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WWE will present the 2020 Royal Rumble at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. Here's our take on what will happen.
30 Man Royal Rumble. Announced as completing: WWE Champion.Brock Lesnar (entering at #1), Roman Reigns, AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Kofi Kingston, Big E, Rey Mysterio, Ricochet, Erick Rowan, Drew McIntyre, Baron Corbin, Elias, Dolph Ziggler, Heavy Machinery, Rusev, Aleister Black, Bobby Lashley, Buddy Murphy, Braun Strowman, Shinsuke Nakamura, Seth Rollins, Samoa Joe, Kevin Owens, John Morrison, The Miz. Four competitors to be named.
Dave: I did a column that went into details on my picks, which you can read by clicking here. I think Roman Reigns wins because Brock Lesnar will get into it with his primary Mania challenger during the match itself. Smackdown is not as focused as Raw is right now so they need the win to set up their Title match more. I would love to see Keith Lee win and challenge for the NXT Title at Mania but I don't know that Vince would make that call here.
Mike: There are not a lot of spots left but we have a few for surprises. I really wonder if they go all the way with Drew McIntyre, who would be my pick to go over. Drew hitting the Claymore and taking Brock over the top would be an awesome scene. He’s my pick. There’s lot of made men in the match but a win with Drew would make him a fresh made man. Unless they do with some crazy surprise out of nowhere, I am all Drew on this one.
Rich: I would have rather seen Ricochet confront Brock and tell him that he is not afraid of him and he is going to be #2 instead of what we saw on Raw this week. I think Brock gets eliminated by Drew McIntyre to set up their match at Mania. I would love to have the tease of Goldberg's music for #2 only to have the 'Doug Dillinger stand in' knock on the door and we hear a loud BRO. I would love to see strong performances from Kofi Kingston and Big E. In the same way that they are giving Becky a year for redemption, they can have Kofi return to a Wrestlemania 'main event' match without having to deal with the hoops he had to jump through last year. If Vince really likes me, Baron Corbin is winning this thing. I would also have people who are poised to challenge for the tag titles and the other secondary titles in this match to be ones who make the eliminations on the champions. If they are going to put them in the match, any face off involving Samoa Joe, Brock Lesnar, WALTER, and Keith Lee will be worth the price of admission. Roman will win and challenge the Fiend.
30 Woman Royal Rumble - Charlotte Flair, Nikki Cross, Alexa Bliss, Sarah Logan, Natalya, Dana Brooke, Carmella announced as competing. 23 competitors to be named.
Dave: I also covered the women's Rumble in the column. To me, I would love to see Ronda Rousey come back and win, then she could challenge Becky Lynch for the Title she never really lost. Beyond that Shayna Baszler winning and challenging Rhea Ripley would be great. NXT would get a rub and Shayna could go for the three time she talked about on TV this week. If neither of those happen, Charlotte probably wins.
Mike: It seems a lot more likely we’ll see some NXT competitors in here, but my gut, unless they are marching Ronda back as surprise (if she can go after injuring her hand on the set of FOX’s 9-1-1 a few months back, a factor I haven’t seen anyone mention), I have to go with Charlotte. They’ve been teasing her as the shadow looming over Becky, so perhaps we’ll see them one on one at Mania. I’d love to see Sasha go all the way here but my gut is Flair.
Rich: I expect this to be the start of Sign Pointing Season and if that is the case, we need the Queen of Pointing Ronda Rousey to return. I don't expect to see that happen, but you never know. I would say the favorites for each brand are Charlotte Flair (Raw), Sasha Banks (Smackdown), and Shayna Baszler (NXT). I can see two of them challenging Becky if they win and Sasha can challenge Bayley but draw it out to catch Bayley off guard. I am looking forward to some of the pairings we will see during the match and they can expand on the current storylines. I would like to see Otis at ringside to make the save for Mandy Rose. Will tag team partners turn on each other? They can recreate the JBL goes from commentary to the Rumble spot with Beth Phoenix this time. Sasha is my pick.
WWE Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch vs. Asuka.
Dave: I have really enjoyed the build to this. Asuka has been great. But, I don't see Becky losing before Mania (unless she is going to win it back next month). Becky retains.
