The Royal Rumble is always an exciting time in WWE since it’s the start of WrestleMania season. Here, I’m listing four names – two men and two women – I feel should win the Royal Rumble match this year. This won’t be a preview or prediction of the overall Royal Rumble line-up.
Of course, opinions will differ, so if you absolutely hate my choices then you can relish the fact that I’m not apart of WWE’s wonderful creative team. Also, feel free to put who you feel should win below. This list isn’t just a fantasy booking of who I want to win, as I’ve taken into consideration things such as mic work (Sorry, Ricochet), in-ring talent, and if the wrestler fits Vince McMahon’s overall package of a star. Now let’s begin with the first name:
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Samoa Joe
The former United States Champion should’ve won the WWE Title back during his feud with AJ Styles. Joe is a perfect choice to lead the RAW brand as the veteran is arguably one of the top talents on the mic and inside the ring. Joe is also a believable badass.
His feud with Brock Lesnar at Great Balls of Fire was top notch and a star making turn for the former Impact World Champion. Many fans who have followed Joe throughout his ROH and TNA/Impact Wrestling career knew that the “Samoan Submission Machine” was a main event level guy; however, this rivalry between both men proved to the WWE fans that Joe can hang with the big boys.
If done correctly again, Joe vs. Brock Lesnar II can easily be one of the company’s best feuds in years. Joe has all the tools to be a star within the promotion, thus he should be the next man to take down Brock Lesnar.
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Braun Strowman
As much as I wanted to put Johnny Gargano, Aleister Black, and Drew McIntyre in this position, the problem is that I haven’t been convinced yet that either of these men will work under the guidance of Vince McMahon.
Johnny Gargano is a fantastic babyface. Hell, he was a pretty damn good heel as well. Gargano was a strong and compelling babyface that carried the NXT brand back in 2017/2018. However, let’s be honest here, Vince McMahon and company have lost their touch when it comes to crafting strong babyfaces.
Becky Lynch, Seth Rollins, Daniel Bryan, and Braun Strowman are just some examples of talents who have floundered under the guidance of Vince McMahon due to his lack luster booking. All talents were extremely over at one point, but were damaged heavily thanks to creative.
Black is another talented individual; however, I remember the former NXT Champion’s run down in the developmental brand and it was pretty lackluster. It didn’t help that his big feud was against Lars Sullivan. Also, it felt like the company was forcing Black to betray his character. The 34-year-old is a silent badass type; however, Black was forced to do cookie-cutter babyface promos that didn’t fit his style.
His main roster booking hasn’t been much better. Black has definitely gotten better with promos; however, he’s been directionless throughout most of his main roster run. I see bright things in the future for Black; however, he does need to be built up more.
In terms of Drew McIntyre, the company just doesn’t know what to do with him. When he’s not a lackey for someone else, he’s just destroying people in squash matches. Like Black, McIntyre needs to be built up better before jumping into the main event scene.
Finally, Braun Strowman. This is a man that should’ve won the WWE Championship a while ago as well. Unfortunately, Strowman fell into The Roman Reigns Experiment, thus company officials refused to give the ‘Monster Among Men’ a chance at the top. That ill-advised heel turn just made things worst.
Like Black and McIntyre, Strowman needs to be built up better; however, the company just needs to go back to the drawing board with him. What made Strowman special was his over-the-top monster antics. If WWE can go back to that then Strowman’s popularity should have no problem going back up. Of course, strong booking and compelling storylines would help as well.
There’s a strong feud awaiting between The Fiend and Braun Strowman. The company can easily play off their history together from The Wyatt Family. I know Strowman wasn’t there from the beginning; however, that’s nothing a couple of video packages and storytelling can’t fix.
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Candice LeRae
Simply put, Smackdown needs babyfaces. There’s no one on the babyface side that’s compelling enough to anchor the women’s division on the blue brand. Lacey Evans is the best choice due to her strong charisma; however, Evans still lacks experience inside the ring to be the leader of the division. She’s definitely gotten better since her NXT days; however, she’s just not the answer right now.
Turning Bayley or Sasha Banks face doesn’t solve any problems either. These two are strong examples of NXT stars that have failed on the main roster due to their horrendous booking as babyfaces. Banks has been booked better than Bayley as a babyface; however, ‘The Boss’ has never clicked in that role.
Looking at the NXT talent pool, Candice LaRae could easily be the answer to Smackdown’s top babyface problem. The NXT star is not only talented inside the ring, but she has a nice charisma about her as well. If booked correctly, then she could be the first compelling opponent for heel Bayley.
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Toni Storm
Once again, Smackdown needs babyfaces. Women like Io Sharai, Bianca Belair, and Dakota Kai didn’t make the cut because I would strongly prefer them to come up as heels. Unfortunately for Sharai, she’s a solid babyface; however, I don’t believe that the WWE will understand how to properly push the former Stardom talent as the company’s top female babyface.
Toni Storm can fit that bill. The 2018 Mae Young Classic winner has a likeable presence that can win fans over. Storm isn’t a white-meat babyface; however, in this day and age, babyfaces with an edge have a stronger chance of getting over quickly.
With the young star seemingly out of the NXT UK Women’s title picture, unless Storm wins the NXT Women’s Championship at Worlds Collide, she won’t have much else to do on the United Kingdom brand. As previously stated, if booked correctly, then she could be the first compelling opponent for heel Bayley going into WrestleMania.
Those are my picks and comment below if you’ve got a list of your own. Thank you for reading and enjoy Royal Rumble weekend!