1 – Will two Rumbles in one night be too many?
This may be the one question every fan, reporter, executive, insider and wrestler is asking: will two Royal Rumbles in one night be too many? Traditionally the Royal Rumble lasts anywhere between 90 minutes to 2 hours. Add two of them on one card and now you have a 4-hour show with only two battle royals to hold the fans’ attentions. Plus there are also world championship and tag team title matches announced for the Rumble pay-per-view that will easily push this show over the 5-hour mark. Now try to remember how recent crowds have reacted to the finish of the Royal Rumble. Now imagine an exhausted PHILADELPHIA arena after 5-hours of wrestling and maybe not their favorite star being at the end. This could be a recipe for a very ugly crowd.
2 – Who will return as a surprise entrant?
With all the ingredients for a disastrous night, surprise returns and nostalgic pops maybe what saves the 2018 Royal Rumble. Recently we’ve seen the departures of James Storm, EC3 and Bobby Lashley from Impact Wrestling and while WWE isn’t a shoe-in, all three men could make a return in the Rumble match. But would that be enough? Maybe we’ll be in store for another Dudley Boyz reunion since the Rumble takes place in ECW’s home of Philadelphia. But that definitely won’t be enough. No, the only thing I see that would ignite a Philly crowd in the Rumble would be the surprise entrants of Adam Cole, Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly. Will it happen? Doubtful but there’s always a chance…
3 – Can the Women’s Royal Rumble live up to the hype?
It’s here! It’s finally happening! A 30-women Royal Rumble with the same rules and reward as the traditional men’s battle royal. The writing has been on the wall for this announcement for a while now but that doesn’t make it any less spectacular. But can it live up to people’s expectations? Both RAW and SmackDown Live are stacked with talent at the moment with RAW women such as Nia Jax and Asuka while SmackDown Live is including former Women’s Champions Becky Lynch and Naomi as entrants. But while all of these women are impressive and will be strongest parts of the bout, what may really push this match into the history books will be the special appearances from the women of yesteryear that made this night possible. Expect to see stars like Lita, Beth Phoenix and Ivory appear as surprise entrants into the Rumble. And I don’t know about most fan’s but I truly don’t believe this night would be complete without the one and only Trish Stratus.
4 – Who will emerge as 2018’s star from the Rumble?
The Royal Rumble is a night where stars shine. Diesel, Shawn Michaels and Roman Reigns all saw their stocks rise because of Rumble performances. With a line-up already filled with stars like John Cena, Randy Orton and Finn Balor, the WWE Universe is primed for someone new to take the spotlight in the 30-man battle royal. Originally I fully believed that man to be Samoa Joe but his recent injury on Monday Night RAW might keep him out of the match entirely. Because of this do not be surprised if a freshly turned Braun Strowman surprises everyone by entering himself into the match and DOMINATING. Although not all of the 30 entrants for the 2018 Royal Rumble have been named, with the 11 that have been confirmed, its easy to get an idea of who the likely final four may be. In the opinion of the writers at Sports Betting Dime, Shinsuke Nakamura, John Cena & Rusev representing SmackDown Live and only Samoa Joe for RAW are the most likely to survive to the end (with possibly Dolph Ziggler being a dark horse).
5 – What will be SmackDown’s WrestleMania Main Event?
We’ve all seen the rumors… as of now Roman Reigns will challenge Brock Lesnar for the Universal title and John Cena will finally battled The Undertaker at WrestleMania. With those two matches penciled in, that leaves the World Championship match for SmackDown wide open. While things are rather chaotic on Tuesdays with Shane McMahon, Daniel Bryan, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, AJ Styles is the odd main out; which is strange considering the gold around his waist. Although it may be likely that we see a triple threat for the championship at ‘Mania between Rumble opponents, the man I am keeping an eye on is RAW’s A-Lister… The Miz. It’s not unforeseen for a Superstar to jump brand’s after winning the Rumble and The Miz is that type of character, on the right type of roll, with the right type of hype surrounding him for a big WrestleMania season. Could we be in line for an AJ Styles/Miz WrestleMania main event?