Mike: This has been awesome. I expect that the match will deliver, just as they delivered last year when they opened the Rumble show. Asuka has been in the zone and built like a monster, so when Becky beats her – and she will – it will be a victory of significance.
Rich: Becky has been dealing with this loss for a full year (and probably remembered it for the last 6 weeks) and it is time for her to get her revenge. Becky is on her way to a big match at Wrestlemania (maybe against Shayna?) while Asuka and Kairi can be the most entertaining part of Raw that does not involve R Truth.
WWE Universal Champion Bray Wyatt vs. Daniel Bryan in a strap match.
Dave: I just don't see them flipping the Title here. It's way too soon in Bray's run. He should have the belt going into Mania.
Mike: No way they are going to change the belt here. I expect Bryan to get a lot of licks in but at the end of the day, Bray retains. It will be interesting to see if they get Kane involved here.
Rich: It is bad when during the entire time that Andrew and I recorded our preview audio, neither of us remembered that this was a strap match. If this ends up being the typical bullrope/strap stipulation where you have to touch all four turnbuckles in succession without the other touching one, they will do the alternating touch three turnbuckles and then fight over the fourth with Bray winning. I would love to see Daniel win and if they are going to do a pinfall situation, let him use the small package to beat The Fiend. I just don't see that happening. Bring on Roman.
Roman Reigns vs. Baron Corbin - Falls Count Anywhere match.
Dave: It's time for this feud to end. If they have Roman win a war here and then win the Rumble, it could make for a great story, especially if the Fiend comes out and destroys him afterward.
Mike: I am with Dave here. This thing is way overdone (as most of Smackdown feels right now) and it’s time to have Reigns spear and mercifully end this storyline once and for all.
Rich: I thought this feud ended 6 months ago. They need to fight all over the stadium and find the 'Sign Stealing Room'. Roman should win, but Vince loves Baron so maybe he gets the win. I would assume that Ziggler, Dawson, Wilder, Roode, and the Usos get involved in the match. Make it stop.
*WWE Smackdown Women's Champion Bayley vs. Lacey Evans.
Dave: Bayley's run has been OK but the division just seems kind of lacking. Evans has been really good of late. If it's me, I flip the Title here.
Mike: Evans’ promo was the highlight of Smackdown this week. I say put the belt on Liberty Bell so that when we finally to the Sasha match, its Sasha chasing the belt.
Rich: The big money match for both of these women is Sasha Banks. Lacey has been unable to get her hands on Sasha due to other obligations or injuries and it is only a matter of time until Sasha turns on Bayley. I am not sold on Lacey as the Smackdown champion but that is probably why she will win. I can see Sasha winning the Rumble to set up the surprise announcement of Sasha challenging her friend Bayley at Wrestlemania.
WWE United States Champion Andrade (with Zelina Vega) vs. Humberto Carrillo.
Dave: I see Carrillo getting this close, only to have Zelina do something to keep the Title on her man. Her sitting on the ladder on Raw was awesome. She is such an asset.
Mike: WWE has done a good job of making Andrade of late. I don’t see them cashing that in to make Carrillo here with a title change. I suspect the idea will be they have a great back and forth match with some good near falls and Zelina helps Andrade steal the win.
Rich: This match makes sense based on what happened previously with Andrade and Carrillo and with Humberto making the save for Rey on Monday night. It would be nice to have some build for the match beyond 6 days. Carrillo will have a good performance but it will not be enough. It looks like the tease of a breakup for Zelina and Andrade is not going to happen.
Shorty G vs. Sheamus.
Dave: I love how much they have done with Gable's gimmick, especially when it could have flopped badly. But with Sheamus back, he goes over here.
Mike: If Shorty wins, that doesn’t say much for Sheamus’ comeback. I expect we’ll see G get wiped out by the Brogue Kick.
Rich: Sheamus will win this match, but the issue with this match is whether we will have a competitive-ish match that gets some time or do they give this the Wrestlemania 28 treatment and one move and done to show that Sheamus is a monster coming back to take over the Smackdown brand. I could also see Sheamus added to the Rumble match.
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