Views From The Turnbuckle: Royal Rumble Preview, Predictions And Analysis

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With the Royal Rumble coming up on Sunday and only one real match looking clear for Wrestlemania (Sting vs Triple H) it leaves a lot of possibilities for the Royal Rumble and what possible outcomes could take place on Sunday. The world title picture is as murky as it has ever been, and a decisive lack of star power in the main event has created a tremendous level of uncertainty for WWE.

The WWE World Heavyweight Championship will be defended for the first time in four months, as Brock Lesnar wrestles both Seth Rollins and John Cena in a triple threat match. Rollins being included in the match may have been done for several reasons. The first is that Brock Lesnar has been absent from WWE programming for so much of the last few months, that WWE in turn has credited Seth Rollins with being the top heel in the company. Because of that, most of the heat in the main event slot is between Seth Rollins and John Cena, not between Cena and Lesnar. Cena vs Lesnar IV doesn't have hardly any momentum because of Brock's consistent absences, but since Cena and Rollins have been working together for the better part of that fourth month block, throwing Rollins into the mix actually makes the match mean something.

A second reason Rollins could have been incorporated into the match would be for him to take the pinfall. This is a classic tactic for booking wrestlers leading up to a big event. WWE doesn't want Brock or Cena to take a loss heading into their presumed big feuds for Wrestlemania, so they throw Rollins in to take the fall, so neither of them do a traditional job as they head into representing the company on the biggest stage possible. It would be a cruel thing to do to Rollins, who has worked his ass off to get where he is, but if you asked anybody in WWE to rank the participants in this match in order of importance, Rollins would unanimously end up at the bottom of the totem pole.

Lesnar's reign as champion has been controversial, and at this point it looks like a failure. It has reduced the value of the championship and has made the last few PPVs flat because they have lacked the drawing power of the championship. Brock himself is still as good as ever, but if we have learned anything since his return to WWE it is that he doesn't the championship to be a big draw. Being Brock Lesnar is good enough to generate interest, let the title go to someone who not only appears every week, but needs the title to elevate themselves.

So while the original plan was rumored to be Brock Lesnar holding the title until Wrestlemania, where he will lose it too Roman Reigns (who won the Royal Rumble), that plan now may be in jeopardy. It could still very well go down that way, but with Brock's title reign being underwhelming, and Reigns' progression to stardom taking longer than expected, it could open the door to an alternative plan for Wrestlemania.

To fantasy book this a bit, I would have Seth Rollins lose at the Royal Rumble, only to immediately cash in his MITB contract after the match and win the world title. This sets up Rollins vs Brock Lesnar (as a face) at Wrestlemania. The closing of Raw on Monday showed that fans are still very willing to cheer on Brock as he smashes his way through opponents, and having him fight through Rollins and his henchmen is a strong way to go. It would also cement Rollins as a legitimate top guy in the company, placing him firmly on par with Cena, Bryan and Orton. Rollins would go from being a future main eventer for WWE to undisputedly a major player in WWE. Rollins is a young guy, who has shown great ambition, can work the mic and is flat out incredible in the ring. WWE is desperately in need of good, fresh, young heel who is not just stuck in the mix of "potential future stars" and Rollins can make that leap in the next few months if properly handled.

The only issue with that booking is that it doesn't factor in the Royal Rumble winner, who of course will also be involved in the world title match at Wrestlemania. Instead of having Rollins vs Brock, they could add a third man into the match, making it a triple threat, but that is doing a disservice to Rollins. As good as he has been in the last couple months; he has often been regulated to playing second fiddle behind guys like Orton and the rest of the Authority. Rollins needs some time to shine alone if he is going to make that leap and stay in the main event scene for the next decade, so ideally a one-on-one match would be what Rollins will be involved in. The other alternative would be to have Brock out of the world title picture by Wrestlemania, setting up a singles match between Rollins and the winner of the Rumble. The issue with that is no matter who wins the Rumble, even Bryan, they would not be as exciting as Brock as a face would be, and it would do Rollins a lot of good to defeat someone who has been as dominant as Lesnar has been at Wrestlemania.

John Cena is kind of the wild card, and although he is unquestionably the most important character in WWE, his path to Wrestlemania is as murky as anybody else's. It is very possible WWE returns to their old standby, making Cena the champion at the Rumble and facing off at Wrestlemania against a heel who won the Rumble (Rusev, Sheamus returning as a heel, etc.). That would be boring, but still plausible because WWE management has significantly more trust in Cena as a commodity than anybody else on the roster. The favorite for Cena's opponent at Wrestlemania is Rusev, and that is a match that will not need the world title, so I lean more towards Cena coming up short on Sunday.

So who wins the Royal Rumble? WWE has done a pretty bad job in recent months building up enough guys to make the Rumble a mystery. Realistically, only two guys really stand out as potential winners: Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns. I have already written at length about the debate between Reigns and Bryan winning the Rumble, so I won't say much more here. The simple logic is that at the very least, Daniel Bryan gives WWE someone the fans really enjoy and will not boo if they were to go on to be victorious at Wrestlemania. Bryan is a known commodity; someone WWE can trust will get a solid reaction at Wrestlemania, as well as deliver the goods in the ring. Reigns is a complete mystery right now, and although WWE has been very adamant in building him up as the next major star, he is currently very unprepared for this role, and WWE will be doing him a disservice by pushing him into the main event of Wrestlemania before he is ready. Reigns is a young guy, still under 30 years old, so there is no real need to push him before he is ready.

Besides those two, who even stands a chance of winning the Royal Rumble? A dark horse candidate is Randy Orton, who could return from his injury, win the Rumble and then challenge Rollins at Wrestlemania. This isn't a terrible idea, since Orton will likely be hot enough as a returning babyface seeking vengeance against Rollins for putting him out of commission, that it will in turn get Rollins the most heat he has ever received. It isn't as sexy as Rollins vs Brock, but not a bad route to go.

The rest of the field is kind of boring. Sheamus could make a return to the ring, but unless he is a heel he doesn't stand much of a chance of wrestling for the world title at Wrestelmania. Ryback and Ziggler both lost some momentum by being off-screed for the last couple weeks, so although their star may shine brighter by Wrestlemania season, it is too soon to rush them into a Royal Rumble victory. Rusev could become a mega-heel by winning the Rumble, but it seems unlikely that WWE would hustle someone as limited and as inexperienced in the ring as he is into the biggest stage so quickly. In all honesty, I would be extremely surprised to see anyone but Bryan, Reigns or Orton with the Rumble, but hey, the Royal Rumble is all about the element of surprise, right?