With the Royal Rumble only one week away, I guess it’s about time to start the traditional predictions and speculations on what could happen at the event and how that could influence the Road to WrestleMania. While the WWE product and, more specifically, RAW, continues to be plagued by the same creative problems, there was one rather intriguing development in recent weeks. At this year’s Rumble, WWE Champion Roman reigns will defend his title against 29 other wrestlers. One rather overlooked aspect of that announcement is that, contrary to other years, whomever wins this Rumble match has no guarantee to be in the WrestleMania Main Event. He’s only guaranteed to be WWE Champion. As we will see, especially in part 2, this might play a role.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. As the title of this column suggest,there is a very good chance this year’s Royal Rumble match will, in effect, be a long-running Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar match involving 28 extras. Let us then start by looking at all possible scenario’s involving The Beast and Roman Reigns.
1 – Brock Lesnar wins, Eliminating Roman Reigns in the process:
It’s no surprise that many think Lesnar will completely dominate the Rumble, ousting everyone, including Reigns. After all this is the way WWE has booked him for what seems like forever now. I, for one, completely disagree with this, as it make the rest of the locker room look like glorified jobbers which is ALWAYS counter-productive in the end, no matter who the name is you push this way. That being said, WWE might be tempted by this anyway, since, given this is basically a Championship match, Reigns would be entitled to a re-match against whomever wins this. Which would then lead to the rumored Lesnar/Reigns II match at WM, with some RAW shenanigans keeping Reigns busy until then. Not my favorite scenario, but WWE might see this as the most direct way to Wrestlemania.
2- Roman Reigns wins, eliminating Brock Lesnar in the process:
This happens if WWE feels Reigns needs to retain his title, conquering insurmountable odds in the process, to become that super-babyface Vince is dreaming of. That being said I don’t think much would be achieved here if WWE were to go with this. While reigns has, at least made some progress with the crowds, having him win in this manner might very well backfire on WWE and give wrestling fans the impression WWE is trying to shove Reigns down our throats again. Which IS actually what they’re doing anyway, but perception is important in wrestling. Furthermore, Royal Rumble is usually the start of the Road to WrestleMania, this would feel more like an ending with no obvious opponents left for Lesnar or even Reigns. Granted, WWE would still have two more months to remedy that, but still. In this particular scenario, Reigns vs HHH at WM then becomes a possibility with The Authority going all out to relieve Reigns of his title. That all being said this might also be WWE’s way to buy some time, see if one or the other name becomes available and go from there, so I don’t know. It could happen, but this is not the scenario that seems “best for business”.
3 – Brock Lesnar wins, Roman Reigns gets eliminated by another:
Another interesting possibility. With the title on Lesnar, WWE can concentrate on Reigns’ road to WrestleMania and the hurdles he has to overcome before getting there. The re-match option obviously remains open, but this would give them a more tangible reason to add some twist and turns, if members of the Authority are responsible for Roman’s elimination. Another possibility would lead towards another rumored match at WM and that is HHH vs Roman Reigns. Indeed, if, for example , HHH is the one that costs Reigns is title, then the match will happen and Mr Levesque does need an opponent for the biggest show of them all. Only problem here is, who then to challenge Lesnar for the title at WM since WWE has not really pushed anyone else than Reigns in the title scene lately (and no, I’m not counting Sheamus).
4 – Roman Reigns wins, Brock Lesnar gets eliminated by another:
More likely than the second option, in my opinion, as it gives them a few more options. Whomever costs Lesnar the RR will more than likely become his next “victim” and, additionally, The Beast’s opponent for WM. Meanwhile, it is a simple fact that it’s easier to find a viable adversary for Reigns than it is for Lesnar. While it would still feels like an ending of sorts for Reigns, it would also be an open ending when it comes to Lesnar/Reigns, since the situation between them would remain un-resolved. As for the wrestler that gets to eliminate Lesnar, well taker is a possibility (for a WM revenge match I guess) and Wyatt was at ringside a couple of weeks ago, when Lesnardestroyed everyone, but didn’t get involved which might indicate something. But neither possibilities sound very appealing at this point. There is yet another rumor though, concerning an Owens/Lesnar match. This wouldn’t be a bad way to get things started between those two…
5 – Reigns and Lesnar eliminate each-other during the Rumble (or get eliminated by others):
This first option obviously play right into the Lesnar/Reigns II match. The story of both super-favorites ending up eliminating each-other and therefore setting themselves on a collision course might be more appealing than most other scenario’s, because it would force WWE to open up their main event scene completely with a new Champion and new challengers. Meanwhile, they still have what they consider to be a big match a WM. Would be a good way to get the title out of the way so that Lesnar and Reigns can resolve their differences unencumbered. It can also be that Lesnar and Reigns get eliminated separately. You could then have (for example) HHH vs Reigns, Owens vs Lesnar and New Champion vs new Challenger at WM. Such a thing would actually be a breath of fresh air for WWE, completely opening up their roster and creating new opportunities for some. It does not seem very likely at this point, but you never know, WWE might surprise us all.
6 – Reigns and Lesnar eliminate each-other at the very end of the Rumble:
One option that I think will certainly be discussed during those WWE Creative meetings is Reigns and Lesnar being the last two and eliminating each-other. Given WWE’s love of the status-quo, I actually deem this quite likely to happen. Would be a terrible idea, as kit would effectively render the whole Rumble match irrelevant, but when has that ever stopped WWE. Think about it, Reigns stays Champion (by default) and Lesnar becomes Nr1 contender (also by default) and all of this happens without one having the upper-hand over the other. Dream scenario for WWE creative, nightmare for (almost) everyone else. But you all know this very well could happen.
There you go, these are the Rumble possibilities as far Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar are concerned. My favorite would be option 5 (with Lesnar and Reigns being eliminated separately) and the one I think will happen is option 6. In part 2 of this article we will take a look at who could be a surprise winner and/or entrant at this year’s rumble. In the meantime, don’t let me know what your favorite Lesnar/Reigns scenario for the Rumble is. And, as always, have fun!
