[Please Note: I wrote my predictions for the WWE Championship match and Royal Rumble match itself prior to watching RAW on Monday when the Legends Panel picked the same three guys as me. Oh well. Coincidence or great minds think alike?]
The Bella Twins vs. Paige and Natalya
This match should only serve to further what should become Bella vs. Bella at Wrestlemania. Anything else would be a waste of time, though Bella vs. Bella is also a waste of time so there's that. When will the divas division have some life in it? Oh well, this show needs a solid bathroom break before we sit through the long-ass Rumble match. Does it matter who wins? Not really. This match will be forgotten before it even happens and if there is any justice in the WWE Universe then one of the other matches will go on too long and this will just be cut from the show.
New Age Outlaws vs. The Ascension
So The Ascension spent forever in developmental, in fact so long that they're not even the original team they once were, and when they finally get called up to the main roster they get humiliated by a bunch of legendary tag teams because they're walking around saying that they're better than the Road Warriors and Demolition and Powers of Pain even though they kind of look like a combination of all three of them. I really must agree with Animal on this one as it makes little sense for WWE to do this when the original Legion of Doom can no longer compete. The payoff here would obviously be LOD coming out and destroying The Ascension and then them complaining about it afterwards but that can never happen, so what is the end game with The Ascension here? Does WWE even have one or will this just run its brief course and then The Ascension will find themselves exclusively on Superstars and Main Event?
I remember when New Age Outlaws were coming up and establishing themselves. They had a feud with LOD where they ended up shaving half of Hawk's signature inverted mohawk and it felt like a really big deal at the time. The commentators (especially Jim Ross) sold it as being such a huge display of disrespect that I just totally bought into it. I kind of feel like WWE might be planning a similar moment here with these two teams but I'm not sure what it could be and I'm also not too optimistic with anything involving the tag team division in WWE any more.
This should be our feel good moment of the night as the New Age Outlaws defeat The Ascension and even though it might seem like the rookies are getting their just due it will only lead to them coming back angrier and eventually facing The Dudley Boyz at Wrestlemania because what else is there left to do?
A New Day vs. Adam Rose, Cesaro & Tyson Kidd (pre-show)
I'm kind of sad that this is a match on the show (or rather pre-show) because I would have liked to see any of these guys in the Royal Rumble match itself. Cesaro would be a dark horse pick to win the Rumble match because, well, he could work as a face with either Seth Rollins or Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania and sell tickets. (Cesaro Swing on Lesnar? Yes please!) A New Day would have that idea of whether or not they'd work well together in the Rumble match or if they'd somehow fight each other. Plus Kofi's many ways to not get eliminated... Oh wait, since this is on the pre-show I bet most of these guys will come back and be involved in the Rumble match anyway.
So does it matter who wins here? Not really, since both of these teams trade wins and losses with each other and Los Matadores on Superstars and Main Event. So let's say that there is some sort of confusion between A New Day and Adam Rose scores a pin of Xavier Woods after Cesaro and Kidd hit their finisher. I also fully expect this to lead to Adam Rose in the Rumble match as well as the return of The Bunny. Yes, really.
[After I wrote about this match I saw on "Main Event" that it was to be an elimination style match but my general idea still stands]
The Usos vs. The Miz & Damien Mizdow (WWE Tag Team Championship)
If Brock Lesnar is the WWE Champion, Wade Barrett is the IC Champion and Rusev is the US Champion it only makes sense for Team Mizdow to win this match because then all of the champions heading into Wrestlemania will be heels. I honestly have no Wrestlemania plans yet for Wade Barrett or anything in the IC Title picture, but Rusev should keep his undefeated streak until then at least and I think that it might be kind of strange if *all* of the champions are actually heels going into Wrestlemania. I imagine The Usos will still have the titles at Wrestlemania and will compete in what will likely be a fourway or gauntlet type of match but if WWE was smart they'd start holding a tournament right now to determine the next number one contenders to the Tag Team Championship which would be who The Usos would defend against at 'Mania. Eight teams to enter the tournament would be Los Matadores, The Ascension, Lucha Dragons (who should get the call up from NXT by Wrestlemania) A New Day, Cesaro & Kidd, Slater Gator (Should they not choose to reunite Prime Time Playas), The Dust Brothers and then a makeshift team of sorts like Kane & Big Show or R-Truth & Justin Gabriel. It would work and bring some prestige back to the WWE Tag Team Titles, which seem to mean less than their NXT counterparts these days. Obviously after Team Mizdow loses this match The Miz will enter the Royal Rumble match in hopes of main eventing Wrestlemania. I'm torn between whether The Miz should get eliminated by Mizdow or if it should be that when The Miz is eliminated he wants Mizdow to eliminate himself too and Mizdow chooses not to do that. Either way, these two men need to split from their team and face each other at Wrestlemania.
