Royal Rumble thoughts and predictions

So tonight is the Royal Rumble, my second favorite (and sometimes most unpredictable) Pay-Per-View of the year. Before getting to my thoughts on this year's event, I encourage everybody to revisit my Top Ten Cases from last year, where I ranked my favorite ten Rumbles of all time. Since I don't think 2009's installment ranks as one of my top ten, the list is still pretty accurate. Enjoy:

http://acaseoftheblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/top-ten-cases-favorite-royal-rumbles.html

Anyway, I have to say, I really have no clue what to expect from this year's Royal Rumble. I've avoided any and all spoilers, so I can't even fathom who might win or who might fill the 5 vacant spots (although I do have some safe guesses). And aside from Undertaker/Shawn Michaels, Edge/Jericho, and Rey/CM Punk, there really haven't been too many rumored WrestleMania matches. I honestly haven't an idea of what's going to happen with the WWE Championsihp.

So I guess the "safest" prediction would be that Shawn Michaels wins the Rumble, Undertaker retains the World Heavyweight Championship, and those two are set for a Mania rematch. A riskier idea would be that Michaels fails to win the Rumble, CM Punk ends up the victor, and the World Heavyweight Championship match occurs after the Rumble match. Michaels costs Taker the gold, Punk fights Mysterio at Mania in a Title vs. Hair match, and Taker seeks out Michaels for vengeance.

Of course, there's a problem with that theory. Namely, will they REALLY give CM Punk the win? And would they dare build the WrestleMania event around him challenging Rey Mysterio? I find that hard to believe.

Then there's Triple H and John Cena. Odd that there's been no significant word on what they'll be doing for WrestleMania. Could one of them win, and challenge Orton for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania? AGAIN???? Or might they actually keep the gold with Sheamus? He's got unfinished business with Cena -- but then again, in their deluded little mind, I'm sure they see the Irishman battling Triple H as a "Dream Match" of sorts.

Alright, so I'll bite the bullet with my predictions:

Mickie James defeats Michelle McCool for the Women's Championship.
Christian retains against Jackson -- although this isn't a given. WWE may decide they have bigger plans for Christian, and don't want to "hold him down" with the ECW Championship at WrestleMania. If that's not a sad outlook on the C Brand, I don't know what is.
Undertaker retains against Rey Mysterio
Sheamus retains against Randy Orton -- although I do see him dropping the title at Elimination Chamber.
And the winner of the Royal Rumble is.... Just too tough to predict! I'll go with Michaels, since that'd be a nice, happy win.

But here are some side predictions:

Either Shawn Michaels eliminates Triple H, or Triple H eliminates Shawn Michaels.
There's always a "marathon" participant who lasts longer than everybody else. This year, I see that honor going to Kofi Kingston.
The Miz and John Morrison will be #1 and #2 (not necessarily respectively).
Possible "surprise" entrants: RVD, Edge, Jeff Hardy (is he officially under TNA contract?), Randy Orton, Tommy Dreamer, and maybe DDP?

Anyway, that's all I got. Enjoy the show, everybody! Be sure to follow me on Twitter tonight as I provide my "live" thoughts of the show.


Oh, and I need the NFC to win!