Royal Rumble Predictions

Tomorrow night is one of my favorite PPVs of the year, the Royal Rumble, which I will be ordering (barring some unforeseen catastrophe), so be sure to check my blog for my live thoughts. This year, I honestly have no clue what they’re going to do with the WrestleMania card, making the Rumble itself awfully tough to predict. Will they let Miz continue his reign until WrestleMania? If so, who does he face? They’ve hinted Cena, but he still has issues with CM Punk and the Nexus. After feuding with the faction since the beginning of the summer, blowing it off at a forgettable February PPV seems unlikely. So I really have no clue what direction they’ll go. While I’m not sure I want to predict a winner just yet, here are some general predictions:

• Sheamus gets the nod this year as the Superstar who eliminates the most people. Since there are 10 extra Superstars, I might even go as far as predicting that he breaks Kane’s record.
• Daniel Bryan and Alberto Del Rio get the “marathon men” honor of being the Superstars who last the longest. I actually wouldn’t be surprised if they end up being the #1 and #2 entrants.
• John Morrison lasts until the final four.
• At one point, all of the members of the Nexus and the Corre will be in the ring at the same time, resulting in the action stopping so that all of the Superstars could have a stare down before brawling it out.

As far as surprise entrants go, here are some of predictions, some bolder than others:

• Triple H, obviously. He’ll eliminate Sheamus, and perhaps take himself out in the process. The guy has been gone so long and so detached from the World Title scene that to include him in the championship match at WrestleMania would feel cheap and unnatural.
• Some dark horses: Batista, Chris Jericho, and Booker T.
• I also expect at least one competitor that fails to walk away with the World Title (Miz, Edge, Orton, Ziggler) to enter the rumble as a surprise entrant.
• Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Matt Striker will talk about how he won the first Royal Rumble. Michael Cole will point out that twice as many people are in the match now.
• Not my prediction, but I like it: Beth Phoenix enters, but is eliminated by the next entrant: A debuting Awesome Kong.

Regarding the title matches, both champions retain. Edge cleanly, and Miz through shenanigans (perhaps even a DQ). Edge makes it to Mania as champion, but the jury is still out on Miz.

If I have to predict a winner for the Rumble, my safe bet would be Cena. Not because I think he’s going to win (actually, I don’t), but simply because he’s ALWAYS a safe bet. If I wanted to be somewhat riskier, I’d say Alberto Del Rio and CM Punk. A rung below that are Wade Barrett and Triple H. Below that, John Morrison. But hey, based on the booking the past couple of months, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jerry Lawler win the damn thing!

So, yeah, that’s how I see it. What do you think?