{"id":117754,"date":"2023-01-27T10:00:27","date_gmt":"2023-01-27T15:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=117754"},"modified":"2023-01-26T16:31:25","modified_gmt":"2023-01-26T21:31:25","slug":"surprises-2023-womens-royal-rumble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2023\/01\/27\/surprises-2023-womens-royal-rumble\/","title":{"rendered":"Predicting the Surprises Set for the 2023 Women&#8217;s Royal Rumble"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Multiple surprises are set for the 2023 Women&#8217;s Royal Rumble match, this Saturday (January 27). So far, <strong>WWE<\/strong> has only released the names of seven of the 30 competitors for the match. This leaves plenty of room for surprise appearances. Here, we take a look at who could be one of the surprises set for the Women&#8217;s Royal Rumble, plus who might win it.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Surprises for the 2023 Women&#8217;s Royal Rumble<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Who is in the Rumble?<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The seven women already announced for the Royal Rumble are <strong>Rhea Ripley<\/strong>, <strong>Shayna Baszler<\/strong>, <strong>Emma<\/strong>,<strong> Liv Morgan<\/strong>, <strong>Candice LeRae<\/strong>, <strong>Raquel Rodriguez<\/strong>, and <strong>Zelena Vega<\/strong>. Ripley and Morgan are the two most likely to win the match based on how they are presented on TV. Ripley has had a fantastic year since joining The <strong>Judgement Day<\/strong> and would be a good pick to win.<\/p>\n<p>Massive names not announced that almost certainly will be in the match are <strong>Bayley<\/strong> and <strong>Becky Lynch<\/strong>. The two women had their cage match cut from <strong><em>Raw is XXX<\/em><\/strong> this week, so expect the crowd in Texas to be vocal in their support of these women.<\/p>\n<h3><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Surprises for Women&#8217;s Royal Rumble Entrants<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Gone are the days when WWE fans would be happy with a well-structured Royal Rumble made up from its current roster. We want surprises. Surprises we think might happen. Surprises we&#8217;ve heard will happen. Surprises we never anticipated could happen. We are chasing the high of Rumble moments such as <strong>Edge&#8217;s<\/strong> return or <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2021\/01\/24\/5-years-later-aj-styles-2016-royal-rumble\/\" target=\"_self\"><strong>AJ Styles&#8217;s<\/strong> debut<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">So what surprises for the Women&#8217;s Royal Rumble might happen?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a id=\"2UHhZ9rEReRaqgRzItbalw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/960429392\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'2UHhZ9rEReRaqgRzItbalw',sig:'_gJ37MW-JQ06TB1fpxvEnPKDd2ZqHkN5NAw5x3iARJA=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'960429392',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Mickie James<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Last year&#8217;s inclusion of then-IMPACT Knockouts World Champion <strong>Mickie James<\/strong> was very cool. It showed WWE wasn&#8217;t afraid to have a performer contracted from another company in the Rumble. She entered with the championship belt and her IMPACT theme.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">She&#8217;d be a good shout for another appearance this year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Chelsea Green<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Green has been sharing several clips from her previous Rumble appearance in 2020 on Twitter lately. She also closed her OnlyFans account which is an app WWE isn&#8217;t keen for its performers to have.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Since she was released from WWE in 2021, Green has been massive with appearances in the <strong>National Wrestling Alliance<\/strong>, <strong>IMPACT Wrestling<\/strong>, <strong>Game Changer Wrestling<\/strong>, and <strong>Ring of Honor<\/strong>. Add to this the rumor her husband, <strong>Matt Cardona<\/strong>, will appear in the Men&#8217;s Royal Rumble, and she&#8217;s a safe bet.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"zxx\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Y66XaSnnPn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/Y66XaSnnPn<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; CHELSEA GREEN (@ImChelseaGreen) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ImChelseaGreen\/status\/1616295663683178496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 20, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Jordynne Grace<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">James&#8217; appearance proved WWE is willing to do business with IMPACT. If it was looking for a surprise entrant from IMPACT, it could do no better than <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2022\/06\/19\/jordynne-grace-impact-knockouts-championship\/\" target=\"_self\">Jordynne Grace<\/a><\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> She&#8217;s from Texas. She has an incredible look. She&#8217;s done no business with <strong>All Elite Wrestling<\/strong>, so she won&#8217;t be on the verge of signing there. Grace has also recently undergone a body transformation. This is something <strong>Gunther<\/strong> did before debuting on the WWE main roster, so perhaps this would make her more appealing to WWE.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"qme\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udc4b\ud83c\udffc <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TnYXsYWMZM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/TnYXsYWMZM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Jordynne Grace (@JordynneGrace) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JordynneGrace\/status\/1616991369402130437?