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Kick Off Show

Darren Young/Damien Sandow vs the Ascension vs the Dudleyz vs Mark Henry/Jack Swagger to qualify for the Royal Rumble

Prediction – Henry and Swagger win

WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! DAMIEN SANDOW!!! THE PUSH RESTARTS!!! SANDOW IS HEADLINING WRESTLEMANIA. CANCEL THE RUMBLE. GIVE HIM THE TITLE. SEE YOU AT WRESTLEMANIA! Seriously, it is great to see Sandow again, even if he will lose with ease. His partnership with Young (which can only mean that Titus is already in the rumble otherwise this would surely be the Prime Time Players) is a random pairing and surely won’t go anywhere. It is incredibly sad how the two established tag teams are in a position like this. The Dudleyz have been booked woefully since their feud with the New Day and to find themselves on the kick-off show just six months after that return they had is embarrassing booking. The less said about the booking of the Ascension the better. They need to return to NXT. Out of the two, the Dudleyz have the better chance of coming through this, but I reckon it will be Henry and Swagger that go through to the Rumble. Great.

Royal Rumble 2016

Dean Ambrose vs Kevin Owens in a Last Man Standing Match for the Intercontinental Championship

Prediction – Dean Ambrose retains

This is going to be incredible. The brawling that these two men have been putting on throughout the past month has been entertaining, and I am predicting them to take it to the next level during the match. If anything, this would be the ideal match for Owens to not only recapture the title but to really elevate himself with one of the most sadistic performances in a match in recent years. He could seriously lay out Ambrose and continuously assault Ambrose even when Ambrose doesn’t get back up. However, Ambrose is relatively new to the title, and I think he has been a great champion so far. For that reason, and the fact that I’m absolutely behind Owens heading towards a huge match at Wrestlemania (either another feud with Sami Zayn or a blockbuster showdown with either Lesnar or the Undertaker), I am predicting Ambrose is walking away from the Rumble with his title.

New Day vs Usos for the Tag Team Championship

Prediction – New Day retain

Love them or hate them, the New Day bring something new to the table. They are an act and they have a character that people can be invested in. Can the same be said for the Usos? No. They are seriously stale and have nothing more than a few high risk moves in the ring. They do not deserve the titles right now and need to add something new to their act before they can even come close to getting a chance again. Sure the fans like watching them fly around, but they aren’t making serious money at the same time, whereas the New Day appear to be doing rather well in terms of merchandise. If creative take that into consideration, then the New Day are retaining at the Rumble, moving onto the next team in the division which is… erm… anyone want to volunteer? Maybe themselves?

Charlotte vs Becky Lynch for the Divas Championship

Prediction – Becky becomes the NEW Divas Champion

Becky must win. The entire story of this feud has centred on her revenge on the friend that betrayed her, and, of the two “friendly” matches these two have had, Becky has always had Charlotte’s number up until shenanigans led to Charlotte stealing a win. Unless there is another distraction from Ric Flair on the outside, I really can’t see Charlotte holding onto her title. Becky has been in control and I genuinely think she is better in the ring than Charlotte. The Lass Kicker should be leaving the Rumble with her first ever title in WWE.

Alberto Del Rio vs Kalisto for the United States Championship

Prediction – Alberto Del Rio retains

Who cares? This story took an incredibly shocking turn when Kalisto won the title out of nowhere. The shock of this moment was massive as no one really saw this coming. And then, WWE took all that away in a day when Del Rio reclaimed that title just one day later. Now, the intrigue of this whole story has gone. Kalisto winning at the Rumble just won’t have the same effect now. Fans would probably enjoy it at the time but it will be nothing like the original and people will be immediately fearful of Kalisto losing it straight away. It doesn’t really make sense for Kalisto to win it back now so I am going for a Del Rio win, hopefully moving on to something bigger and better.

The Royal Rumble Match

Where to even start? I personally see only 6 potential winners. Roman Reigns, Triple H, Brock Lesnar, Bray Wyatt and two surprise names: AJ Styles and Vincent Kennedy McMahon. Hear me out. Would it really be beyond Vince to take the title away from Reigns by winning it himself? He has recently become more and more involved, and now would usually be the time that Vince has a match with his nemesis. It really would not surprise me if Roman is surrounded by heels as number 30 comes out, and Vince comes out to pick up the pieces and dump Reigns over. He could then give the title to whoever he wants and then we end up with Reigns vs Vince at Fastlane. Next, there is AJ Styles. Bringing in literally THE best wrestler on the planet right now means Vince has to book him perfectly and not treat him with the 50/50 booking shambles. What could be better than having Styles enter the Rumble and win the world title on his debut? Styles defending the title in the main event of Wrestlemania would promise a spectacular match whoever he faced. However, Vince giving such relevance to someone he didn’t personally create makes this feel like an impossible fantasy. Bray Wyatt is the outside dark horse. He has been booked incredibly strong in the past couple of weeks, but how often does the guy who has been booked strongly going into a PPV actually won their match? Bray Wyatt does have a slim chance though, especially with his three muscle men. Then there’s the three favourites. A returning HHH who has been missing since the beat down by Roman Reigns at TLC. Roman Reigns himself, the defending champion and the number one entrant. And then there’s my prediction: Brock Lesnar. With so much star power missing from WWE right now through injury, Brock Lesnar is the only standing legitimate superstar who could draw in a lot of attention heading into Wrestlemania. In a way, WWE needs to rely on the Beast right now as the man who could save the next few months, and to do that, they need to make him their world champion, even if that means having to repeat last year’s Wrestlemania main event at the show this year.

Prediction – Brock Lesnar wins and becomes the NEW WWE World Heavyweight Champion

As an addition, I’m also expecting one more match or segment to take place on the show. Maybe something involving the Undertaker or an introduction to AJ Styles but I am expecting one more addition. I’m also predicting a good rumble. Something we haven’t had in a few years.

What are your predictions? Who do you want to leave the Royal Rumble the new world champion? And who will face him at Wrestlemania? Let me know by commenting below or contacting me on twitter @carlo_george

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