For the first time in years WWE had crafted an
unpredictable beginning to WrestleMania season. The WWE championship match
could be won by any of its three participants. The Rumble match has numerous possible
winners. And there are three part-timers floating around who'll probably end up
playing a part in the WrestleMania card but it's not obvious what.
And it's at the Royal Rumble where it will all start to
take shape.
Let's start with the WWE championship match. Brock Lesnar
will defend, for the first time since September, against John Cena and Seth
Rollins. It's been an unspectacular reign for Lesnar so far. He trounced Cena
at SummerSlam and then lost by DQ at Night of Champions before retreating to
his woodland home. Although he's defending against Cena again here the addition
of Rollins to the match should ensure we get something markedly different to
last year's two Cena v Lesnar singles offerings. Some early two-on-one work
against Cena giving way to a true three-way match seems like a realistic
expectation.
Any of the three could leave as champion. Lesnar could
retain the title in order to put someone over in a grandiose gesture at
WrestleMania 31. Cena could win his sixteenth world title because he's Cena and
I fully expect WWE to give him at least two more reigns in order to cement his
status as "the greatest thing ever". Rollins could win his first WWE
world title so that he spends WWE’s peak period as champion, sending the
message to returning and casual viewers that new people are finally being given
things to do.
Until a few weeks ago I was convinced Lesnar would retain
at the Rumble and lose the title to Roman Reigns in the final match of
WrestleMania 31. Three things made me less certain: Rollins' addition to the
match, Reigns' string of generic performances, and the Rumble having numerous
potential winners who could match up with Cena, Rollins or Lesnar. I'm not
counting 'The Beast' out completely, but Cena and Rollins look like they have
just of much as a chance as he does right now.
Basically I'm saying it could go to any of the three men
in the match. But the nature of previewing a show means making a prediction
rather than saying "Hey, they all
look good!" With that in mind I'm going to go with Rollins leaving the
show as champion. Note that wording though. I could see Lesnar winning the
triple threat match or Cena getting world title number sixteen only for Rollins
to cash-in his Money in the Bank briefcase for an immediate rematch in which
he'd bag the gold. At least part of my reasoning for this is wishful thinking,
a hope that WWE have gotten their act together and realised that giving Rollins
a title reign at this point could do him so much good.
Before we get to the Rumble match let's quickly look at
the rest of the card. Which is the most tag-heavy affair WWE have offered in
years.
The New Age Outlaws will make their first pay-per-view
appearance since WrestleMania XXX. Funny how Triple H’s mates seem to come back
for the WWE’s biggest annual shows, isn’t it? They’ll take on The Ascension.
In NXT The Ascension were presented as the most imposing
tag team in years. They were promoted to the main roster at the end of December
in less than a month that carefully cultivated aura has been stripped away by
jibes from JBL and unspectacular booking. The January 19 RAW saw them get
overpowered by the Kliq and the APA. They were outnumbered, but it still didn’t
do them any favours. It would have been so much better in the long run if they’d
made a comeback against Nash, Hall, Waltman, JBL, Simmons, and the Outlaws and
ended the segment as the ones standing.
That’s not what happened though. They were overpowered
and so looked weak. I imagine they’ll get the win at the Rumble to show that
they can easily dispatch Road Dogg and Billy Gunn in a fair fight, but so what?
The damage has already been done.
Paige and Natalya will team up to take on the Bellas. The
story behind this match is that Tyson Kidd, Natalya’s husband, has shown more
concern for Natty’s opponents than for Natty herself during her matches over
the last month. Paige thinks he’s an idiot and Natalya has tried to justify his
behaviour and they’re teaming despite these different views because they both
dislike the Bellas (and presumably want Nikki’s Divas title). I imagine the
Bellas will win following Tyson-related shenanigans, allowing the marital
troubles story to progress.
The Miz and Damien Mizdow will get their tag title
rematch against the Usos. The Rumble card generally has a lot of time for the
undercard and Mizdow and Miz are amongst the most popular acts on the roster so
they’ll probably get a fair bit of time. I'd like to see Miz and Mizdow become
two time champions but I think the Usos winning seems likelier. A split between
the ‘The A-Lister’ and his stunt double is probably coming so they get to have
a match at WrestleMania. That would almost certainly be on the pre-show, but
whatever.
