Royal Rumble 2018 Predictions

   Royal Rumble weekend concludes tonight with the Royal Rumble Pay-Per-View event.  After last night's excellent Takeover event, the Rumble needs to deliver, and I'm confident that it will.  For the first time ever, we will witness a 30-woman Royal Rumble match, along with the men's.  Both World Titles and both sets of Tag Team Titles are on the line tonight, as well as Bobby Roode's US Title challenge.  We may see some returns or big surprises tonight as well.  

KICK-OFF MATCHES

Jack Gallagher/Drew Gulak/TJP vs. Kalisto/Gran Metalik/Lince Dorado

   This six man tag team match featuring some of 205 Live's Cruiserweights has been added.  With Enzo Amore's recent controversy and firing, the Cruiserweight Title is vacant for the first time since its return in 2016.  I'm sure all of these men want to prove they belong, especially after the clinic Cedric Alexander and Mustafa Ali just put on.  Gallagher is feuding with Kalisto, due to the injury The Brian Kendrick sustained.  I'm thinking the heels come out on top over the masked Luchadores tonight.

Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows vs. The Revival

   Finn Balor, Anderson and Gallows have now formed the Balor Club officially in WWE.  On Raw's 25th Anniversary, the Good Brothers defeated The Revival.  After that, the Balor Club, DX, and Scott Hall took turns performing their finishers on The Revival.  Will the "Top Guys" return to glory and put Gallows and Anderson in their place?  Or will the Balor Club reign supreme?  I can see the match going either way but my gut tells me to go with Anderson and Gallows for the win.

Bobby Roode's US Title Challenge

   New United States Champion Bobby Roode is putting out an open challenge for his Title tonight.  There's a lot of speculation as to who that might be.  One person I think it won't be is Dolph Ziggler.  It wouldn't make sense for Ziggler, who deliberately relinquished the US Title after winning it, to then challenge for it again.  No matter who takes the challenge, I'm picking Bobby Roode to retain the United States Championship and it will be...Glorious!

MAIN CARD

Raw Tag Team Titles - Seth Rollins & Jason Jordan vs. The Bar

   This one is hard to predict because both Jason Jordan and Sheamus have injuries they are dealing with. I'm not generally fond of makeshift tag teams winning the Titles.  To be honest, I don't really care about this match.  All four men are going to be involved in different things soon enough, especially Jordan.  I'm predicting Jordan at some point turning his "father" Kurt Angle.  I hope he admits it was all a ruse too because this storyline is crap. I see Rollins and Jordan retaining in this match.

Smackdown Tag Team Titles - The Usos vs. Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin

 When Gable's partner Jason Jordan went to Raw, he was on his own.  Smackdown GM Daniel Bryan gave Gable a new partner in the amazing Shelton Benjamin.  So far, they have gelled well as a team.  Meanwhile, the Usos have been the tag team on Smackdown. That's saying something, since The New Day are there as well.  With Jey Uso recently getting a DUI, I'm taking Gable and Benjamin to become the new Smackdown Tag Team Champions.  

WWE Title Hand-Cap Match - AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn

   AJ's got his hands full tonight when he takes on both best friends Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Since Zayn saved Owens from Shane McMahon at Hell In a Cell, he's been such a funny and pain in the ass heel.  His sarcasm and chemistry with Owens makes him entertaining to watch.  With both of Smackdown's authority figures Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan in the mix, there's sure to be some shenanigans in this match. If this were around SummerSlam time, I might give the win to Owens and/or Zayn but since we're on the road to WrestleMania, I don't see how they could take the Title off him.  I know they did it last year but let's be honest, neither Owens or Zayn are John Cena!  AJ just ended Jinder Mahal's 6-month reign not too long ago so I don't see him losing just yet.  

Universal Title Triple Threat Match - Brock Lesnar vs. Kane vs. Braun Strowman

 I almost wish this was a one on one match between Lesnar and Kane. One reason is because the two have never faced off one on one before and two, this match takes a potential winner like Braun out of the Rumble.  I think it's obvious to most people that Brock is keeping the Title and that's my pick.  If a Smackdown guy wins the Rumble or the winner decides to challenge for the WWE Title, I think both Braun and Kane would have a chance anyway by winning Raw's Elimination Chamber.  Also, most people assume we're getting Brock vs. Roman at WrestleMania anyway!  Either way, Kane is there to eat the pin.

Men's Royal Rumble Match

   I'm going to take care of this first since history is being made tonight with the first ever women's Rumble match.  Last year, someone I didn't even think could win in Randy Orton won the thing. However, Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns ended up being the main event anyway and Orton's Title match with Bray Wyatt wasn't that good. You can make a strong case for Roman Reigns this year since it's likely he'll go on to face Brock at WrestleMania.  However, Reigns doesn't need the Rumble to do that. With Raw hosting Elimination Chamber and Brock not being advertised for it, I predict that a Smackdown guy will win the Rumble, or possibly John Cena, who can go wherever he wants because he's John Cena. However unlikely, I'm picking Shinsuke Nakamura as the winner this year so we can have the match many people would be more excited for, Shinsuke vs. AJ.  Even if this does happen, I still see them putting Brock/Roman above it as the main event of WrestleMania.   

Women's Royal Rumble Match

   This is it, folks!  It's been a long time coming but the women will finally have their own Royal Rumble match.  Unfortunately, Raw and Smackdown's Champions Alexa Bliss and Charlotte are sitting this one out.  Also, Paige's past injury is keeping her out this year and will possibly end her career, but that's a topic for another time.  There's a good chance former UFC star Ronda Rousey will debut tonight in the Rumble match.  While I do see that happening, I just don't want her to win the Rumble.  To me, it shits on every female superstar who has worked so hard to get to this moment.  Like Roman Reigns, she's in a position that she doesn't need to win the Rumble to get a potential Title shot.  With that being said, my pick from the start has been and will continue to be Asuka.  You could argue she doesn't need the win either, but she's been in a wrestling ring for a long time.  I'm not talking about her dominance or undefeated streak either!  Picking her has nothing to do with that.  I just think it's the right moment.  I also love that the same rules in the men's Rumble will take place here.  There will be 30 women and all eliminations must occur over the top rope with both feet touching the floor.

   The Royal Rumble has always been my favorite event and I'm looking forward to tonight.  What surprises will we see?  Who will show up?  At last night's Takeover, the audience included Hansen and Rowe of War Machine, Ricochet, EC3, and Candice LaRea, who was watching husband Johnny Gargano in the main event.  Bobby Lashley has been rumored.  Will Dean Ambrose or Samoa Joe suddenly have a clean bill of health to enter?  Will Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega take their feud to WWE?  How will Kofi Kingston escape elimination this year?  There are so many possibilities!  It's even more exciting this year, with the addition of the women's Rumble match.  

If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
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