard bump away from retirement, but WWE wanted to get her back rolling for the media buzz. Clear people if it suits is the new guidelines, it seems. They might think more before clearing Bryan now (think long and hard and then $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$)



Finn, or Joe vs AJ. (or Mahal  ) haha.

But yeah, Dolph was my wildcard pick (and probable predictor pick) when he left SD. It was serioys red flag at thus time of year. And when I remembered he existed again it feels like it's more likely, because if you're supposed to forget about him there's a reason. People are auto assuming that he's yet again copying HBK and will come back to challenge the US Title tournement winner. But that's just stupid. Internet thinks that's going to happen, mainstream has just forgotten about him, he's almost perfect to win RR. WWE doesn't do shit for no reason, and they showed those clips of how good he was and the reactions he got. Returning to have a US title match vs Roode isn't getting any reaction, but a shock win would. And he can play the bragging asshole schtick to AJ's honourable, humbly the best gimmick.


My outside outside wildcard that's just come to me, for no reason. AJ Retains and wins the Rumble to have a title vs Title unification at WM to get him on to Raw the night after WM. Then they can go to a shit red and blue title for each brand, with the WWE title staying on AJ that anyone on any brand can challenge for. So SD gets the New blue SD world title, Raw swaps universal title for a Raw world title, with the black belt as the WWE championship meaning you are the champion of all WWE.)

Joe's definitely out of the Rumble due to injury. To make up for it, Titus O'Neill is in.

The final of the US title tournament has been moved to next week, so I'm guessing Dolph is returning to claim his belt in a match at the Rumble.

Can't help thinking the Rumble needs a few more big names - Reigns, Rollins, Cesaro and Sheamus all going in would help, along with the New Day and maybe Hideo Itami. If they go down the route of debuting an NXT guy, Aleister Black would be my hope.

They'll probably use the anniversary Raw to really sell the ppv. But for me, no Joe kind of kills a big chunk of interest. He would have had an immense Rumble and kicked off a Cena rivalry.

It could have been moved so the unlucky loser can declare for the Rumble as well.

I'd like to see Black too, but would you call him up, or just have him appear and go back to NXT? He's someone who needs a month of mysterious vignettes before a tv debut, in my opinion.

It's been a year since Dilinger got 10 in the Rumble and that crowd chant is pretty much dead now. No one in the mainstream was ever told why he was the perfect 10. WWE need to debut NXT guys as completely new and explain who they are. In the off chance people are excited about the 10 spot again it should be used for any NXT call up though.

For the NXT Rumble spot, I'd have an NXT Rumble on the episode right before the Rumble. have ten guys in it, entering every 90 seconds, winner gets the NXT spot.

Problem is, WWE have so many guys on the undercard, the Rumble itself looks a little light. You'd have to have losers from the title matches working double-duty, the Usos, Miz / Reigns may yet be added too.

Speaking of Reigns, he's also been named by an infamous steroid dealer as being one of his customer (along with Mark Wahlberg and someone called Josh Duhamel). Be interesting to see what happens with this information, if WWE will do the old 'he's not failed a test with us!' card, if they suspend him, if Brock suddenly has a new Mania opponent...