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 22, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Jacqueline Moore<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">From Texas, tick! Hall of Famer, tick! That&#8217;s a big reaction almost guaranteed should <strong>Jacqueline<\/strong> come through the curtain. She appeared in the first-ever Women&#8217;s Royal Rumble in 2018, so she would be a good addition again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Naomi<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">This has to happen. <strong>Naomi<\/strong> and <strong>Sasha Banks<\/strong> walked out of WWE in May 2022 due to creative differences. Banks has since <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2023\/01\/04\/sasha-banks-njpw-debut\/\" target=\"_self\">debuted in <strong>New Japan Pro-Wrestling<\/strong> as <strong>Mercedes Mone<\/strong><\/a>. Naomi is still listed as a member of the WWE roster. Surely WWE will have seen the sense to not only make amends with Naomi but to treat her with more respect in the future. If she returns, she may win.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Naomi is related to <strong>Nia Jax<\/strong> and <strong>Tamina<\/strong> through her marriage to <strong>Jimmy Uso<\/strong>. If these two women also made surprise appearances in the Rumble, they could be heavy backup to help Naomi get the win.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Roxane Perez<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Roxanne Perez<\/strong> is the current NXT Women&#8217;s Champion, so it would make sense to give her her first taste of main roster action in the Rumble. Guess where she&#8217;s from? Texas.<\/p>\n<h3><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Surprise Entrants We Can Expect\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">There are 22 active women on the WWE main roster not including the Raw and SmackDown Women&#8217;s Champions Bianca Belair and <strong>Charlotte Flair<\/strong>. Thus, any unannounced woman would technically be a surprise.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">From this pool, we can expect to see <strong>Lacey Evans<\/strong> make her much-hyped re-debut, <strong>Doudrop<\/strong> appear for the first time since September, and <strong>Ronda Rousey<\/strong> return for the first time since she lost the SmackDown Women&#8217;s Championship to Flair.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Lacey Evans is ready for her dangerous mission \u201cOperation Cobra Clutch\u201d: SmackDown, Jan. 20, 2023\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cZlP-T-OHqw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Sorry, Who is Winning?<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Fair question. Despite little to no build, there are many potential winners. If all of the above happens, Rhea Ripley, Naomi, and Ronda Rousey could all get the win. Bayley or Becky Lynch are also good bets, but it&#8217;s more likely they will eliminate each other and continue their feud.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Rodriguez is also appearing in her home state, which could also make for a feel-good win.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Ripley is owed a big title match against Charlotte at <strong><em>WrestleMania<\/em><\/strong> after COVID-19 meant her shot came in an empty Performance Center. Rousey and Flair also have beef that WWE would probably want to mold into a <em>WrestleMania<\/em> main event. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Then there&#8217;s the prospect of Naomi winning the title from Belair or Charlotte at <strong><em>WrestleMania 39<\/em><\/strong>. Presumingly Naomi is a fully-fledged member of <strong>The Bloodline<\/strong> by then too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Naomi uses Bianca Belair\u2019s hair for acrobatic save: Royal Rumble 2021 (WWE Network Exclusive)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7b203kfhVZM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Photo Credit: World Wrestling Entertainment<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Stay tuned to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_self\">Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a>\u00a0for more on this report and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can check out an almost unlimited array of WWE content on the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/watch.wwe.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WWE Network<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.peacocktv.com\/watch\/home\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Peacock<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Multiple surprises are set for the 2023 Women&#8217;s Royal Rumble match, this Saturday (January 27). So far, WWE has only released the names of seven of the 30 competitors for the match. This leaves plenty of room for surprise appearances. Here, we take a look at who could be one of the surprises set for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3852,"featured_media":117769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2192,317,4,3,320],"tags":[571,4368,2422,333,406,8409,3041,1284,8487,397],"class_list":["post-117754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wrestling","category-women","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","category-wwe-women","tag-chelsea-green","tag-jacqueline","tag-jordynne-grace","tag-mickie-james","tag-naomi","tag-raquel-rodriguez","tag-rhea-ripley","tag-ronda-rousey","tag-roxanne-perez","tag-royal-rumble"],"modified_by":"Robbie Sutter","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3852"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}