Royal Rumble predictions

Here we go, the division playoffs of the WWE, the 25th anniversary of the Royal Rumble! Let's do get right into it!

Will Daniel Bryan overcome two Goliaths in a steel cage match at the Rumble? He has to, for Wrestlemania's sake. Either Big Show or Henry as champion going into Wrestlemania calls for a horrible match at the biggest show of the year. Bryan though as champion, matched with the right person, calls for an excellent match. And also with Henry's new injury, I'm sure Bryan is the definite favorite to walk out of the Rumble as the World Champion. Big Show will then go on to start his inevitable feud with Shaquille O'Neal. Don't know how, but Daniel Bryan will retain his World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble.

Will John Cena embrace the hate? We ALL want to see a Cena heel turn but if WWE wants to survive as a company, they can't turn a guy who makes them 10 million dollars in a year heel and lose all that money. I don't think we'll see a heel turn at the Rumble but we'll definitely see some more of that hardcore Cena we've been seeing on the last two Raws. I'm really looking forward to this match. When I went to Raw back in December, they were the dark main event and they only got like 7 minutes, but I liked what I saw from the match. I don't think they'll have a clean finish since Cena will show some crazy antics, but he really needs the victory here. He will facing The Rock in the next two months. Cena needs all the momentum in the WORLD before his big match, but I'm going with a no contest.

Will CM Punk retain his WWE Championship? Dolph Ziggler, for the 2nd year in a row, has a big title match and all the cards are in his place to walk out as champion, but as we saw last year, that doesn't mean anything. Edge still managed to defeat Ziggler even without being able to use the Spear, even though he did. Also, with Ace getting a job evaluation the next day, can he really screw Punk out of the championship? Hopefully, the addition of the special ref doesn't diminish this match as it has the potential to be a real show stealer. I'm really on the fence with this one. Punk needs a victory to continue his title reign and set up for the match everyone wants to see at Mania against the returning Chris Jericho. On the other hand, Dolph Ziggler is being billed as the next top heel of Raw and a title victory here would solidify that position but if he does win the title, he'll probably drop it at Elimination Chamber. I'm going with CM Punk to retain over The Showoff Dolph Ziggler in what will be an amazing 25 minute match.

The Royal Rumble match. Never before have there so many possible winners. You have returning superstars such as Chris Jericho and Randy Orton to rising stars such as Sheamus, Rhodes, and Barrett to even World Champions CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. For the 1st time ever, EVERY WWE superstar will be eligible for the Rumble match, which mean whoever are the World Champions at the time have a potential to be in the Rumble. I did a list of all the potential superstars who could be in the match not including some jobbers but including ALL 7 men from the previous matches, and I got 25 superstars, which leave 5 open slots. If the rumors are true that Road Warrior Animal, Road Dogg Jesse James, and Hacksaw Jim Duggan are going to compete, you have 2 empty slots. There's gotta be a return somewhere, either Taker or Christian and one more jobber that I didn't include. Maybe, possibly. Well, who will I pick to win it all? It's hard, I have to be honest. I'm going to do it like I did it last year, I'll pick one from Raw and Smackdown. From Raw, I'm picking the returning Chris Jericho, though he doesn't need it all. To be honest, if he just came out on Raw this Monday and said he wanted a WWE Title match at Mania, he would get it. It would go nicely with Jericho's long list of accomplishments. From Smackdown, I'm picking the hottest rising superstar in the WWE, Wade Barrett. Barrett should've been World Champion by now, but by winning the Rumble, he'll catapult right into the title hunt. With Rock/Cena, possibly Punk/Jericho and Taker's match, the World Title match will take the backseat again this year, so why not throw a young guy in there? Barrett's the perfect one. If I had to pick JUST ONE, I would go with Wade Barrett. Jericho and Orton are going to get title shots REGARDLESS! They're two of the biggest superstars in the past 10 years! Barrett needs the Rumble victory and unlike Del Rio from last year, Barrett has paid his dues and is ready to be pushed to the main event. The Barrett Barrage will continue with a huge win at the Royal Rumble.

The Royal Rumble is my favorite PPV of the year, easily. It's so unpredictable and has the potential to make superstars legendary. Come on back late tomorrow night for my reaction post.