For wrestling fans everywhere, the best time of the year is without a doubt Wrestlemania season. After dredging through months of terrible booking and repeat storylines, the Road to Wrestlemania finally kicks off tonight with the Royal Rumble live from Philly. For the first time in a long time, it’s literally impossible to predict exactly how the biggest matches of the night will go down.
Interestingly enough, there are zero singles matches on the card, which might be a first in WWE PPV history. Let’s take a look at what is going down tonight and who our likely winners will be.
30-Man Royal Rumble Match
So let’s get this out of the way from the start. There are only two real contenders to win this match and their spot in the Wrestlemania main event; Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan. Sorry Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, Bray Wyatt and Rusev, your time is going to have to wait.
So who is it going to be, the returning former Champ and fan-favorite Bryan? Or the destined to be great (whether we like it or not) powerhouse that is Roman Reigns?
Ever since Reigns set the record for Rumble eliminations at last year’s event, the writing has been on the wall that the next big thing in the WWE was here and coming fast. Since the Shield break-up, Reigns has had a rocket strapped to his back. While former stablemates Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins feuded with each other, Reigns was shot into the main event and title picture immediately.
Emergency surgery knocked Reigns out for a few months and slowed his ascent to the WWE mountain-top, but the general assumption has been that he’s going to win the Rumble and be the guy to knock off Brock Lesnar at ‘Mania.
But then things started to change. Once Reigns returned from injury, WWE decided to shove him down our throats week after week in anticipation of his crowning at Wrestlemania 31. The only problem with that (besides the terrible promos) is that the WWE Universe doesn’t put up with that. The fans don’t want to be told who is great, they want to decide for themselves.
While fans slowly started to boo and turn against the Reigns force-feeding, Bryan, out for 8 months following neck surgery, announced he would be returning for the Royal Rumble. After never actually losing his title, Bryan is back to reclaim his gold, and the WWE Universe is firmly behind him. There had to have been some fear that his hot streak would fade after a long lay-off, but the crowd support is even louder than it was last year.
So what does WWE do? Do they stick to their guns and force Reigns onto everyone? Or do they listen to their fans and give Bryan the win and his shot at regaining a title he never truly lost?
While part of me realizes that Vince McMahon will do whatever he wants, regardless of fan sentiment, I just don’t see how the company could risk another Boo-tista incident. Bryan is back and the WWE needs closure to his story before moving on to the next muscle-bound face of the company. WWE does the right thing here, the Beard is going to ‘Mania.
FLIP THE PAGE TO SEE WHO WILL WALK OUT OF THE RUMBLE WWE CHAMP…
