The Royal Rumble Pay-Per-View takes place this Sunday, January 24, and as we’ve seen this past episode on Raw, there are a lot of top contenders going into the match. The Rumble is for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, and current champion Roman Reigns needs to defeat 29 other superstars in order to retain his title.
Some of Roman’s biggest contenders for the title include Brock Lesnar, the Wyatt Family, and Kevin Owens. Brock Lesnar is probably the most dominant Superstar in the history of the WWE, beating every top name from the last decade and a half. The Wyatt Family has been very good at playing the numbers game, as seen last week when they left Raw standing tall after laying out Lesnar and Reigns. Kevin Owens is reaching the end of his first year in the WWE, and it has been as good of a first year as it can get, defeating John Cena in his debut match, as well as becoming the Intercontinental champion.
Now that we have seen who will play a big role in the Rumble match, here are some matches that you must watch in order to display what they are capable of. All of these matches can be watched on (and are hyperlinked to) the WWE Network.
1. Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar – WWE World Heavyweight Championship (WrestleMania 31)
The best way to see how Lesnar and Reigns will do against each other is to see the only other match they have both been in. After winning last year’s Royal Rumble, Roman Reigns was a shoe-in for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 31, and the champion at the time was none other than the Beast Incarnate, Brock Lesnar. Lesnar has been known for taking his opponents to “Suplex City”, where he delivers multiple German suplexes one after another, as first seen against John Cena. This was actually the match where Lesnar coined the term “Suplex City”, after having delivered three German suplexes and one back suplex to Reigns. Brock is pretty dominant for the entire match, but what is interesting about it is that with every suplex Brock delivers to Roman, Roman just keeps smiling and laughing it off, showing that he’s got a lot left in him. Roman starts to get some offense in, even busting Lesnar open in a few different spots. Reigns and Lesnar give each other their all, and put on a hell of a fight. However, neither man won, since Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract, hit Roman Reigns with the Curb Stomp and became the WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
2. The Wyatt Family vs. The Shield (Elimination Chamber 2014)
The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns) and the Wyatt Family (pre-Braun Strowman) are two of the most dominant groups in WWE history, so it only made sense for them to battle each other. There were also a couple of other factors that make this match unique: it was probably the only 6-man tag team match anyone has been excited for in a long time, and the Wyatt Family won clean. As great as it was for the Wyatts to destroy Reigns and Lesnar on Raw, their chances of winning the Rumble are slim if we look at their success (or lack thereof) in 2015. What is important is knowing that when working as a unit, the Wyatt family is practically unstoppable, and with the addition of Braun Strowman in 2015, they have only gotten stronger, being a heavy factor in the Royal Rumble match.
3. Kevin Owens vs. John Cena (Elimination Chamber 2015)
Earlier I mentioned that Owens beat Cena in his debut match, and here it is. For fans of the independent scene, this was a big win for one of their heroes. For fans who had no idea who Kevin Owens was, they were shown that his is a force to be reckoned with in the WWE. Kevin Owens shows a great variety in his move set, almost using every type of move imaginable. After a great showing against Cena, Owens has only gotten better since, especially in his current feud with Dean Ambrose. Before the Rumble match, Ambrose and Owens will compete in a Last Man Standing match, which will take quite the toll on Owens before the Rumble. However, Owens has shown that even with low stamina, he can take on all comers.
Even after only looking at three of the big contenders in the Rumble, Roman seems to have the odds stacked against him, especially as the #1 entrant. Will Kevin Owens cap off one of the best rookie years in WWE history? Will Brock Lesnar conquer another challenge? Will the Wyatt Family stand tall, or does Roman Reigns overcome the odds more so than ever before?
What do you think?
