Preview of the Royal Rumble
One of the biggest nights of the year in WWE is upon us as the 33rd Royal Rumble takes place.
The event is emanating from Chase Field, the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, in Phoenix and between 25,000-30,000 tickets have been sold with the configuration and setup prepared for 40,000.
Over the years, 1,010 wrestlers have appeared in Rumble matches with Kane eliminating 43 of the 976 wrestlers tossed out.
Only six men have won the Rumble more than once with Triple H, Hulk Hogan, Batista, Shawn Michaels, John Cena and Randy Orton winning twice, and Stone Cold Steve Austin three times.
Will there be a major surprise or two during the show, with the main card beginning at 7 p.m.?
Could The Rock return and win the men鈥檚 Rumble, setting up the one big dream match that Vince McMahon has wanted for the last five years in Brock Lesnar vs. The Rock?
Could another former star, like Batista, return? Will John Cena, despite an 鈥渋njured鈥� ankle, win the Rumble?
Only 20 male wrestlers have been announced so there very well could be some surprises.
Of the announced wrestlers in the men鈥檚 Rumble, the top three favorites are all from Raw in Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre and Braun Strowman.
With how Smackdown ended, Orton seems to be the favorite from that brand, but could Samoa Joe, Almas or Rey Mysterio win?
Speaking of Mysterio, he is fourth all-time with a cumulative three hours and 37 minutes in Rumble matches. If he lasts five minutes tonight, he will pass Shawn Michaels for third and if he lasts 23 minutes, he will pass Triple H for second.
Chris Jericho holds the record at four hours and 59 minutes spent in Rumble matches.
If Samoa Joe were to win, he would be the 11th first-time entrant to win the men鈥檚 Rumble.
Look for some kind of comedy segment during the show where R-Truth, with the 30th spot in the men鈥檚 Rumble, tries to enter the women鈥檚 version or misses the men鈥檚 Rumble all together.
It will be interesting to see if Kofi Kingston once again uses his annual creativity to avoid being eliminated.
The women鈥檚 Rumble match appears to have Charlotte as the favorite, but could Becky lynch or Ronda Rousey end up in the match and then win it?
Will AJ Styles regain the WWE championship from Daniel Bryan? Look for the match to be incredible.
Brock Lesnar is defending the Universal title against Finn Balor and there is next to no chance Balor walks out with the title.
Asuka, who won the inaugural women鈥檚 Rumble last year, defends the Smackdown women鈥檚 title against Lynch, and it will be interesting to see which way this one goes.
Rousey defends the Raw women鈥檚 title against Sasha Banks in a match that may steal the show. All signs point to Rousey retaining, but could Lynch cost Rousey the title? Could Rousey cost Lynch her match? Maybe both will happen.
While everyone is talking about Lynch and Rousey facing each other at Mania, no one has mentioned the idea that neither woman walks into Mania with a title and both the Raw and Smackdown titles would be defended in other matches giving the women鈥檚 division an unprecedented three major matches at a Mania.
Or maybe they both win, Charlotte wins the Rumble and challenges both Lynch and Rousey to set up the rumored three-way?
The Bar is defending the Smackdown tag titles against The Miz and Shane McMahon and it will be interesting to see which way they go here.
The Big Show is in Phoenix, so could he help The Bar retain? Or will The Miz and McMahon win the titles to help extend their storyline towards a Mania match?
On the Kickoff Show, which begins at 5 p.m. on the WWE Network, two title matches will take place.
Rusev defends the United States championship against Shinsuke Nakamura, while Buddy Murphy defends the Cruiserweight title in a fatal four-way against Akira Tozawa, Kalisto and Hideo Itami.
Rousey leaving WWE?
TMZ reported on Thursday that Rousey may be leaving WWE after Mania. WWE countered saying that Rousey is under contract until April 10, 2021.
The Raw women鈥檚 champion has made it known that she wants to start a family soon, so this could be where all of the chatter stems from.
Abyss and Dutt to WWE?
Word broke earlier this week that Abyss and Sonjay Dutt are both free from their Impact contracts and could be signing with WWE.
Could either debut in the Rumble?
On This Day 鈥�
In 1993, Andre the Giant passed away from congestive heart failure, due to a tumor on his pituitary glad causing it to produce excess growth hormone, a condition known as acromegaly.
Later that year, Andre was the first wrestler inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and remains the only wrestler to be inducted individually and without other wrestlers.
This week鈥檚 question
Now that he has asked for his release, will Velveteen Dream be going to AEW? Stephanie, Carroll Township.
For those who did not see it, Dream sent a tweet Monday that has led fans to believe that he is leaving WWE/NXT.
鈥淚 know my worth,鈥� the tweet said. 鈥淭he past year I鈥檝e created a special atmosphere at NXT TAKEOVER.
鈥淯ntil we can come 2 an agreement as 2 what MY WORTH actually is, there won鈥檛 be any appearances or performances from 鈥楾he Velveteen DREAM鈥� or my likeness.鈥�
While AEW will become a hot topic of interest any time information like this gets out, I have been told that this is part of a storyline.
Deadline for this column was before the NXT TakeOver: Phoenix on Saturday night, so Dream may have appeared there or may even appear in tonight鈥檚 Rumble.