The 2015 Royal Rumble Match
Since there are thirty competitors in this match I'm going to make three predictions. Obviously, everyone out there is saying that the plan is for Roman Reigns to win the Royal Rumble and go on to main event Wrestlemania and win the WWE Championship from the unstoppable Brock Lesnar. Given that everyone else is saying that, let me pick three people who are not Roman Reigns. Also, I'm really hoping for a Big Stevie Cool (accompanied by the Blue Meanie) appearance in here, since we are in Philadelphia, and why not use this time to bring back Sheamus if he must return and send out feelers for an Alex Riley in ring return. Who knows, maybe even Randy Orton returns in the Rumble match.
Scenario 1: Daniel Bryan Wins.
And why not? What will Daniel Bryan be doing at Wrestlemania any way? Even if Brock Lesnar didn't retain the title it'd be nice to see John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan (since the first time they fought was such a long time ago and they've both been through a lot since then in different ways) or even Daniel Bryan vs. Seth Rollins would be insane. Imagine a scenario where after the Rumble PPV Seth Rollins cashes in and wins so that The Authority can further stack the deck against Bryan. I think that Daniel Bryan returning should put all other plans on hold and put him back into the main event slot he shouldn't have had to share with Batista once so long ago. Also, with the John Cena match it could be Bella vs. Bella in each man's corner.
Scenario 2: Dean Ambrose Wins.
Ambrose is everything that Roman Reigns except... popular. All of the reasons why Roman Reigns should win- to conquer Brock Lesnar and all that- apply just as easily to Dean Ambrose. Ambrose is a scrapper and he can just fight with Lesnar in a way I don't think anyone else can. Plus, Ambrose has proved time and time again that he can take a beating but he gets back up and takes some more. Who better than to lead the WWE after Wrestlemania? Dean Ambrose has faced a number of different competitors since The Shield broke up, but let's face it: he's unstable, which makes him neither a clear cut face or heel. I remember matches Ambrose had with John Cena and it wasn't that face vs. face feel because no one's ever really established a moral compass for Dean Ambrose and as such he just kind of does what he wants and mostly just seems to fight because he likes to fight. This is the perfect mentality (coupled with his undeniable popularity) which could have him as the next Stone Cold Steve Austin and, yes, it's a far shot but what a great feeling it would be to see Dean Ambrose win the Royal Rumble and hang with Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania.
Scenario 3: Bray Wyatt Wins.
For everything that Brock Lesnar had last Wrestlemania against The Undertaker, here comes someone in Bray Wyatt who is looking to make his own streak. Bray Wyatt is the destroyer of worlds and like Dean Ambrose he also has a certain appeal even though he is more clearly defined as a heel. It would be such an interesting and unique match up that I feel like WWE would waste an opportunity if they didn't do it but I highly doubt that they will. it's the longest of my long shots, but I really hope that it would still happen over the seeming inevitable Roman Reigns win.
Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins (WWE Championship Match)
Right away you have to realize that Seth Rollins was seemingly added to this match as a last minute idea (And I understand that he brought The Authority back, but John Cena won a pretty big number one contender match what seems like forever ago) and because of that and him holding that MITB briefcase we can pretty much guarentee he doesn't win here. In fact, if Seth Rollins is in this match because he brought back The Authority, then what about Big Show? He was the one holding Edge down, so why not give him a break as well? Since that isn't playing all fairly and everything then, you know, we can pretty much call this as Seth Rollins not winning.
The plan here is that we have to make it so that someone can win who is not Seth Rollins and then also make sure that Seth Rollins doesn't cash in the MITB briefcase after the match. So this pretty much writes itself when you start at the end and try to take it backwards. Seth Rollins misses a curb stomp on John Cena, Cena hits the AA on Rollins but before Cena can go for the cover to pin he is hit hard by Brock Lesnar who then sets him up for the F5 and Lesnar wins, retains and stands strong enough so as not to give off the impression that Seth Rollins will be cashing in.
I also kind of toyed with the idea of Seth Rollins entering the Royal Rumble match, since that should headline, but yeah, let's not do that, okay? (Same for Cena) Brock Lesnar's story began at Wrestlemania last year and since then he has left a path of destruction that is unparalleled. This story needs to end at Wrestlemania (if it has to end) and Brock needs to do it as champion.
Overall, I really don't expect much out of the Royal Rumble as a pay-per-view except for the WWE Championship match and the Rumble match itself. I feel like at one point they were pushing towards a Ryback-Rusev match before Ryback got storyline fired but it will be interesting to see how this unstoppable monster that is Ryback is eliminated from the Royal Rumble itself. Wouldn't it also be kind of neat to see Seth Rollins walk out as WWE Champion and Dolph Ziggler winning the Royal Rumble? They could go like Steamboat vs. Savage if you really think about it.
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