WWE Royal Rumble 2018 PPV Predictions & Spoilers of Results | Smark Out Moment

WWE Royal Rumble 2018 PPV Predictions & Spoilers of Results

Posted by Anthony Mango Friday, January 26, 2018
The WWE Royal Rumble 2018 pay-per-view is scheduled for January 28, 2018 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Follow along here for spoilers and information on the event's card, lineup of matches and news regarding the pay-per-view.

Here are my predictions for the 2018 WWE Royal Rumble PPV. Check back for Royal Rumble 2018 results and review coverage here.

Watch WWE Royal Rumble 2018 Pay-Per-View Online Results Predictions Spoilers Review
WWE Royal Rumble 2018 Spoilers

30-Man Royal Rumble Match

Confirmed entrants so far (19) = Aiden English, Apollo Crews, Baron Corbin, Bray Wyatt, Elias, Finn Balor, John Cena, Matt Hardy, Mojo Rawley, Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, Rusev, Shinsuke Nakamura, The Miz, The New Day, Titus O'Neil, Tye Dillinger

For months, I've been thinking this is a two-person race between Roman Reigns and Shinsuke Nakamura, but I'm starting to have serious doubts about Nakamura and instead, I have to throw Daniel Bryan's name into the running.

I know there has been speculation that John Cena might win, but I think he's far more likely to fight The Undertaker away from the title picture rather than having either of them win the belt and then the other challenge for it.

Reigns will definitely challenge Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship, which puts him at a slight advantage for being a guarantee. However, the Elimination Chamber event is a Raw-branded one, and I'm holding out hope that that means the chamber match will be to determine the No. 1 contender instead of having the title be defended in it like they've done quite a bit. Make Alexa Bliss defend the Raw Women's Championship in a second EC match instead. Give me Reigns, Strowman, Kane, and a few others in the EC for the No. 1 contender's spot.

As such, I think since SmackDown has Fastlane, they need to be the ones with the Royal Rumble winner, but here's where it gets tricky: why did they announce a Fatal 5-Way as being the main event of Fastlane? Why not just make that a mystery until later? Sure, it isn't officially announced, but it's been advertised multiple times, so that must be an option they're at least considering, and those five competitors are AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura. If Nakamura is in that match, he can't be the Royal Rumble winner. Either they switch that up and Nakamura wins the Royal Rumble, with Fastlane becoming a Fatal 4-Way or something else entirely, or someone else wins the Royal Rumble...and the only person who can do that and have the match be worth a damn is Daniel Bryan.

Daniel Bryan, for all reports, is still not cleared to compete, but he's been more heavily involved in being anti-Styles in these past few weeks, which makes me curious if they've cleared him and just keep it all hushed behind the scenes. Bryan vs. Styles is definitely a bigger match than Nakamura vs. Styles, and it would help keep Bryan signed to WWE when his contract expires later this year.

PREDICTION: Roman Reigns, Shinsuke Nakamura or Daniel Bryan. Gun to my head, I'm going to say Nakamura, but I'm not super confident in that anymore.

30-Woman Royal Rumble Match

Confirmed entrants so far (18) = Alicia Fox, Asuka, Bayley, Becky Lynch, Carmella, Dana Brooke, Lana, Liv Morgan, Mandy Rose, Mickie James, Naomi, Natalya, Nia Jax, Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan, Sasha Banks, Sonya Deville, Tamina Snuka

Those 12 extra spots or so need to be filled with women from NXT, the Mae Young Classic outsiders, or legends who are returning. At the very least, Nikki Bella is going to be involved, with a lot of potential for Brie Bella as well. With some kind of combination of those elements, I'm really curious who will be popping up. Could we see Michelle McCool, Molly Holly, Beth Phoenix, Ivory, Victoria, or maybe even Lita or Trish Stratus? Will The Iconic Duo be called up, or Ember Moon?

Another rumor surrounds Ronda Rousey, who will be one of the two favorites to win along with Asuka, depending on what WWE's plans for WrestleMania are. I can definitely see Rousey winning in order to challenge Flair, where the other three horsewomen will be ringside in each of their corners. However, if Asuka loses this, then that counts as a loss, and I sincerely hope this isn't the first loss handed to her.

There's always a chance they do something where Nia Jax injures Asuka, forcing her to leave the match. That way, she doesn't lose because she was just medically eliminated, rather than actually tossed over the top rope.

It's great that they're doing this and I hope they pull it off really well, but I also hope if it ends up sucking, that nobody deludes themselves into thinking it was better than it was just because it's historic.

PREDICTION: Asuka has this locked down...unless Ronda Rousey is in it. Then, Asuka comes up short because Rousey wins.


Universal Championship Match: Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Kane vs. Braun Strowman

I would have preferred just Kane, since this means Strowman loses yet again, but maybe they did this specifically to avoid having Strowman get eliminated from the Royal Rumble match itself. I really, really hope they don't make the mistake of having Strowman take the pinfall or something. We'll see how they handle it...

PREDICTION: Brock Lesnar wins.


WWE Championship Handicap Match: AJ Styles (c) vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn

Considering how things will get incredibly confusing if two people are holding the title at the same time, I imagine this has to be Styles retaining. Then again, maybe they have some kind of weird plan going on.

PREDICTION: AJ Styles retains.


Raw Tag Team Championship Match: Jason Jordan and Seth Rollins (c) vs. The Bar

Meh. To be honest, this is total filler and the bathroom break of the event. I don't really care one way or the other. this Jordan/Rollins combo does nothing for me and The Bar regaining the titles would be status quo, basically. I'm assuming the champions retain, but I doubt anything important will be discussed until the week before WrestleMania.

PREDICTION: Jordan and Rollins retain.


SmackDown Tag Team Championship 2-out-of-3 Falls Match: The Usos (c) vs. Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin

This should bring about the definitive ending of this feud before The Usos move on to a different tag team, be it The Bludgeon Brothers, Rusev Day, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, The New Day or maybe even The Authors of Pain. I don't see Gable and Benjamin winning at all.

PREDICTION: The Usos retain.


United States Championship Open Challenge Match: Bobby Roode (c) vs. TBD

Man, how cool would it be if the person who answers the call ended up being James Storm?

PREDICTION: Bobby Roode retains, no matter who he faces.


The Revival vs. The Balor Club

I was really hoping this match would take place at WrestleMania with the titles on the line, but I guess we're just throwing it on the pre-show. That's a shame, because this will be rushed and meaningless and nobody will bother watching it except me. These two teams are better than this.

PREDICTION: The Revival get their win back from being embarrassed at Raw 25.


Kalisto, Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado vs. Drwe Gulak, TJP and Gentleman Jack Gallagher

Not only does this not matter at all and is going to be overlooked by everybody watching, but it's also a shame they couldn't think of anything better. I knew this was going to happen as soon as the Enzo Amore stuff popped up, and I was really hoping they would have announced something with some actual weight to it. Hell, they couldn't even pair up people that made sense, could they? It's a shame this is totally meaningless because it just makes everyone who does watch think that the cruiserweights aren't worth checking out. This actually hurts them more than it helps.

PREDICTION: The babyfaces win.

This page will be altered to reflect newer opinions whenever new information about this and surrounding events takes place.

CHECK BACK REGULARLY FOR UPDATED SPOILERS AND PREDICTIONS
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AUTHOR OF THIS POST: ANTHONY MANGO

The founder, editor-in-chief, head writer, podcast host, and more for Smark Out Moment and all branches under A Mango Tree including Fanboys Anonymous. Tony Mango is not just a pundit/analyst, but also a creative director/consultant, media manager and more. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

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