The road to WrestleMania starts this Saturday (01/27) at 5:00 pm in St. Petersburg, Florida, at the Royal Rumble. The Royal Rumble will feature the Men’s 30-man Royal Rumble match, which is a staple to the road to ‘Mania. Thirty men will enter the Rumble, but there will only be one winner.
That winner will go on to Main Event WrestleMania for the title of his choosing. But who will win the 2024 Men’s Royal Rumble? Here are the top 5 most likely winners for 2024 and some honorable mentions.
Honorable Mentions:
The Rock – The People’s Champ, the Great One seems to be back in WWE. Three weeks ago on WWE Monday Night Raw, he appeared to hint at a possible match with the Tribal Chief Roman Reigns.
A match between the two cousins is inevitable, but it does not need a title. Based on the star quality of the Rock, he might not need to be in the Rumble; all he needs to do is show up on WWE Friday Night SmackDown and challenge Reigns.
Jey Uso – Speaking of Roman’s cousins, Main Event Jey Uso has been on fire since leaving The Bloodline and going to Raw. He has proven himself to be a main eventer.
Fans are behind him as well. Jey winning would be one of the biggest underdog stories. A match against Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Title would be just as interesting as a Roman vs Jey match for the WWE Universal title at ‘Mania.
Sami Zayn – Another star who has a history with Roman Reigns. Sami has been out of action since being brutally beaten by Drew McIntyre. Zayn could make a surprise return at the Rumble and shock the world. He has been a main event talent for quite a while and has said he will be a world champion someday soon. Why not now?
Now that we got that out of the way, here are the five superstars with the highest chance of winning the Rumble.
#5 Finn Balor
It would only be a list with a member of The Judgement Day here. It’s one of the hottest factions in WWE at the moment, with Damien Priest being the Money in the Bank winner; having Balor as the Royal Rumble winner would be intriguing.
Balor and Priest are the current Undisputed Tag Team champions. Finn winning the Rumble would cause tension inside of Judgement Day. If that’s the case, one of these two scenarios could happen if Balor wins the Rumble.
Priest cashes in against Rollins before ‘Mania, and we have Balor vs Priest main eventing at ‘Mania. Or we get Balor vs Rollins at Mania, Balor wins, and Priest cashes in and becomes the new WWE World Heavyweight champion at Mania.
Either way, it is intriguing. Before we get carried away, Balor is the first to win the Rumble, and he has proven himself a worthy contender and is a former Universal champion in his own right. Not to mention the history he has with Rollins, look for Balor to make an impressive showing at the Royal Rumble.
#4 Drew McIntyre
2020 was the year Drew McIntyre won the Royal Rumble. The Scottish Warrior is a royal rumble veteran and winner, and he could do it again in 2024. In 2020, McIntyre main-evented Mania and won his first WWE World Championship in an empty arena during the Pandemic Era.
Now that McIntyre has honed a new attitude and has been taken over by his savage side, look for him to be a big threat at the Rumble. The Scottish Psychopath has done it once; do not be surprised if he does it again.
McIntyre has a current rivalry with the World Champion Rollins but has yet to come up short. The Scottish Warrior has also had a huge rivalry with the Universal Champion Reigns thanks to the Bloodline. So McIntyre has his redemption picks to choose from if he is to win this year’s Royal Rumble
#3 Gunther
Gunther has been unstoppable since being promoted to the Main Roster from NXT. He is the longest-reigning Intercontinental champion of all time. At the time of writing, he has held the prestigious championship for 595 days and counting in his first reign.
Not to mention, he has Imperium to help him win. Last year, Gunther went all the way to the final two against Cody Rhodes in the Royal Rumble match, where Cody was victorious in the end. Gunther also broke the record in that Rumble for the longest time inside a Royal Rumble match at 71 minutes and 25 seconds. This could be the year Gunther breaks into the main event scene.
Gunther already made it obvious that he is targeting Rollins’ WWE World Heavyweight Championship on Raw this week. A Gunther vs Rollins match would be a match the WWE Universe would like to see. The Ring General has gained momentum at the right place at the right time. Could this year be the year for the leader of Imperium?
#2 Cody Rhodes
The American Nightmare won the 2023 Royal Rumble match. He has the opportunity to win his second Rumble this year. Not to mention winning back-to-back Rumbles, which has yet to happen in over 20 years. Rhodes is on the road to finish the story.
His father, The American Dream, Dusty Rhodes, never won a World Title. His brother, Dustin Rhodes, never won a World Title. Cody has to finish the story, and it could start with the Rumble. Cody has made his intentions clear: to win the championship his father never held. That means he has his eyes on Roman Reigns and the WWE Universal championship.
Last year, Reigns vs Rhodes was the Main Event at ‘Mania’s Night 2, where Rhodes came up short thanks to the Bloodline. This year, he has gone through so many obstacles and is still as relevant as ever.
The American Nightmare only lost five matches in 2023, giving him a 95.6 win percentage. Cody has not lost a single step in 2023, and he should be a World Champion sooner rather than later. Expect Rhodes to be one of the last participants standing inside the Rumble match.
#1 CM Punk
Ten years. It has been ten years since CM Punk’s last match in WWE. Coincidentally, it was inside a Royal Rumble match. Punk has never won a Royal Rumble, but he has had many strong showings during this type of match. The straightedge superstar has also never main-evented WrestleMania, but he has been a multiple-time World Champion. Redemption is on Punk’s mind.
Winning the Rumble in his first official match back on TV for WWE. Then main eventing Mania against Rollins would make sense. These two already do not like each other; the history is right there. Punk wants to come back and be the star he always knew he was. Winning the Rumble is the first step in finishing his story.
All of these wrestlers mentioned above have the potential to win the Rumble. Some have never won the Rumble; some have; some have never been a World Champion in WWE, yet some have. All of these wrestlers are established stars, but anything can happen on any given night.
We will find out who has luck on their side on Saturday. In the voice of Michael Buffer, Let’s get ready to Rumble!!!
