The kick-off to WrestleMania season officially begins! The annual Royal Rumble show always has a memorable moment or two and this year’s shaping up to be something special. If booked correctly, of course. Nevertheless, it’s great that both Rumble matches have a genuine air of unpredictability surrounding the winner.
Plus, the undercard matches have the chance of being match-of-the-year candidates. Below are my predictions for the 2025 Royal Rumble.
Men’s Royal Rumble match (Entrants: John Cena, Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Seth "Freakin" Rollins, Drew McIntyre, Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura, Logan Paul, Jey Uso, Penta, Bron Breakker, Chad Gable, Rey Mysterio, 17 TBD)
I will say that WWE has done a good job of building up the main event names for this match. The Men’s Royal Rumble match feels unpredictable for the first time in years. Thankfully, no dirt sheets have spoiled the potential winner. All signs point to John Cena winning.
On the other hand, WWE may not make Cena’s journey to his 17th world title so simple and Cena could lose here and go on to win Elimination Chamber.
Then there’s Roman Reigns.
There’s a compelling story of him facing Cody Rhodes for a belt he lost last year. It would genuinely shock me if Cody and Roman didn’t have a rematch before Cody drops the belt. However, that rematch doesn’t have to be at WrestleMania. Given the different dynamic here, a fresh story can be told for Cody/Roman III.
Nothing against Rey Mysterio, Sami Zayn, Chad Gable, LA Knight, and Shinsuke Nakamura but they’re not winning. Drew McIntyre’s chances are slim too, but there’s a case that can be made for him winning and facing Gunther for the belt. There’s a strong case for him facing Cody too.
Drew McIntyre was the MVP of 2024 (in my opinion). The guy leveled up to the point where he deserves to main event WrestleMania and win it. He does have an interesting story regarding him trying to get rid of the old Bloodline and Cody is a key part of that story.
And then CM Punk. The excellent tease on Monday makes me want to see him and Cody at WrestleMania. But I don’t see him winning either. He’ll have a big match at WrestleMania, just not a world title match.
Penta isn’t winning either, but he’s likely getting an Iron Man showing. WWE is going to make him look strong, but he’s not being positioned as a main-event player just yet.
Bron Breakker and Jey Uso are interesting cases. I can see WWE giving Jey Uso the win and basing the build on him finally achieving his goal of being a world champion. I can also see a champion vs. champion match between Bron Breakker and Gunther.
I don’t see a win for either Logan Paul or Seth Rollins, but they do have a higher chance because WWE has strongly teased a match between these two and Gunther. I don’t know how they get to the Triple Threat part, but this seems more like an Elimination Chamber set-up for Gunther than an RR win.
I just can’t see anyone outside of the mentioned names winning. I hope I’m wrong and WWE genuinely surprises me. I think this should go to someone young like Breakker. Carmelo Hayes has been buried to the point where they need to build him back up first before he dips his toes into the main event scene.
Montez Ford would be cool and unexpected. So would Oba Femi or even Jacob Fatu. Given the way they’ve built Fatu, Cody vs. Jacob Fatu wouldn’t feel out of place. But, despite all the possible scenarios I just listed, there’s only one name I still have in mind.
Winner: John Cena
Dark Horse pick: Bron Breakker
Women’s Royal Rumble match (Entrants: Bayley, Liv Morgan, Bianca Belair, Naomi, Nia Jax, Charlotte Flair, Lyra Valkyria, Ivy Nile, Raquel Rodriguez, IYO SKY, 20 TBA)
Where do I begin?
The only name that has some sort of momentum is Charlotte Flair. But she doesn’t need to win the Rumble again. I don't mind Stratton/Flair at Mania, but the second-generation star has never been a great babyface. Maybe she has a new character that can freshen her act up. Charlotte can wrestle, but her character has always been the issue.
Becky Lynch is also a possibility (if she does return), but like Flair, she doesn’t need to win the Rumble either. Both names scream Elimination Chamber winner, but the problem is that only one wrestler can win next month.
