The Road to Wrestlemania begins this Saturday as the 37th annual Royal Rumble at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburgh, Florida. This event will be the third time the Rumble pay-per-view will be held in the Tampa Bay area, hosting the event. The Royal Rumble event was in Tampa in 1995, 2021 and 2024.
Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles vs. LA Knight vs. Roman Reigns (C) – Fatal four-way match for the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship
Four matches are on the card, and the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship fatal-four match is kicking off our preview. This match will have a lot of suspense as to whether Roman Reigns’ historic title run will end. But I don’t see it happening. Randy Orton, AJ Styles and LA Knight are threats to Roman. Still, with the interference from The Bloodline of Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso, they will be why Roman will retain the championship and head into Wrestlemania 40 as the champion for the fourth straight year.
(C) Logan Paul vs. Kevin Owens – U.S. Championship
This next match will be a brawl, as Kevin Owens and Logan Paul have been at each other’s throats the last few weeks in promos while Paul has been training for the match. On Thursday, both men couldn’t wait until Saturday and began to exchange words and fists at the WWE Performance Centre.
Since winning the belt in November, Saturday will be the first time Logan Paul will defend his U.S. Championship.
Owens will be a tremendous first opponent for Paul to face. This rivalry has felt personal for the time the WWE has built. I can’t see WWE taking the championship off Logan Paul, yet he will have a successful first championship defense.
Women’s Royal Rumble Match
So far, there have only been six confirmed entrants in the Women’s Royal Rumble Match. Becky Lynch, Bayley, Bianca Belair Nia Jax, Maxxine Dupri, and Ivy Nile are the confirmed superstars. In this match, we should get legends, returning wrestlers and NXT superstars from the women’s division. I predict this match’s winner is Bayley. I believe she will choose Iyo Sky as her opponent for Wrestlemania, ending her time in the Damage CTRL group.
Men’s Royal Rumble Match
Finishing off our preview is the Men’s Royal Rumble Match. Kofi Kingston, Damian Priest, CM Punk, Shinsuke Nakamura, Bobby Lashley, Gunther, Cody Rhodes, and Drew McIntyre have been announced for this match. I said this last year, but this is the most stacked Royal Rumble match in years. I am still determining who will come out on top and be the last man standing. It is a coin flip between Gunther, CM Punk and Cody Rhodes winning back-to-back for the first time since Stone Cold Steve Austin did it in 1997 and 1998.
But if I had to choose who would win this match, I would pick CM Punk. I believe he will finally get his dream of main-eventing Wrestlemania this year against Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship.
The Royal Rumble begins at 8:00 PM Eastern on the WWE Network and pay-per-view.
Photo Credits: WWE