Of course the best way to split 'The A-Lister' from his
bearded double would be in the Rumble match itself. ‘The Awesome One’ could
suffer elimination at the hands of some general do-gooder babyface, or
contribute to the tally of some powerhouse who’s racking up the throw-outs like
Rusev or Reigns, then demand that Mizdow mimic the elimination and leave the
match. For the first time in the partnership Mizdow could refuse, standing up
to his mean ol’ benefactor. Or he could go through with mimicking the
elimination as a matter of course, to boos from the crowd, and then look back
on it a few weeks later as the moment he realised he could be more than Miz’s
stunt double.
Or they could do something else entirely. The point is
that the elimination match invites a lot of different scenarios for a copycat
gimmick, especially with someone proven to go as far with it as Sandow does.
Finally there’s the Rumble match. In addition to picking
out a winner part of the fun of the Rumble over the last few years has been guessing
who’ll stay in the longest and who’ll get the most eliminations. Oh, and seeing
what wacky method of avoiding elimination Kofi Kingston has dreamt up.
The most eliminations title seems like something made for
Rusev. It would keep him looking strong and could be brought up as a reason he
should be given a WWE title match even if he doesn’t win. Which in turn could
set up a confrontation with a certain megastar babyface. The longest time is a
wider field. If Daniel Bryan goes in early it could be him, but I think he’ll
get an entrance number with double figures so that his entrance is built up to.
I’ll pick Dolph Ziggler. It seems like the sort of thing WWE would do with him.
As I noted at the top this year’s Rumble has many
potential winners. There are returnees such as Daniel Bryan and the likely
Sheamus and Randy Orton. There are guys WWE might want to elevate like Rusev
and Roman Reigns. And there are guys who have a long shot of winning if
management decide to go in an unexpected, some would say baffling, but not
entirely unrealistic direction, like Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose.
Let’s go through that list one by one. Daniel Bryan seems
like a strong candidate to win. He’s phenomenally popular, it’s his comeback
match, and he’d work as an opponent for any of the three men in the Rumble
title match. Bryan v Lesnar could be an amazing story, perhaps the greatest
David versus Goliath match ever in WWE. Rollins and Bryan could tear the house
with a ‘Mania setting and the entrances, status, and time that comes with, and
their match could be sold as the beginning of a new era for the company. And
Bryan v Cena could be presented as a battle between the two top guys in the
company, the first time the two have touched since SummerSlam 2013.
Going against D-Bry is that he took a lot of last year
off. Obviously that wasn’t his fault but in the topsy-turvy, light on logic
world of WWE that’s a black mark. There’s also the argument that he had his
turn last year and 2015 is the time for someone else to be given a crack at
being ‘The Man’. It’s not something I’d necessarily agree with, what with Bryan
still clearly being very over and talented, but I’d take it as an excuse not to
have him win over his neck injury and 2014 layoff.
Sheamus may seem like a ridiculous person to mention as a
potential winner but I’d like to remind you all that he won the match in 2012.
The E is not above having ‘Great White’ win their biggest gimmick match of the
year. When you consider that he’ll be coming back from an injury (worked or
otherwise) and will probably get something impactful to do it’s not that hard
to imagine a Shaymo win.
Randy Orton is obviously a candidate to win because he’s
Randy Orton. Everyone that counts in the company’s decision-making circles
loves the guy. Like Sheamus he’ll be making a return, and should get a far
louder reaction because of the nature of his absence (he was sidelined by The
Authority). What he has that Sheamus doesn’t is an existing grudge with one of
the men in the WWE title match: Seth Rollins.
‘The Future’ is the one primarily responsible for ‘The
Viper’s’ injury-slash-filming break. A match between the two is going to happen
at some point this year, and WrestleMania 31 seems like a good spot for it. If
they won their respective matches they’d be set on a path to that match. Of
course, that grudge could also be saved for another time and Orty could be
pitted against Lesnar before he leaves: a rare fresh match between established
main event names.
