“There’s gonna be some trouble tonight.
A very Royal Rumble… that’s right!”
I love that commerical. I know at the time a lot of wrestling fans cringed at the idea of combining WWE with West Side Story, or the fact that babyfaces and heels were working together on a cheesy promo, but I absolutely love it. When Pat Patterson thought up an alternative way to do a battle royal match up, nobody knew it would be the kind of wrestling event that brings even the most jaded former WWE fans into excitement and interest. Even if you want to roll your eyes and believe the result is easy to predict, you’re going to sit through all 30 combatants getting into the ring and wait it out until the very end. That’s why we throw Rumble parties. That’s why we get excited for this.
That excitement spills onto the Last Word on Sports wrestling department as not only do we have the regular crew of Aaron Wrotkowski, Shawn Wilken, Philippa Hopwood, Ricky Rana, Jeff DeHaan and Adam Contant but LWOS Co-Chair and COO Ben Kerr is also taking part today!
The 2015 Royal Rumble is live at 8PM EST on the WWE Network with Kickoff at 7PM EST.
WWE KICKOFF MATCH
The New Day vs. Cesaro, Tyson Kidd and Adam Rose
WINNERS:
Aaron, Adam, Philippa and Ricky: The New Day
Shawn, Jeff and Ben: Rose, Kidd and Cesaro
THOUGHTS by Shawn Wilken: The New Day got off to a rather stale start, failing to get much – if any – crowd support and coming out to minimal reaction. Their gimmick itself could be fun but for what it has been so far, the only salvation is to win a Royal Rumble match and perhaps interject themselves into the tag team division for a shot at the gold.
However, they’ve beaten the team of Cesaro and Kidd, with Rose as well, and it’s time the bad guys (or good guys, if you ask the good ol’ IWC) to get a win and add some stability to their reputation. Cesaro and Kidd were two charismatic individuals that could wrestler for half an hour and never look uninterested. Put them together and you have one hell of a tag team that could dominate the division, but you won’t achieve that if you continue booking them in a losing situation.
The New Age Outlaws vs. The Ascension
WINNERS:
Aaron, Adam, Shawn, Philippa, Ben and Ricky: The Ascension
Jeff: The New Age Outlaws
THOUGHTS by Ben Kerr: Logical booking says the Ascension must win this one. Here is a brand new team coming up from NXT who needs to be built up into credible challengers for the Tag Team Titles. A win for the New Age Octogenarians does nothing to advance storylines, does not make them a credible tag team in 2015, and merely would serve to bury the Ascension. I expect a dominant victory here, a three minute match or less, with the Ascension just dominant.
Paige and Natalya vs. The Bella Twins
WINNERS:
Aaron, Adam, Shawn, Ben and Ricky: Paige and Natalya
Jeff and Philippa: The Bella Twins
WILL ANY OTHER DIVAS GET INVOLVED:
Aaron, Adam, Jeff, Philippa, Ben and Ricky: No
Shawn: AJ Lee
THOUGHTS by Jeff DeHaan: I’d love to see Paige and Nattie take this one, but WWE is so high on the Bella twins that they just might go over here. With it being a tag team match, a loss here won’t hurt Paige or Nattie in the Divas title picture and it will keep the champion looking somewhat strong coming out of it.
WWE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Damien Mizdow and The Miz vs. The Usos (c)
WINNERS:
Aaron, Adam, Shawn, Jeff, Philippa, Ricky and Ben: The Usos
THOUGHTS by Philippa Hopwood: Damien and Miz are on the rocks, who knows how much longer this pairing will work? I would love for Mizdow to turn face on The Miz and cost his team the win here. As much as I have loved watching Mizdow over the past few months, the gimmick has gotten old and there is no way they are going to take the titles off the Tag Team of the year. I think The Usos need some new competition in the form of The Ascension heading into Wrestlemania and Miz and Mizdow should open a feud against each other.
