WWE Royal Rumble preview & predictions: The Rhodes to WrestleMania?

WWE heads into Saturday’s Royal Rumble with a few storylines that are almost as interesting as the behind-the-scenes drama taking place within the company. 

It will be WWE’s first pay-per-view/premium live event since Vince McMahon returned to assume the role of Executive Chairman and at the time of next year’s Rumble, the company may have new ownership in the aftermath of that return.

At last check, Paul “Triple H” Levesque told the roster he’s still the one booking the show and while he might speak with his father-in-law from time to time, McMahon always defers to him for the final say. It’s just not clear how much longer that will be the case.

All this is to say that despite the high levels of uncertainty within the company, WWE fans are enjoying some of the company’s most engaging storylines in years heading into the men’s Rumble match. Topping that list is Sami Zayn and The Bloodline, but there are others. The story of Cody Rhodes and his quest to win the championship his father was never able to wrap around his own waist will write an important chapter on Saturday as well.

The women’s Rumble match could also be interesting this year as it seems likely to result in someone being pushed to the upper echelon of the division with the likes of Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, and Ronda Rousey. There are a few possibilities as to who that might be.

Then, two of the three non-Rumble matches at the event this year involve someone, possibly Bo Dallas, wearing a Barry Windham mask or something like that. So, if you’re a fan of supernatural activity in your wrestling, there’s that going on too.

Let’s get to some prediction and previewing of Saturday’s show.

Men’s Royal Rumble match

Some are worried that if anyone other than Sami Zayn wins, there could be significant backlash. Even if it’s Cody Rhodes winning, but without an obvious path for Zayn at WrestleMania, it could come out feeling a lot like when Batista won in 2014 when fans clearly wanted Daniel Bryan in that spot. 

Assuming Levesque truly has the last say in creative, I doubt he will make the same mistake McMahon made nine years ago. All they have to do is clearly communicate to fans where Zayn is going next. His winning the Rumble doesn’t need to be part of the story and probably won’t be.

As fun as the Zayn/Bloodline story has been, the Rumble this year is all about the betting favorite in Rhodes, his return to WWE, and his quest to win the WWE Championship. Between his passionate promos after Mania last year, the vignettes we have seen recently, and memories of him wrestling Seth Rollins with a torn pec, there’s a lot of reason for fans to get invested in his journey. 

There is a very good chance we see a key moment in this story play out on Saturday, but there are other possible winners.

Despite recent reports saying he won’t be wrestling Roman Reigns at WrestleMania, The Rock is still listed as the top three favorites to win the Rumble on most betting sites. One site even has him listed as a stronger favorite than Zayn. 

The betting odds for Austin winning also increased recently with reports that WWE pitched him a match for WrestleMania. Neither Rock nor Austin winning feels very likely, however. 

It should also be an interesting year for surprise Rumble entrants. It’s tough to know who WWE is interested in bringing in at the moment considering changes at the executive level.

Prediction: Cody Rhodes

Women’s Royal Rumble match

The only two real strong contenders to win this match are Becky Lynch and Rhea Ripley, but there are a couple of other possible long shots.

Lynch is a top babyface and doesn’t have a title heading into Mania, thus giving her a pretty decent shot to win. However, it also seems as though WWE is poised to add Ripley to the roster’s very top tier. Betting sites have her as the favorite as well.

With there being two Women’s champions currently, WWE has more room to maneuver with the women’s Rumble than they do with the men’s. Lynch doesn’t have to win the Rumble to challenge for a title at Mania and neither does Ripley, which opens the door to a lot of other possibilities.

One potential winner there hasn’t been much talk about is Asuka who has been gone since losing to Ripley on the December 12th Raw. Her social media has been teasing a return to a character more similar to her pre-WWE days as well. With that being said, most betting sites don’t agree with me that she has much of a chance here.

It feels like the time is right for Ripley to be a featured performer in the company and the 2023 Rumble is where that will really take shape. Maybe then the Mysterio family will finally open the doors to her during the holidays.

Prediction: Rhea Ripley

Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against Kevin Owens

I cannot remember another WWE Championship bout in history where so much of the story was focused on a person not even entered in the match. Miss Elizabeth did not mean nearly as much to Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage at WrestleMania V as Zayn means to this match.

The winner here is not really in question. Reigns will retain, but that’s not where the intrigue is. What everyone will really be watching for is to see if/how Zayn gets involved.

There are a million ways this could play out, but the most possible scenarios involve one of the following:

• Reigns wants Zayn to do something underhanded to Owens but Zayn has a crisis of conscience and refuses to, leading Reigns turning on Zayn.
• Zayn helps Reigns retain and nobody turns on anybody just yet.
• Zayn turns on Reigns and aligns with Owens.
• Reigns and Owens have a fair contest with no hijinks or interference and adhere to ROH’s Code of Honor before and after the match.

While I’m certainly not overly confident this will happen, the first option seems the most likely. With Reigns turning on Zayn, Owens can come to his longtime friend’s rescue but somehow cost himself the match in the process. Then all three of them are entered into the Elimination Chamber in front of what will be a red-hot Montreal crowd next month.

Whatever does happen will almost assuredly be an important chapter in one of WWE’s most engaging storylines in recent memory.

Prediction: Roman Reigns

WWE Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair defends against Alexa Bliss

There are five matches scheduled for the Royal Rumble and Uncle Howdy could potentially show up in two of them. That’s probably a little too much spookiness for one show, but the Royal Rumble has a long history with the supernatural.

Considering we’ve seen Uncle Howdy attack Bray Wyatt, it’s not clear if he is aligned with Bliss or not. The possibly played by Bo-Dallas character could have no interest whatsoever in helping Bliss win the title. He does seem like a guy with other stuff going on.

So far, all Uncle Howdy has really done is come out on Raw and “be there” in front of Bliss. It’s not clear what we’re supposed to take from that regarding the relationship between the two.

Belair very likely retains here as she’s been given a strong championship run since WrestleMania 38 and it doesn’t feel like she’ll drop the belt until WrestleMania 39 at the absolute earliest.

Much like many matches on this show, this will be more about furthering a story than who wins and loses. Bliss has been getting spookier and spookier and the Rumble will likely be where said spookiness crosses a threshold and starts a new chapter in the story.

Prediction: Bianca Belair

Bray Wyatt vs. LA Knight in a Pitch Black match

The spookier of the two spooky matches on the show, Bray Wyatt and LA Knight in a Pitch Black match should be interesting. This will also be more storyline than a wrestling match which is kind of how anything Wyatt-related should be.

Supernatural stories in wrestling are a tremendously polarizing issue amongst fans. Those who do not like magic in their wrestling really do not like them. Similarly, those who like supernatural stuff often consider such angles their favorite part of the show. Wyatt has shown he can make the company money, however, so if it’s not your thing, you’re going to have to suffer through it regardless.

Having both Bliss and Wyatt on the same show could be interesting as well. We have never really seen how the seemingly separate stories playing out on Raw and SmackDown connect. The Royal Rumble might be where WWE decides to intertwine the two angles.

Prediction: Bray Wyatt