Bianca Belair is the most intriguing one out of the bunch. Either her or Naomi is the culprit behind Jade’s attack. I’m hoping it’s Belair because she was such a great heel in NXT and it’s time to give her something new. I like the rumored Belair vs. Ripley match and that would be my pick. They can easily have Belair vs. Jade Cargill on night one and Ripley vs. Belair on night two.
Sure, that would mean that Cargill is losing, but the key thing here is that the former TBS Champion has a great showing against Bianca. If she can do that (and I’ve seen her AEW run so I know she can) then a strong showing will be good enough as long as WWE books her properly after WrestleMania.
The only other name that truly sticks out is IYO SKY as there was some tease with Rhea, but creative may save that match for a Money in the Bank or Summerslam caliber show.
Is it possible that someone like Roxanne Perez can win? If Perez was a babyface and Ripley was a heel then the David vs. Goliath match would be perfect. Jordynne Grace, Giulia, and Stephanie Vaquer are also names ready for the main roster; they have the potential to win, but I just don’t see it outside of Perez and that’s even a slim chance. Flair keeps sticking out as a winner, but my heart has taken over and I’ll go with…
Winner: Bianca Belair (Hopefully heel)
Dark Horse (but likely obvious pick): Charlotte Flair
“DIY” Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa vs. “Motor City Machine Guns” Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin in a best of three falls match for the WWE Tag Team Titles
I am so excited for this match. I’m a huge fan of the Motor City Machine Guns. I’ve followed these guys throughout their entire TNA run and always felt that they deserved to be in WWE because they’re such an incredible tag team.
I’m a fan of DIY. Admittedly, their main roster is nothing compared to their NXT run, but creative is starting to give them some juice now that they’re heels. I’m going into this match with extremely high expectations.
Give these teams 30 minutes! Sure, the result is predictable, but it would be great to showcase the brilliance of tag team wrestling. There’s some possibility that MCMG could regain the belts as DIY isn’t necessarily positioned as strong champions, but I just don’t see Gargano and Ciampa dropping it until WrestleMania.
Winner: DIY
Cody Rhodes vs. Kevin Owens in a ladder match for the WWE Championship
WWE has done a pretty good job of making Kevin Owens a credible threat to beat Cody Rhodes on Saturday. On paper, the match may seem predictable, but the layers surrounding the match give Owens a strong shot at leaving the Royal Rumble as the new Undisputed Champion.
Let’s start with the whole Sami Zayn situation. Honestly, I don’t see him turning here. The red herrings in the past couple of weeks were smart, but Owens vs. Sami has WrestleMania written all over it. Sami will likely come out and try to stop Owens from doing something despicable. Then Kevin will attack him once he feels that Sami has chosen Cody over him. Or who knows? Maybe Sami will turn on Cody, anything is possible.
However, one thing that hasn’t been brought up much is that Elimination Chamber is in Canada. Cody is not Gunther, meaning that he isn’t the type of champion who needs a long and dominant reign. Cody can afford to drop the title for a month and win it back next month. Or, Cody may not walk into WrestleMania as champion at all.
As I stated above, I believe John Cena is winning the 2025 Royal Rumble. John Cena and Kevin Owens do have a rich history with one another. It would be cool to re-ignite that rivalry heading into WrestleMania.
On the surface, John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes is more appealing to the masses, but the level of story and character development would be greater if Owens and Cena clashed at Mania. Plus, WWE has a terrible history of building babyface vs. babyface matches. It would be better if Cena took the belt off a guy like Owens. They can always do Cody vs. Cena at Summerslam.
So what would Cody do at WrestleMania? Well, they gave audiences a pretty good preview on RAW Monday Night. Cody vs. CM Punk would be awesome. And it doesn’t even need a title. Realistically, Cody is likely winning at the Royal Rumble, but my heart is picking again, so…
Winner: Kevin Owens