WWE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
TRIPLE THREAT MATCH
“Money in the Bank” Seth Rollins vs. John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar (c) with Paul Heyman
WINNER:
Aaron, Shawn, Philippa, Ricky and Ben: Brock Lesnar
Adam, Jeff: John Cena
WHO WILL BE PINNED:
Aaron, Adam, Shawn, Jeff, Ricky and Ben: Seth Rollins
Philippa: John Cena
THOUGHTS by Ricky Rana: Having Lesnar lose this match and not retain the title leading to Wrestlemania would not make sense. We have seen him been a part-time champion but why waste the opportunity for him to lose the title at the Royal Rumble and not at the grandest stage of them all? Of course, the beauty of a triple threat match is that the champ does not have to been pinned, but bearing this in mind I am going with the Beast pinning Rollins for the 1, 2, and 3 and retaining the title.
THE ROYAL RUMBLE
Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan, Rusev, Bad News Barrett, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, Goldust, Stardust, Big Show, Kane, The Miz, Damien Mizdow, R-Truth, Fernando, Diego, Fandango, Justin Gabriel, Ryback, Dolph Ziggler, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso AND MORE
WHO WILL BE THE SURPRISE RETURNS:
Aaron, Shawn: Sheamus and Randy Orton
Adam: Sheamus, Randy Orton and The Undertaker
Jeff: Sheamus
Philippa: Randy Orton, Sheamus and Bo Dallas
Ben: Batista
Ricky: Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio and Sheamus
WILL J&J SECURITY BE IN THE MATCH:
Aaron, Ricky and Ben: Yes
Adam, Jeff and Philippa: No
Shawn: Yes (both will count as one competitor)
WILL ANYONE FROM NXT BE IN THE MATCH:
Aaron, Shawn, Ricky and Ben: Adrian Neville
Adam: No
Jeff: Finn Balor
Philippa: Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
WILL ANYONE NOT A CURRENT WWE SUPERSTAR BE IN THE MATCH:
Aaron: The Dudley Boyz and Rob Van Dam
Adam, Philippa: No
Shawn: The Dudley Boyz (or at least Buh-Buh Ray)
Jeff: Drew McIntyre
Ben: Kamala
Ricky: The Dudley Boyz, Chris Jericho and/or Rob Van Dam
WHO WILL BE #30:
Aaron, Jeff and Ricky: Bray Wyatt
Adam: Luke Harper
Shawn: The Big Show
Philippa: Daniel Bryan
Ben: Randy Orton
WHO WILL BE IN THE FINAL FOUR:
Aaron: Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan, Bray Wyatt, Rusev
Adam: The Undertaker, Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan, Bray Wyatt
Shawn: Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, Sheamus, Roman Reigns
Jeff: Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, The Big Show, Bray Wyatt
Philippa: Daniel Bryan, Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt, Roman Reigns
Ben: Randy Orton, Kane, Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan
Ricky: Daniel Bryan, Roman Reigns, The Big Show, Bray Wyatt
WHO WILL BE THE LAST ELIMINATED:
Aaron: Rusev
Adam, Ricky and Philippa: Roman Reigns
Shawn and Jeff: Bray Wyatt
Ben: Randy Orton
WINNER:
Aaron, Jeff, Philippa, Ricky and Ben: Daniel Bryan
Adam: The Undertaker
Shawn: Roman Reigns
THOUGHTS by Adam Contant: I know my guess is way left of center field. The smart money is on Roman Reigns, and The Undertaker isn’t even my personal choice, that would be Daniel Bryan. However, sometimes an idea just won’t go away and you realize that it’s impossible to ignore. That’s what I have here with this Undertaker situation.
I have been salivating at the thought of an Undertaker vs Brock Lesnar rematch since the night after Wrestlemania XXX. Story wise, it makes perfect sense. Last year Brock Lesnar took away the important thing in the Undertaker’s career, so this year the Undertaker needs to get his revenge by taking away the most important thing in Brock Lesnar’s life: the WWE World Heayweight championship.
If Lesnar decides to move on from WWE after Wrestlemania, how appropriate would it be to have this chapter end where it began, and that is with the Undertaker. It’s a long shot to be sure, but the Royal Rumble is a night full of surprises, and I expect a big one on Sunday.
It’ll be fun to see exactly who was right and who was wrong on Monday. See everybody at the Kickoff tonight at 7PM EST on WWE Network.
Photo by Bryan Horowitz
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