2020 Royal Rumble Preview & Predictions

The 2020 Royal Rumble is just a few days away, which means we are nearing the road to WrestleMania. One of the highlights of the WWE calendar, the Royal Rumble will begin setting the stage for this year’s Showcase of the Immortals. Most importantly, the Royal Rumble will decide who will be headlining WrestleMania 36. There are a few big names already slated for matches at the event, outside of the rumbles, so expect to see a few folks pulling double duty on Sunday. What makes this year’s rumble even more exciting is the fact that Brock Lesnar has already declared himself as entrant #1 and will be defending his title in the rumble match. 

The Card

“The Fiend” Bray Wyatt(c) vs. Daniel Brya
WWE Universal Championship, Strap Match

When is the last time we saw a strap match?! The Fiend is still one of, if not the most popular character in WWE. Despite some strange booking decisions in the past, it seems like WWE would want him to keep the title heading into WrestleMania. This seems like the perfect opportunity and stipulation to make the fiend look dominant and continue Bryan’s turn back to a top babyface. The stipulation allows The Fiend to use whatever tactics he can to beat Bryan, without him losing much shine.
Prediction: The Fiend Retains

Becky Lynch (c)   vs. Asuka
Raw Women’s Championship

This story has been built pretty well. Lynch has accomplished almost everything a female wrestler can achieve in WWE, even a few things that had never been done before. The one thing she has never done is beaten Asuka. The best thing to do here would be to maintain that, have Lynch drop her title to Asuka and then go on to win the Royal Rumble and take on The Empress of Tomorrow at WrestleMania to reclaim her title.
Prediction: Asuka Wins

Roman Reigns vs King Corbin
Falls Count Anywhere

Roman Reigns doesn’t lose on Pay Per Views. That’s all we need to know here. Next!
Prediction: Roman Reigns Win

Andrade (c) vs. Humberto Carrillo
United States Championship

This could be one of the best matches of the night. Andrade and Carrillo are both extremely talented luchadores, so they will definitely be bringing some exciting fast-paced action to Sunday’s card. But it seems really unlikely that Andrade would drop the title so quickly. Especially to someone as new as Humberto Carrillo.
Prediction: Andrade Retains

Bayley (c) vs. Lacey Evans
Smackdown Women’s Championship

This match honestly seems like a way to just get more matches on the card. There is no reason to have Bayley drop the title yet, and there is even less of a reason to put it on Lacey Evans.
Prediction: Bayley Retains

Chad Gable vs. Sheamus

I  refuse to call Chad Gable “Shorty G”. The man deserves more respect than that. The former Olympian has been on the ascent lately and a win over Sheamus would continue that growth in a huge way.  WWE does seem to be trying to build new stars and this is the perfect opportunity to do that, with a well-seasoned veteran, with almost no storyline taking the loss.
Prediction: Chad Gable Wins

Women’s Royal Rumble

Royal Rumbles are incredibly hard to predict, but they do lay out what we can expect for the next few months. IN both rumble matches I’d expect to see a few surprises in the way of returning legends and newcomers from NXT. The odds right now have Shayna Baszler winning the women’s rumble as her introduction onto the main roster. Which does make sense, with her currently out of the title picture in NXT. But as I mentioned previously, I expect Beck Lynch to enter late, possibly even as the last entrant and winning this one.
Prediction: Becky Lynch Wins

Men’s Royal Rumble

Looking at the odds for the men’s rumble is downright laughable. No surprise, Roman Reigns is the odds on favorite to win at 8/13. But the list also includes CM Punk, Cain Velasquez, and even Edge. It’s important to remember that the winner of this year’s rumble will become WWE Champion, so expect to see a clear path to the WrestleMania main event carved out in this match. 15 of the 30 competitors have been announced already, so there should be 5 surprises on Sunday, likely a couple of NXT guys (Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano, and Keith Lee are my guesses) as well as a couple of legends (Since they’re in Texas, maybe Mark Henry?). The direction I see this heading in is to have Reigns win the title at mania this year. So we need a heel to carry the belt into WrestleMania. Lesnar seems like the obvious choice, but do we really need Reigns vs Lesnar at mania? We don’t. I’d think you’d want to put the title on someone who can garner a lot of heat to help get the big dog over, and someone who can make him look as good as possible in the ring. There are two names that fit that description better than anyone, and with Seth Rollins winning the Raw Tag Team Champion on Monday, the man who makes the most sense and fits the bill is the Phenomenal One, Gainesville, Georgia’s own, A.J. Styles.
Prediction: AJ Styles Wins

Story by Tim Howell

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