Rusev isn’t that likely but he’s not impossible. The
decision could be taken to push his undefeated status into overdrive, having
him enter the Rumble early and toss out everyone before winning the thing. He
and Lana get strong heel heat already, giving him the Rumble would increase it
and be a way of elevating some new talent (which, as stated already, is
something I’m hopeful WWE want to do before ‘Mania 31). Rusev v Rollins
wouldn’t work. Rusev v Lesnar could with a little bit of tweaking to Lesnar’s
character, and would do wonders for ‘The Super Athlete’ if he actually won.
But obviously John Cena would be the most natural man for
a Rumble-winning Rusev to face. Cena stands up for “what’s right” (and being
proud to be Russian is wrong) and
would all too easily slot into the American hero role that the Rusev character
works so well opposite. The quality of the match would be questionable, but it
would be a tough one to call a winner for if they handled it right. If they
wanted to WWE could take the plunge and have Cena lose to Rusev, setting him up
as a truly unstoppable beast in a way that no other win could. If he won the
title from Cena and was still undefeated the first person to beat him would get
a massive boost.
Roman Reigns, like Bryan, would work well against any of
the three WWE title match participants. Reigns v Rollins could be presented as a
match that will determine the shape of WWE’s future and call on the pair’s
history in The Shield, their tag title reign together, and their non-feud last
autumn. Reigns v Cena could be presented as the future encroaching on the
present, a changing of the guard moment for the company. Whether that guard
change would come would be irrelevant for the match itself.
I’ve written about a match between Reigns and Lesnar at
length. Suffice it to say here that having Reigns win the Rumble and then
defeat Lesnar for the championship at WrestleMania, in a year that’s seen
Lesnar overcome Cena twice, win the WWE world title, defeat him again in a
three-way also involving Rollins, and end The Undertaker’s Streak, would be the
best way possible of cementing him as ‘The Man’. That’s true of anyone of
course, but Reigns as the look and charisma that WWE traditionally wants in its
leading men.
Finally there are Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose. They’re
long shots, but they’re both over enough to make a Rumble win and ‘Mania headlining
position just about feasible. Either man facing Cena seems unlikely: if they
were to make it to the WWE championship match at WrestleMania it’s a safe bet
that Cena would be in a significant non-title match to help keep the card
looking big. Lesnar seems a little likelier because as much as he’s considered
a draw he’s not the reliable professional Cena is, but I still think it’s
unlikely we’d see him face a Ziggler or an Ambrose.
But either man against Rollins would work. Having them
chase a heel Rollins for two months before finally dethroning him at the
company’s flagship event would provide a good story, a memorable moment, and make
it clear that everyone involved is someone of note.
Picking a winner from this list is hard. Realistically I
could see Bryan being eliminated in the final moments by whoever he’s working
with at ‘Mania. That could very well be Sheamus, who I can’t see winning
because he’s Sheamus (and also because it feels like WWE are gearing up to push
new people). Orton winning and facing Rollins would make a great deal of sense
considering what they went through last year, but they could just as easily do
that match without the title. Similarly Rusev doesn’t need to win the Rumble to
clash with Cena. Ziggler and Ambrose are popular but they don’t seem like they’ve
been positioned for such a high profile spot.
Which, by process of elimination, leaves me predicting a
win for Roman Reigns. It’s not something I’m adamantly against but it’s also
not something I’m really hoping for. Reigns has his strengths and isn’t the
worst person WWE could move up, but I’d much rather see them give Bryan another
go or try Ziggler as a top guy. But what’s nice is that I don’t feel especially
confident about any of these predictions. WWE has a chance to really surprise
us. I just hope they do it in a positive way.
***
Predictions
summary:
Roman Reigns to win the Royal Rumble
Dolph Ziggler to survive the longest
Rusev to make the most eliminations
Seth Rollins to leave the show as WWE champion
The Usos to defeat The Miz and Damien Mizdow
The Ascension to defeat The New Age Outlaws
The Bella twins to defeat Paige and Natalya
